Monthly Archives: October 2018

Top food technology programs in Chinese universities

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In an earlier post, I explained the institutional structure of the Chinese food (ingredients) industry. However, the trends and developments introduced in this blog would not have been possible without a constant influx of fresh young food technologists. I have mentioned several universities in this blog and some posts are dedicated to graduation creations of Chinese food technology students:

Several of the companies introduced in this blog have long term agreements with universities for their product development. In turn, the universities often need the facilities of the companies for intermediate and large scale pilot production of the processed they have developed.

Chinese love lists of top this or top that and you can bet there is a list of the top food technology programs at Chinese universities as well. The following table lists the top 10 of 2018. All listed universities offer full food technology programs. However, some are especially known for their R&D in specific fields. I have added a field which the institutions themselves indicate as one of their major focus topics.

Rank Name City Region Special field(s)
1 Jiangnan University Wuxi Jiangsu fermentation
2 China Ocean University Shanghai * seafood
3 Nanchang University Nanchang Jiangxi nutrition
4 Tianjin Science & Technology University Tianjin * functional foods
5 Jilin University Changchun Jilin local resources
6 South China University of Technology Guangzhou Guangdong ingredients
7 Hefei University of Technology Hefei Anhui agricultural resources
8 Dalian University of Technology Dalian Liaoning seafood
9 Henan University of Technology Zhengzhou Henan cereals
10 Zhengzhou Light Industry University Zhengzhou Henan cereals

(*Shanghai and Tianjin are cities with provincial status)

In case you are interested in more details about these institutions or the following ones, please contact me. Eurasia Consult has in-depth knowledge about food technology education in China.

 

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a major book introducing the cultural drivers behind China’s economic success.

The management of new food additives and raw materials in China

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The food and beverage industry is a major pillar of the Chinese economy, which makes China also the largest growth market for food additives. China has produced 11,971,000 mt of various food additives in 2021; up 10.5%.

The current Chinese procedure for the registration of food ingredients (GB 2760-2014) dates from Dec. 31, 2014. As food ingredients are a core topic of this blog, it will be interesting to have a look at how this system has been functioning in the years after its promulgation up to June 2018. The data in this post are provided by the National Health Commission.

The following table lists the number of applications for new food additives or new applications of existing additives per year.

Year Applications
2014 63
2015 74
2016 73
2017 43
2018 16

(all figures of 2018 refer to the first half of that year)

Obviously, not all applications are honoured. The next table lists how many applications were actually approved; distinguishing new additives and new applications of existing ones.

Year New additives New applications
2015 2 11
2016 17 37
2017 20 21
2018 1 7

As indicated in an earlier post, China is a country that has an active Public Nutrition policy. Nutrients have a special registration procedure dating from March 15, 2012. The final table of this post is similar to the second, but now referring to nutrients that can be added to food and beverage products.

Year New additives New applications
2012 2 8
2013 1 4
2014 0 2
2015 0 0
2016 3 3
2017 3 0
2018 0 0

These figures indicate that the Chinese authorities have become more careful in the past few years in approving nutrients as food additives.

In July 2007, a law for managing ‘new food sources’ was adopted in China. This law regulates the approval procedure for new raw materials for the food and beverage industry. The following table shows the number of newly approved materials during the past few years, broken down in imported and domestic.

Year Imported Domestic Combined
2008 14 27 41
2009 22 48 70
2010 5 24 29
2011 11 50 61
2012 14 25 39
2013 27 44 71
2014 1 1 2
2015 9 11 20
2016 3 12 15
2017 1 8 9

These figures show a large fluctuation, but also an overall downward trend. Apparently, the control has grown stricter over the years to increase food safety.

This post can best be read in combination with the following previous posts:

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation.