The national standard for pre-prepared dishes is here! Are you still worried about pre-prepared dishes?

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation, together with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Health Commission, issued the "Notice on Strengthening Food Safety Supervision of Pre-prepared Meals to Promote High-quality Development of the Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which defined the scope of pre-prepared meals at the national level for the first time, and regulated the raw materials, auxiliary materials, and pre-processing technology of pre-prepared meals. After the issuance of the "Notice", a new round of heated discussions on pre-prepared meals has been triggered among consumers. How can we understand and feel at ease when eating pre-prepared meals in the future? Let's talk about it today.

01 Pre-prepared meals now have an “official status”

Pre-prepared meals, also known as pre-prepared dishes, are made from one or more edible agricultural products and their products as raw materials, with or without seasonings and other auxiliary ingredients, without adding preservatives , and are made through industrial pre-processing (such as stirring, marinating, tumbling, kneading, molding, stir-frying, deep-frying, baking, boiling, steaming, etc.), with or without seasoning packets, and meet the storage, transportation and sales conditions indicated on the product label, and are pre-packaged dishes that can only be eaten after heating or cooking.

Previously, the public had a vague concept of pre-prepared meals, which also caused controversy. This "Notice" clarified the definition and scope of pre-prepared meals for the first time: pre-prepared meals should have the characteristics of both pre-preparation and dishes, and emphasize "being eaten after being heated or cooked."

At the same time, the Notice also clarifies the situations that do not belong to pre-prepared dishes:

First, chain catering enterprises widely use the central kitchen model. The clean vegetables, semi-finished products, and finished dishes that they prepare and deliver to their own stores must comply with the laws, regulations, and standards for catering food safety, but are not included in the scope of pre-prepared dishes;

The second is the uncooked vegetables that have only been simply processed by washing, peeling, cutting, etc.;

The third category is quick-frozen rice and flour products, convenience foods, boxed lunches, rice with toppings, steamed bread, pastries, roujiamo, bread, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza and other staple food products;

Fourth, ready-to-eat foods that can be eaten without heating or cooking, and cold dishes such as vegetable (fruit) salads that can be eaten directly.

This is the first time that the scope of pre-prepared meals has been defined at the national level, providing institutional support for food safety supervision of pre-prepared meals.

Image source: Xinhuanet (Photo by Zhao Pufan)

02 What other measures in the "Notice" are worth paying attention to? Can consumers eat with confidence in the future?

When dining out, we all hope to eat freshly prepared dishes that are hot and fresh out of the oven. For this reason, the pre-prepared meals that swept in like a "flood and beast" once aroused consumers' doubts: classifying them as "technology and hard work", and from time to time you can see online discussions such as "pre-prepared meals contain preservatives" and "pre-prepared meals have no nutrition".

Consumers want delicious and healthy food, and they also want a convenient and fast dining experience, which is understandable. Now, the "Notice" clearly states that pre-prepared dishes do not contain preservatives . Pre-prepared dishes have a short shelf life, and their freshness can be ensured through high-temperature sterilization, low-temperature freshness lock and other technical methods, without the need to add additional preservatives.

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There is no ban on food additives that are of public concern. This is because the scope of food additives is too large. Condiments such as salt, soy sauce, and vinegar that we use daily are all additives. If additives are completely banned, it will not be conducive to the development of the pre-prepared food industry. As for the abuse of flavors and colorants that everyone is more concerned about, the "Notice" also stated that food additives "should not be added unless necessary", and the state will also issue relevant limit standards to control the food safety of pre-prepared meals with the "four most stringent" requirements.

Another measure that has attracted much attention in the "Notice" is the requirement to vigorously promote the explicit use of pre-prepared dishes in the catering industry , protect consumers' right to know and right to choose, and create conditions for explicit use in the catering industry. Before the "Notice" was issued, the scope of pre-prepared dishes was too broad and the definition was vague, and consumers were also particularly concerned about the use of pre-prepared dishes. This important measure not only responds to social concerns and protects consumers' right to know. It also reflects the country's confidence in the food safety of the pre-prepared food industry and is a manifestation of the standardization of pre-prepared dishes.

