GB 7718 & GB 28050 Made Easy

Why Food Labeling Matters for China Export

Chinese customs and market surveillance routinely inspect prepackaged food labels. Non-compliance rarely receives a quiet fix at the dock: shipments can be held, rejected, or sent for relabeling under supervision—each outcome burns margin and customer confidence.

Relabeling in-bond or re-exporting for repackaging in Australia often costs far more than a disciplined artwork cycle up front, especially when retail launch dates and livestream promotions are already committed.

Labels are also where your regulatory story meets the physical product: the same batch code printed on-pack must reconcile with health certificates, establishment registration scope, and importer filings. When those threads diverge, inspectors default to conservative outcomes—detention, sampling, or full document reviews.

Bottom line: treat the Chinese sales label as a compliance instrument first and a brand canvas second; marketing copy belongs where standards allow it, not in mandatory field positions.

GB 7718: General Standard for Food Labeling

GB 7718 sets mandatory content, language, and layout rules for most prepackaged foods sold in China. Treat it as a contract: if a field is required, it must be correct, legible, and in the right place on the sales unit.

The list below is not exhaustive for every sub-category (infant formula, health foods, and special dietary uses have additional rules), but it covers the fields Australian exporters miss most often when adapting ANZ or EU artwork.

Work through each row with your artwork agency and your formulation owner—sign-off should be a single dated PDF, not scattered Slack approvals.

1. Food name (食品名称)

Must reflect the true specialised property of the food, be clear and not misleading, and appear prominently. Avoid replacing the regulated category name with a purely promotional English phrase on the compulsory panel.

2. Ingredient list (配料表)

Ingredients and food additives in descending order of ingoing weight; compound ingredients should disclose sub-ingredients where required. Additive names must use standard-designated names—not supplier trade names.

3. Net content and specifications (净含量和规格)

Declare net quantity using legal measurement units; font height rules apply relative to packaging surface area. Multi-pack formats must show both individual and total net content where applicable.

4. Name and address of producer / operator (生产者及经营者信息)

Show the legally responsible party for the finished prepackaged food—often overseas manufacturer name, address, and country in the prescribed manner, plus importer details when sold through a registered importer.

5. Country of origin (产地 / 原产国)

Must accurately reflect where substantial manufacture or packing occurs, consistent with certificates and registration filings. “Made in Australia” English-only stickers do not replace mandated Chinese origin statements on the main panel.

6. Storage conditions (贮存条件)

Must match validated shelf-life studies—if marketing wants “chilled for best taste” but stability is ambient, resolve the science before print.

7. Production date and shelf life (生产日期和保质期)

Use permitted date presentation formats; shelf-life expression must be intelligible to Chinese consumers (e.g. “保质期至：YYYY-MM-DD”). Batch codes should align with export documents.

8. Product standard code (产品标准代号)

Where applicable, indicate the national / industry / local standard number that defines product quality—inspectors cross-check category claims against declared standards.

9. Food production licence number (生产许可证编号)

Relevant for domestic Chinese manufacture; overseas producers reference registration systems (e.g. Decree 248) instead—ensure you are not mixing domestic template fields onto an import label.

10. Nutrition facts declaration (营养标签声明衔接)

GB 7718 interacts with GB 28050: the nutrition table is part of the overall label system—placement, language, and prohibition of obscuring mandatory text must be considered holistically.

11. Allergen & warning information (致敏物质及警示语—适用时)

When present, allergens should be indicated per applicable rules; certain categories require specific warning statements (e.g. alcoholic beverages). Even when not mandatory for every SKU, voluntary allergen tables must remain truthful and consistent with the ingredient list.

GB 28050: Nutrition Labeling Format

GB 28050 defines the “1+4” core nutrition label for most prepackaged foods: energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium, expressed per 100 g or per 100 mL (and often per serving, where allowed).

Each nutrient must be shown with its amount and, for the mandatory table, compared against China’s Nutrient Reference Values (NRV) as a percentage (NRV%). Rounding, detection limits for trace nutrients, and “0” claims must follow the standard—inspectors compare your table to laboratory results.

The table header row typically includes the column titles “项目 / 每100g(毫升) / NRV%” (wording may vary slightly with version updates—confirm against the edition your reviewer uses). Energy is expressed in kJ; macronutrients in grams; sodium often in mg—mixing US “calories” or mg sodium hidden in fine print triggers revisions.

Optional nutrients and voluntary claims are permitted only when thresholds and footnotes in GB 28050 are met; “high in / rich in / free” style claims have quantitative gates. If you are unsure whether a claim is nutrition-related or function-related, assume it needs additional substantiation or remove it from the compulsory Chinese panel.

Visual Layout Examples (Placeholders)

Use these dashed frames as briefing templates for designers—they approximate how mandatory Chinese panels are often arranged on retail-facing facings (exact proportions depend on pack geometry and print area).

Common Mistakes Australian Exporters Make

Run this checklist before you approve print—tick every box with a named owner and date.

• Language coverage: Mandatory fields appear in standard Chinese on the sales unit, not English-only on the primary display surface.
• Nutrition structure: Table converted to GB 28050 “1+4” with NRV%, not a US FDA or EU back label pasted verbatim.
• Formulation lock: Ingredient order matches latest COA / recipe; compound ingredients broken out correctly.
• Registration alignment: Manufacturer strings and product names match GACC / Decree 248 filings and importer records.
• Claims audit: No impermissible disease treatment or therapeutic wording on ordinary foods; nutrition claims meet thresholds.

Our Label Compliance Service

XYX provides artwork and copy review against GB 7718 and GB 28050, coordinated with your GACC/CIFER and Decree 248/249 documentation so the pack, the certificate, and the declaration tell one story.

We annotate PDF artwork with code references and plain-language fixes your designers can action, then optionally re-check v2 before you lock cylinders—reducing the risk of a “final final” print that still carries an old ingredient percentage.

Typical turnaround: 48 hours from complete artwork and formulation inputs—faster when paired with an active export booking.