GB 28050: China Nutrition Labeling Requirements

GB 28050 is China's national food safety standard for the nutrition labeling of prepackaged foods. The version in force for most products today, GB 28050-2011, requires a Chinese-language nutrition table with the "1+4" core: energy plus protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium, each with its percentage of the Nutrient Reference Value (NRV).

A revised standard, GB 28050-2025, was published in 2025 with a multi-year transition period, expanding the mandatory panel and pushing front-of-pack information. If you export to mainland China, GB 28050, together with GB 7718, the general labeling standard, governs what your label must say.

GB 28050 mandatory "1+4" nutrition panel

The nutrition table (营养成分表) must declare the required nutrients in order, with values per 100 g, per 100 ml, or per serving:

Nutrient	Chinese	Unit	NRV
Energy	能量	kJ	8400 kJ
Protein	蛋白质	g	60 g
Fat	脂肪	g	60 g
Carbohydrate	碳水化合物	g	300 g
Sodium	钠	mg	2000 mg

Two conventions can surprise Western exporters.

First, energy is declared in kilojoules. Kcal may be added, but kJ is the regulatory unit.

Second, the percentage column is NRV%, calculated against China's own reference values. It does not use US Daily Values or EU Reference Intakes, so the same recipe can produce different percentages in each market. See how the systems compare in RDA vs DV vs NRV.

Conditional and voluntary declarations under GB 28050

The core "1+4" panel is not necessarily the end of the nutrition information you need to declare. Other nutrients can become mandatory depending on your formulation and claims.

• Trans fat (反式脂肪酸) must be declared whenever hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are used in the product.
• Any nutrient for which you make a content or comparative claim must appear in the table, with claims meeting the standard's threshold conditions.
• Fortified nutrients must be declared with their NRV%.
• Zero declarations follow defined boundary values. Small residual amounts below the standard's "0" thresholds are declared as zero, similar in spirit to FDA rounding.

These rules mean you should review the formulation and every nutrition claim before deciding that the basic "1+4" table is enough.

China nutrition labeling language and format rules

For China nutrition labeling, the label must be in simplified Chinese. Other languages may accompany the Chinese text but cannot replace it, and foreign text may not be more prominent than the Chinese.

Imported products almost always need a compliant Chinese label, applied by the producer or importer, before customs clearance.

The nutrition table itself must follow the prescribed tabular presentation with borders, although linear text formats are allowed for small packages.

GB 7718 adds the general labeling particulars outside the nutrition table, including:

• Product name.
• Ingredient list in descending order.
• Net content.
• Producer and importer details.
• Production date and shelf life.
• License information for domestic goods.

Not every product needs the nutrition table. GB 28050 exempts categories such as fresh unprocessed foods, alcoholic beverages above a minimum strength, packaged water and very small packages, among others.

An exempt product loses the exemption the moment it makes a nutrition claim or is fortified.

Enforcement is real. Nutrition-table errors are a routine reason for import rejections at Chinese ports, and market regulators test declared values against defined tolerance bands. Your numbers therefore need to survive laboratory verification, not just arithmetic.

What GB 28050-2025 changes

The 2025 revision, with a transition period running toward full enforcement in 2027, is China's biggest nutrition-labeling update in over a decade.

The headline changes as published are:

• The mandatory panel expands beyond "1+4" to include saturated fat and sugars.
• New advisory language encourages reduced intake of oil, salt and sugar, including messaging aimed at children and adolescents.
• Voluntary front-of-pack nutrition information is encouraged, echoing the global FOP trend covered in our Chile and EU guides.

If you are designing packaging in 2026 for products with a long shelf life in the Chinese market, it is worth building the expanded declaration now rather than re-plating artwork mid-transition.

Building a GB 28050 nutrition label from your recipe

The mechanics are similar to preparing nutrition information for another market. You need an accurate per-100 g nutrient profile, converted to the local units and reference values.

NFL computes kJ energy, applies Chinese NRVs, renders the bordered 营养成分表 with the correct Chinese nutrient names, and keeps the same recipe reusable for the other markets on the coverage page.

Start from your formulation in recipe management and switch the output format to China.

GB 28050 FAQ

What is GB 28050-2011?

GB 28050-2011 is the version of China's national food safety standard for nutrition labeling that remains in force for most products today. It requires the core "1+4" nutrition declaration: energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium, together with NRV%. A revised GB 28050-2025 was published in 2025 with a multi-year transition period.

Can my China label be bilingual?

Yes. English or another language may appear alongside Chinese, provided the Chinese text is present, accurate and at least as prominent. A foreign-language-only panel, or a sticker that contradicts the printed foreign label, will fail inspection. Imported products therefore almost always need a compliant simplified Chinese label before customs clearance.

Is NRV% the same as %DV?

No. Both express a nutrient as a share of a daily reference, but their reference values differ. China's NRV for sodium is 2000 mg, for example, compared with the US DV of 2300 mg. An identical amount of sodium can therefore produce different percentages on Chinese and US nutrition labels.

When do I need to comply with GB 28050-2025?

The revised standard was published in 2025 with a transition period before mandatory application, running toward 2027. Products labeled under GB 28050-2011 during the transition remain compliant, but new artwork should anticipate the expanded saturated fat and sugars requirements.

Generate a compliant Chinese nutrition table from the same recipe you use for your US or EU label with the free generator.