THIS REPORT CONTAINS ASSESSMENTS OF COMMODITY AND TRADE ISSUES MADE BY
USDA STAFF AND NOT NECESSARILY STATEMENTS OF OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENTPOLICY

Voluntary- Public

Date: 5/19/2011
GAIN Report Number:

China - Peoples Republic ofPost: Beijing

National Food Safety Standard on Honey (draft)
Report Categories:
FAIRS Subject Report
Approved By:
Scott Sindelar
Prepared By:
Melinda Meador and Wu Bugang
Report Highlights:
On May 10, 2011, China’s Ministry of Health notified to the WTO the National Food Safety Standard onHoney (draft) as G/SPS/N/CHN/362 to solicit comments until May 18, 2011. This report contains anunofficial translation of the draft standard.

General Information:
BEGIN TRANSLATION

National Food Safety Standard
Honey
GB14963-xxxx
Issue date:
Adoption date:Issued by the Ministry of HealthForeword

This standard replaces GB 14963-2003, the Hygienic Standard for Honey as well as some of theindexes in GB 18796-2005, Honey; in case any index in GB 18796-2005, Honey referred to in thisstandard, the indexes in this standard shall prevail.
This standard contains the following major modifications on the basis of GB 14963-2003:—Modifies the scope of the standard;—Adds the definition for honey;—Modifies the requirements on raw materials into the requirements on honey sources; andclarifies the varieties and names of the major poisonous honey plants;—Modifies the organoleptic requirements;—Modifies the physical and chemical indexes;—Adds the requirements on the maximum limit of pollutants, the maximum limit of veterinary
drug residue and the maximum limit of pesticide residue;—Adds the requirements on the counting of osmophilic yeast

National Food Safety StandardHoney
1. Scope
This standard applies to honey but not to the products of honey.
2. Terms and Definitions

Honey
Honey is a natural sweet substance made through fully brewing when the nectar, secretion and sweet
deposits from plants are gathered, mixed with the secretion of their own, modified and stored in thehoneycomb by honey bees.
3. Technical requirements
3.1 Requirements on honey source
The nectar, secretion and sweet deposits gathered by the honey bees from the plants shall be safe andinnocuous and shall not be derived from the plants with nocuous honey sources such as Tripterygium
wilfordii Hook.F, Macleaya cordata (Willd.) R.Br and Stellera chamaejasme chamaejasme L.
3.2 Organoleptic Requirement
Depending on the honey sources, the color and luster of the honey shall vary from water-white (nearlyachromatic color) to dust-color with unique savor free from extraneous odor, taking the shape of viscous
fluid at normal temperatures, or crystallized in full or in part and shall not contain the limbs or larva of thehoney bees or the pieces of wax or any macroscopical impurities (excluding wax comb honey).
3.3 Physical and Chemical Indexes
The physical and chemical indexes specified in Table 1 shall be satisfied.

Table 1 Physical and Chemical Indexes
ItemFructose and /dextrose (g/100 g)≧
Cane sugar/(g/100 g)
Eucalyptus honey, citrus honey, cloverhoney
Lychee honeyWild osmanthus honey≦
Other honeys≦
Zn/(mg/kg)≦Index

Testing
methods

60

GB/T 18932.22

10525

GB/T 5009.14

3.4 Maximum Limit to Pollutants
The maximum limit of pollutants shall comply with the provisions in GB 2762.
3.5 The maximum limit of veterinary drug residues and the maximum limit of pesticideresidues

3.5.1 The maximum limit of veterinary drug residues
The maximum limit of veterinary drug residues shall comply with the provisions in relevant
standards.
3.5.2 The maximum limit to pesticide residues
The maximum limit of pesticide residues shall comply with the provisions in GB 2763.
3.6 Maximum Limit to Microorganism
The maximum limit of microorganisms shall comply with the provisions in Table 2.
Table 2: Maximum Limit to Microorganism
ItemIndex
Testing methoda
Total number of bacterial colony /(CFU/g) ≦1000
GB 4789.2
0.3
GB 4789.3
Coliform /(MPN/g)≦Mould counting /(CFU/g)≦200
GB 4789.15
200A
Osmophilic yeast Counting /(CFU/g) ≦ppendix A
Salmonella /( /25 g)
No detected GB 4789.4
Shigella /( /25 g)
No detected GB/T 4789.5
Staphylococcus aureus /( /25 g)
No detected GB 4789.10
a Analysis and treatment of samples are carried out according to GB 4789.1

Appendix A
Osmophilic yeast Counting
A. 1 Devices and materials
Other than the devices for routine sterilization and culture in microorganism laboratory, otherdevices and materials are as follows:
A.1.1 Constant temperature incubator: 25°C±1°C.
A.1.2 Ice box: 2 °C〜5 °C.

A.1.3 Homogenizer and asepsis homogeneous bags, homogeneous cups and sterilization mortar.
A.1.4 Scale with Sensitivity 0.1 g.
A.1.5 Asepsis tube:18 mmx180 mm.

A.1.6 Asepsis sucker: 1 mL (with the gage of 0.01 mL), 10 mL (with the gage of 0.01 mL) or
micropipette and the sucking head
A.1.7 Asepsis erlenmeyer flask: 500 mL，250 mL。
A.1.8 Asepsis petri dish: 90 mm in diameter.

