Japan Revises the Ingredient Standards for Beverage
On June 29, 2021, Japan MHLW unveiled an amendment to “Standards and criteria for food and food additives, etc.” According to the amendment, the ingredient standards of mineral water (The Japanese Food Sanitation Law classifies it in the category of beverage) were revised. Notably, in Japan the “mineral water” includes products sterilized and unsterilized, and each category has its own standards.
The revisions for the two categories are as the following:
- mineral water (unsterilized)
| Substance |
Current standard |
Previous standard |
| Hexavalent chromium | ＜0.02mg/L |
＜0.05mg/L |
- mineral water (sterilized)
| Substance | Current standard | Previous standard |
| Hexavalent chromium |
＜0.02mg/L |
＜0.05mg/L |
| Chloroacetic acid |
＜0.02mg/L |
/ |
| Dichloroacetic acid |
＜0.03mg/L |
/ |
| Trichloroacetic acid |
＜0.03mg/L |
/ |
| Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate | ＜0.07mg/L |
/ |
The amendment became effective upon its publication on June 29 with a six-month grace period. When processing, using, cooking, storing and selling the domestically produced and imported beverage within this six-month, the technical specification of Hexavalent chromium can refer to both previous and new standard, but that of Chloroacetic acid, Dichloroacetic acid, Trichloroacetic acid, Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate are subject to the old standard only.