Are pre-prepared meals necessarily the antonym of nutritious, healthy and safe?

When it comes to pre-prepared meals, many people think that pre-prepared meals are leftovers, which are harmful to the human body. In fact, there is an essential difference between pre-prepared meals and leftovers. There are two criteria for judging the harm of leftovers to the human body. One is whether there is a large number of bacterial reproduction, and the other is whether a large amount of nitrite is produced . Leftovers are more likely to be mixed with bacteria, which can easily cause a large number of bacterial reproduction. Under the action of bacteria, it is also easier to produce nitrite. Therefore, if there are a lot of stir-fried dishes, they should be placed directly in a clean fresh-keeping box and put in the refrigerator after cooling, rather than putting them in the refrigerator after eating the leftovers.

Pre-prepared meals have strict cooking and sterilization processes, which will not cause bacterial contamination. Refrigerated and frozen storage and transportation conditions will not cause massive bacterial reproduction, and the nitrite produced during the shelf life can be ignored.

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03 How to choose the “vegetable plate” to promote development through intensive cultivation ?

As an intersection of traditional catering processing and modern food processing, the pre-prepared food market has broad prospects for development. The Central Government's No. 1 Document of 2023 proposed for the first time to cultivate and develop the pre-prepared food industry, which also injected strong impetus into the vigorous development of the pre-prepared food industry. The raw materials of pre-prepared food are edible agricultural products. Leading pre-prepared food companies are conducive to promoting agricultural structural adjustment and cultivating agricultural specialty industries. The demand for pre-prepared food promotes farmers to produce green, high-quality and safe agricultural products, improves quality, and transforms the "vegetable basket" into the "vegetable plate", which helps promote rural revitalization.

my country has a rich food culture, with countless delicious foods, but the requirements for chefs are high, and the same dish is prone to inconsistent tastes. The standardization of cooking techniques for pre-prepared dishes is conducive to the industrialization of Chinese food, allowing people to enjoy a variety of delicacies without leaving home. Large-scale production of the pre-prepared food industry can also significantly improve production efficiency, effectively reduce waste, increase the comprehensive utilization rate of by-products, and promote the integrated development of processing, e-commerce, logistics and other industrial chains.

With so many types of pre-prepared meals available, how can you choose the one that suits you?

First of all, from the perspective of food safety, pre-prepared meals are foods. Like other foods, there is no zero risk in food safety. You should try to choose products produced by large manufacturers, such as those that have passed ISO9000, ISO22000, HACCP and other certifications. Generally, this will be indicated on the label. Large manufacturers' food procurement, processing technology, and food quality and safety control capabilities are relatively more guaranteed. Do not choose products from small workshops without manufacturer, production date, or production license information.

Secondly, learn to read food labels such as ingredient lists and nutritional information tables. Pre-prepared meals themselves do not increase the risk of "three highs". What really brings the risk of "three highs" is the "heavy taste eating habits." Compared with home-cooked dishes, in pursuit of deliciousness, restaurant dishes often add more oil and salt, and prefer fried and pan-fried cooking methods. Long-term and excessive consumption does increase the risk of chronic diseases such as "obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood lipids." A healthy diet advocates low salt, less oil, and less sugar. It is recommended that you choose products that are cooked by steaming, stewing, and boiling.

Food is the most important thing for people, and food safety comes first. With the development of the times, pre-prepared meals have gradually become inseparable from people's daily diet. Nowadays, relevant documents on pre-prepared meal specifications and food safety are constantly being issued. I believe that with the help of strengthening measures to enhance the development momentum of the catering industry and popularizing food safety science, my country's food industry will also be full of vitality.

Author: Wang Guoyi, Associate Professor of Beijing University of Technology, Chairman of the Senior Food and Health Committee of Beijing Food Society, Postdoctoral Fellow of Nutrition and Food Safety of China Agricultural University

Reviewer: Luo Yunbo, academician of the International Academy of Food Science, member of the expert committee of the State Council Food Safety Committee, professor of Beijing Technology and Business University

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Produced by: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., China Science and Technology Publishing House (Beijing) Digital Media Co., Ltd.

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