A.1.9 Asepsis L-shape spreading rod: made of the materials of glass, plastics or stainless steel withdiameter of the rod less than 2 mm.

A.1.10 Microscope:10x〜100x.

A.2Culture medium and reagent
A.2.1 Dextrose Solution 30%, (pH 6.5±0.5)
A.2.1.1 Compositions
Anhydrous dextrose
30.0 gDistilled water
100 ML
A.2.1.2 Method of preparation
Right amount of dextrose is weighed and dissolved into distilled water; adjust the pH value toabout 6.4 if necessary. When sub-packaged, it is autoclaved at 115°C for 20 minutes.
A.2.2 Dichloran, glycerin 18% (DG18) and agar-agar
A.2.2.1 CompositionsPeptone from Casein
5.0 g
Anhydrous dextrose
10.0 gPpotassium dihydrogen phosphate
1.0 g
Magnesium sulphate（MgSO4 • H2O) 0.5 g
Dichloran
0.002 gAnhydrous glycerol
200 g
Agar15 g
Chloramphenicol
0.1 gDistilled water1000 mL
A.2.2.2 Method of preparation
In addition to Chloramphenicol, all the components are heated to boiling and fully dissolved;
adjust the pH value to about 6.4 if necessary. Add Antibiotics into, it is autoclaved at 121°C
for 15 minutes, getting the final pH 5.6±0.2. After sterilization, immediately cool in 44°C〜47°C
water bath to below 50°C. Inject about 15 mL〜20 mL of culture medium into each sterilized Petridish, place them onto a horizontal table to solidify for use. If necessary, it may be placed into a 36°C incubator for a night to keep dry and free of water drops on the surface of the agar. Then store
away from light.
A.3 Test program
The test program for Osmophilic yeast is shown in Fig A1.

Sample of 25 g+225g Dextrose Solution 30%, fully vibrated and homogenized↓

10 serial dilution↓Select 2 or 3 properly diluted degrees, use 0.1 mL of each to coat 2 DG18 agar
↓25°C±1°C, 5 d〜7dCount the bacterial colonies; Observe the dubious colony under microscope as required↓ReportFig A.1 Diagram fortest program for Osmophilic yeast

A.4 Operational procedure
A.4.1 Sample collection and storage
When collected, the sample is required to be tested as soon as possible; if not, an ordinary sample
should be kept in the refrigerator at 2°C〜5°C and be tested within 24 hours; the frozen sample
should be thawed below 45 °C no more than 15 minutes or at 2°C〜5°C no more than 18 hours.
A.4.2 Sample dilution
A.4.2.1 Sampling
Weigh 25 g of solid or liquid sample to be tested by a scale under aseptic manipulation; add into
225 g diluent of Dextrose Solution 30%, homogenizing for one minute by a rotating blade
homogenizer or slapping for two minutes by a slap type homogenizer to prepare into 1:10
homogenized diluent. In case of no homogenizer, put the sample into an asepsis erlenmeyer flaskwith glass beads, then full vibrate.
A.4.2.2 Gradient dilution

Suck one mL of 1:10 diluent by an asepsis sucker, inject the diluent into a tube with 9 mL of
Dextrose Solution 30%, blending by a vortex shaker to prepare 1:100 diluent. Use another 1
mL asepsis sucker to prepare the diluent by ten times increment according to the previous
manipulation; whenever one time of increment for dilution, change one 1 mL asepsis sucker.
A.4.3 Coating and cultivation
A.4.3.1 On the basis of the estimate of the polluted extent of the samples to be tested, select 2 to 3
series of proper dilution to inoculate 2 DG18 agar plates. When the diluent is fully blended,inoculate the diluent onto the surface of each plate immediately; and then, use asepsis L-shapecoating rod to coat the surface of the agar plate thoroughly. It is noted that the bottom end of thecoating rod should not touch the edge of Petri dish. While testing the samples, it is required thattwo DG18 agar plates should be inoculated with 0.1 mL diluent for blank control.
A.4.3.2 After inoculation, it is required to place all the plates inside the 25°C±1°C constanttemperature incubator to cultivate away from light as soon as possible. Don’t turn over the Petri
dish while cultivating. After 48 hours of cultivation, it is required to begin to observe the growthof the fungi on the plates every day so as to prevent the overspread of mould from covering thetarget bacterial colonies. The cultivation ends at the seventh day.
A.4.4 Counting of bacterial colonies
A.4.4.1 Select the plates with the number of bacterial colonies from 15 to 150 to count the numberof bacterial colonies.
A.4.4.2 Typical Osmophilic yeast is a round bacterial colony with the center uplifting, opaque yettidy edged, with diameter of 1 mm〜2 mm on the DG18 agar plates. If necessary, use low-power
microscope to directly observe whether the bacterial colony growing onto the plates is thetargeted bacterial colony or not. In case of interference of mold colony, the counting offilamentous colony should ignore?.
A.4.5Report
The number of the Osmophilic yeast in the samples shall be reported in the unit of CFU /g withreference to the reporting mode as prescribed in GB 47892.
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