Ren Fazheng: The release of the new national standard for infant formula has attracted attention

Professor Ren Fazheng

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Vice President of Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology

Dean of the Institute of Nutrition and Health, China Agricultural University

Expert opinion 1: Standard revision strives to meet the requirements of "rigorous standards"

Infant formula is an important source of nutrition for many infants who cannot be fully breastfed. After years of hard work and the efforts of the whole society, including the government, enterprises and consumers, our infant formula has made great progress.

This release has attracted widespread attention, fully reflecting the importance of our country's food industry. The series of standards is an important means to ensure the safety and nutritional adequacy of infant formula, a normative document for enterprise production, and an important basis for regulatory authorities to carry out supervision and law enforcement. Through the efforts of the standard-setting units, some achievements have been made. This revision adheres to one purpose: fully ensuring safety, which is the bottom line; at the same time, special emphasis is placed on the health of infants and young children. The basis for the revision: the latest scientific evidence at home and abroad, such as breast milk, infant growth and development characteristics and nutritional requirements, drawing on the experience of international organizations and developed countries, and comprehensively considering my country's national conditions, regulatory needs, the current status of production enterprises' processes and the actual situation of commercially available products. It can be said that this revision strives to achieve rigorous standards and fully realize the scientificity, rationality, standardization and practicality of the standards.

Expert opinion 2: The new national standard classification is more reasonable

This revision retains the "National Food Safety Standard for Infant Formula" (0-6 months, stage 1), and the new standard splits the original "National Food Safety Standard for Older Infants and Toddler Formula" into two standards: "National Food Safety Standard for Older Infants Formula" (6-12 months, stage 2) and "National Food Safety Standard for Toddler Formula" (12-36 months, stage 3). It can more accurately meet the differentiated nutritional needs of infants and young children of different ages, making my country's national standard system for infant formula more scientific and reasonable, more targeted and operational. We simply say that two becomes three, and it doesn't feel like such a big breakthrough. Everyone knows that it took a lot of time and effort to achieve it. Infants and young children grow the fastest during their growth period, and breast milk changes greatly with the lactation period. As the lactation period is extended, many ingredients will also change. This revision takes into account the key nodes in the growth process of infants and young children, and sets three key times. Formulas are made according to these three key times.

Expert suggestion three: The new national standard has revised the nutrition and safety indicators

Nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals have been further improved. Minimum and maximum values ​​have been added or revised, and some optional ingredients such as choline, selenium, and manganese in stage 1 and stage 2 infant formula have been adjusted to required ingredients. The requirements for contaminants, mycotoxins, and pathogenic bacteria limits are consistent with the relevant basic standards, further improving the effectiveness and safety of infant formula nutrition.

Expert opinion 4: The new national standard will further lead the high-quality development of the industry

The release and implementation of the new national standard will further raise the entry threshold of the infant formula food industry, and the infant formula food market will form a benign environment of survival of the fittest. The new national standard guides the direction of the infant formula food industry, which is conducive to enterprises adhering to innovation-driven, increasing investment in scientific research, optimizing product formulas, improving process levels, and improving quality management, and promoting the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of the infant formula food industry.

Picture丨TuChong Creative

Expert suggestion 1: Increase investment in scientific research and conduct research on breast milk composition and formula development

The formulation of the standards started with research on breast milk and nutritional needs, and further research is needed in the future. Whether further subdivision can be considered in the future, we also hope that companies and relevant institutions can further carry out research in this area. At present, we are still considering gradually moving from ingredient simulation to function imitation. On the basis of type and proportion, we need to consider the active ingredients in breast milk in the future, and also consider it in future formula design.

Expert suggestion 2: Take the new national standard as an opportunity to promote industrial upgrading

A new national standard may be just a simple change, but it also provides opportunities for many companies. Companies should take the new national standard as an opportunity to improve their "supply capacity, R&D capacity, production capacity, inspection capacity, and management capacity, eliminate backward production capacity, achieve transformation and upgrading, and thus improve the overall level of the industry.

Regulatory authorities, industry associations/societies, scientific research institutes and other parties should also work together to jointly promote policy support, supervision and management, industry guidance, scientific research innovation, technical support and other aspects to promote common development and comprehensively promote the upgrading of my country's infant formula industry.

Expert suggestion 3: Companies should pay attention to the registration of infant formula

The State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Announcement on the Registration of Infant Formula Milk Powder Products" (No. 10 of 2021) to promote the connection between infant formula food registration and the new national standard. Enterprises should pay attention to the matching relationship between existing product formulas and the new national standard, and prepare relevant materials and registration matters in a timely manner for products that need to adjust registration information. Enterprises should act quickly, learn as soon as possible, adjust the formula as soon as possible, and adjust our production links and conditions.

The "Scientific Interpretation of Food Safety and Health Hot Topics Media Communication Conference" has been held for 10 consecutive years since 2012. Every year, authoritative experts are invited to provide scientific interpretations of the annual food safety and health hot topics. In the form of "consensus in the scientific and technological community", it is widely disseminated through mainstream media and new media, such as television, newspapers, the Internet, Weibo, WeChat, etc. With scientific truth and fair suggestions, we will guide the public opinion on food safety in my country to gradually change in a scientific, objective and rigorous direction, and convey the positive energy of China's food safety.