New rules force ingredients in goat milk powder to come true

After the registration system of infant formula, the strictest new policy on milk powder in history, was implemented in October this year, the State Food and Drug Administration recently announced supporting rules, which strictly regulated the labeling of formula milk powder. especially for sheep milk powder, which has emerged as a new force in recent years, it will certainly not work if it is mixed with "milk" in the future. The reporter recently learned through a survey that many enterprises began to embark on the road of "looking for sheep", laying out the market of goat whey powder resources one after another. Experts said that the new policy will force 150 sheep formula brands to withdraw from the market, and the sheep milk powder market will be regulated.

New rules of □

Goat milk powder mixed with cow whey should be clearly marked.

As early as June 8 this year, the measures for the Registration of Infant Formula Milk Powder issued by the State Food and Drug Administration clearly stipulated that if there is an animal source in the product name, the animal source of raw milk, milk powder, whey (protein) powder and other dairy raw materials used should be truthfully marked in the list of ingredients according to the product formula. When the raw materials used for dairy products have more than two animal sources, the proportion of raw materials of various animal sources shall be indicated.

Not long ago, the State Food and Drug Administration formulated and issued the Project and requirements of Application Materials for the Registration of Infant Formula Milk Powder products (for trial implementation) and the key points of on-site Verification and judgment principles for the Registration of Infant Formula Milk Powder products (for trial implementation), to make detailed provisions on the registration of infant formula milk powder products. This means that during the transition period before January 2018, enterprises can proceed with the registration of formulations accordingly.

This time, the above provisions of formula milk powder are once again clearly stated in the application materials and requirements for formula registration announced by the State Food and Drug Administration, which means that the controversial phenomenon of goat milk powder mixed with cow whey powder but not marked will be regulated in the future.

□ market

There are more than 200 brands of sheep milk powder.

Searching for "goat milk powder" on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, you will find that there are many products named goat milk powder, both Chinese and foreign brands. "most of China's goat milk powder is produced in Shaanxi," said Wang Dingmian, an expert in dairy industry. at present, 17 dairy enterprises have obtained the production qualification of goat milk infant milk powder, with more than 200 brands. Compared with milk infant formula, goat milk powder has many advantages, such as some nutrients of goat milk are better than milk, closer to breast milk, casein content is lower, easy to digest and absorb. In addition, about 10% of 15% of babies are not suitable to eat milk powder because of allergies. If they switch to goat milk powder, they will be safe and have a lower rate of allergies. Because of this, the development momentum of goat milk powder is very good in recent years.

However, the country does not have a specific standard for infant formula sheep milk powder, enterprises are in accordance with the existing standards of infant formula milk powder production and processing. With the expansion of the market, the use of whey powder in goat milk powder has been criticized by many people in the industry. It is understood that a can of formula, in addition to raw milk (or milk powder), accounts for a larger part is whey powder, both of which account for 80% of a can of milk powder. At present, the vast majority of infant formula goat milk powder sold on the market use a lot of whey powder, but there is no label on the packaging.

This phenomenon has always existed in the industry. "mainly driven by interests," some industry insiders told reporters that the output of goat milk itself is low, the price of goat whey powder is several times higher than that of cow white powder, and the sales price of goat milk powder is also much higher than that of cow milk powder. If a lower-cost whey is used, but the sales price is much higher than that of ordinary formula milk powder, its profit margin will be greater.

There are very few brands of pure sheep milk powder.

Recently, the reporter has continuously investigated the market and found that in fact, some of the infant formula goat milk powder is pure goat whey powder, but the quantity is very small.

On Tmall, the reporter searched and checked many baby matching sheep milk powder products, the brands clearly marked on the outer packaging are Shengyuan Youbo, Australian excellent Jiabei, New Zealand imported Blue River Sheep Milk Powder, France's Fayinte, Australia's Weiaijia, Shaanxi Zhiguan, Xi'an Yinqiao Dairy's Aibaorui and so on.

The reporter found that Shengyuan Youbo baby with sheep milk powder special emphasis, it has been the selection of pure goat milk powder and goat milk powder. Aoyou's Jiabeite sales page directly reminds consumers, "Please pay attention to the list of ingredients. If it is goat milk powder containing desalted whey powder (cow whey powder), it may not be 100% goat whey protein."

The reporter noticed that all labels marked the use of "goat whey powder" infant goat milk powder, the store in the product introduction, have a special emphasis on this point. The infant goat milk powder labeled "whey powder" on the label did not disclose whether the whey powder came from "cow" or "sheep".

"at present, it is estimated that there are only about 10 brands of goat milk powder that really use goat whey powder on the market," Wang Dingmian told reporters.

□ interpretation

Consumers have the right to know the ingredients of milk powder.

For the requirements of goat milk powder to mark the real ingredients, many enterprises do not seem to like it. A Wechat account named Xi'an Mengyang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. wrote publicly: "in recent years, some sheep milk powder enterprises have trumpeted that the whey powder used in their infant formula is goat whey powder. In order to suppress other domestic sheep milk powder counterparts, this is actually a marketing means." "it is confusing for some people and media reporters to ask enterprises to indicate whether goat milk powder or cow milk powder is used on the packaging of infant formula. I do not know what is the reason for this." The company even defended itself by saying: "adding whey powder to goat milk powder is another 'black history' in which goat milk powder has been slandered."

According to the above statement, is it not true to add whey powder to goat milk powder? According to a recording obtained by the reporter, a consumer recently consulted the Shaanxi Red Star Meiling, which is listed on the new third board and is known as the first listed company of goat milk powder. The staff of the company confirmed that the milk powder of the red star beautiful antelope baby was used in the goat milk powder.

Through industrial and commercial information inquiry, the reporter found that Xi'an Mengyang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. operates business including wholesale and retail of infant formula milk powder.

In fact, with regard to the issue that the source of whey powder in goat milk powder should be clearly identified, many people in the industry believe that its main purpose is to let consumers understand consumption and return consumers' right to know. After all, cow whey is used in goat milk powder. There must be one more allergen. After labeling, parents of babies who are allergic to milk will be able to understand consumption when choosing and buying. What's more, the cost of goat milk powder added with whey has been greatly reduced, but sheep's milk is sold at a high price as a gimmick, which is also suspected of unfair competition.

□ countermeasure

Enterprises have transformed themselves to "look for sheep".

Although individual enterprises are still resistant to the new policy rules, the rules are unbreakable. "in fact, goat's milk has become a new bright spot in the current market, and the market prospect is optimistic and optimistic," Wang Dingmian said. at a dairy summit in the first half of this year, some foreign experts said that the French have also been interested in goat milk powder in the past year or two. 25% of the children who originally drank milk powder switched to goat milk powder, which shows that the market prospect is bright all over the world.

Coinciding with the market reshuffle brought about by the national new policy, the reporter learned from the industry that many enterprises are developing raw materials and pure sheep milk powder market, and some enterprises are also seeking the road of transformation.

Previously, some goat milk powder enterprises said that the reason for using whey powder was that it was difficult to find goat whey powder in the international market. In fact, as a by-product of cheese, goat whey powder, which has been imported for a long time, is now produced in China. The reporter learned from the industry that Honghui Dairy, founded in 2009 in Jianshui County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, has invested 450 million yuan to build a 40, 000 dairy goat farm and a sheep milk powder processing plant. However, the person in charge of the company said in an interview with reporters that according to the new national policy, if all domestic infant formula goat milk powder uses goat whey powder, the market demand should be more than 20, 000 tons. Honghui's annual production capacity of 3000 tons is far from meeting the market demand.