December 11, 2013

The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) announced on December 1, 2013 the draft of Regulations on Naming and Labelling of fresh milk, UHT fresh milk, flavoured milk, milk drink and milk powder, of which the period of public consultation is 30 days.

TFDA indicates that new definitions, stipulations and labelling standards of milk based drink, UHT milk drink, milk powder, and modified milk powder are newly added in the Draft.

The raw material of fresh milk and UHT milk drink is mainly raw milk, but flavoured milk and UHT flavoured milk usually only contain a 50% raw milk concentration. In this way, fortified milk powders (milk with added nutrients) and milk with flavour enhancers must be labelled "modified milk powder" rather than "milk powder". Milk drink, UHT milk drink, milk powder and modified milk powder that are newly added in the draft are made by blending milk powder as the raw material with water or nutrition ingredients and flavours.

Furthermore, the outer packaging labelling of dairy products should conform to the definition of the products. For example, only fresh milk can be labelled "fresh milk", and milk based drink should only be labelled "milk drink". For modified milk powder, the percentage of milk powder should be clearly marked on the outer packaging of the products.