CIRCULAR

CONTENTS AND PRESENTATION OF NUTRITION FACTS ON FOOD LABELS

Pursuant to the Law on Food Safety No. 55/2010/QH12 dated June 17^th 2010;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP dated April 14^th 2017 on goods labels; the Government’s Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP dated December 9^th 2010 on amendments to Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 95/2022/ND-CP dated November 15^th 2022 on functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Health;

At the request of the Director of Legal Department;

The Minister of Health promulgates a Circular on contents and presentation of nutrition facts on food labels.

Chapter I

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Article 1. Scope

1. This Circular provides guidance on contents and presentation of nutrients and their values (hereinafter referred to as "nutrition facts") on food labels, and the roadmap for implementation with regard to prepackaged foods that are manufactured, sold, imported into, circulated in Vietnam.

2. This Circular does not apply to the following ingredients and foods:

a) Ingredients and foods that are not directly sold to consumers, including ice;

b) Any food that has only one ingredient;

c) Mineral water, bottled water (including those with added CO₂ and/or flavorings);

d) Edible salt, refined salt;

dd) Vinegar and vinegar substitutes, including those with added flavorings;

e) Flavorings, additives, food processing aids;

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h) Tea and coffee that do not contain any ingredient other than colorings and flavorings;

i) Health supplements;

k) Alcoholic drinks;

l) Foods prescribed in Clause 2 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP dated April 14^th 2017 on goods labeling (hereinafter referred to as "Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP), which is amended by the Government’s Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP, and foods prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 25 of the Government’s Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2^nd 2018 elaborating the Law on Food Safety (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP);

m) Foods manufactured by micro food businesses defined in Clause 10 Article 3 of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP;

3. Organizations and individuals prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article that voluntarily specify nutrition facts on their food labels shall implement this Circular.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Circular applies to organizations and individuals responsible for food labeling; food safety authorities, organizations and individuals that are relevant to display of nutrition facts on food labels.

Article 3. Definitions

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1. Energy means the chemical energy absorbed by the human body from food to sustain life, function and grow, calculated using the energy conversion factor and energy-generating elements in the food.

2. Protein is an organic compound that contains nitrogen and consists of amino acids, calculated using conversion factors of organic nitrogen in the food.

3. Carbohydrates are compound of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen arranged in the form of simple sugars (monosaccharides) or multiples of monosaccharides and do not contain fiber.

4. Total Sugars are total amount of monosaccharides and disaccharides in food (including natural sugar and added sugar).

5. Total Fat is an organic compound that does not contain nitrogen, contains mainly triglycerides, fatty acids, cholesterol and phospholipids.

6. Saturated Fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains do not have double bond.

7. Sodium (Na) is an alkali metal contained in salts, seasonings, some natural foods and other additives.

8. Dietary reference values are recommendations for nutritional intake for Vietnamese people based on scientific data in order to maintain optimal nutrition and reduce the risk of non-communicable diet-related diseases.

Article 4. Rules for writing nutrition facts on food labels

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2. Nutrition facts must be accurate and do not cause confusion or misunderstanding of nutritional value of the food.

3. Nutrition facts on food labels must be recognizable, comprehensible and indelible.

Chapter II

CONTENTS AND PRESENTATION OF NUTRITION FACTS ON FOOD LABELS

Article 5. Nutrient contents

1. The following nutrient contents shall be specified on labels of foods that are manufactured, sold, imported into, circulated in Vietnam:

a) Energy;

b) Protein;

c) Carbohydrate;

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dd) Sodium.

2. Labels of soft drink and processed milk with added sugar prescribed in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP and other foods with added sugar shall specify 05 nutrient contents prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article and total sugar.

3. Labels of fried foods shall specify 05 nutrient contents prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article and saturated fat.

4. Regarding foods that do not contain the nutrients specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, or their nutritional values are smaller than the values specified in Appendix I hereof, they can be excluded from the food labels.

Article 6. Presentation of nutrition facts

1. Energy shall be expressed as kilocalories (kcal); protein, carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, total sugar shall be expressed as gram (g); sodium shall be expressed as milligram (mg) per 100g or 100ml of food, per serving (if serving sized is specified on the label), or per pack (if a package has a certain number of packs).

2. Percentage (%) of dietary reference values of the nutrients specified Article 5 of this Circular can also be specified, In which case instructions in Appendix II hereof shall be followed.

3. The nutritional values specified in Article 5 of this Circular shall be written in numbers, where they are visible and noticeable, and in conformity with the rules specified in Article 4 of this Circular.

4. Tolerances of nutritional values specified Article 5 and Article 6 of this Circular shall comply with Clause 1 Article 17 of Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP.

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IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSES

Article 7. Effect

This Circular comes into force from February 15^th 2024.

Article 8. Implementation roadmap

1. By December 31^st 2025, organizations and individuals that manufacture, sell, import foods that are regulated by this Circular for circulation in Vietnam shall specify nutrition facts on goods labels in accordance with regulations of this Circular.

2. From January 1^st 2026, organizations and individuals must not manufacture, print, import and use labels that are not conformable with this Circular.

Article 9. Transition clauses

Foods with labels that do not contain adequate nutrition facts as prescribed by this Circular that have been permitted for manufacture, sale, import, circulation in Vietnam before January 1^st 2026 may remain in circulation until the expiry dates written on their labels.

Article 10. Terms of reference

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Article 11. Implementation organization

1. Responsibilities of units of and affiliated to the Ministry of Health:

a) Legal Department shall take charge and cooperate with Vietnam Food Administration, General Department of Preventive Medicine, Pediatric and Maternal Health Department and relevant units in disseminate and provide guidance on implementation of this Circular.

b) Vietnam Food Administration, General Department of Preventive Medicine, Pediatric and Maternal Health Department shall, within their functions and duties, cooperate with relevant agencies and units of food-related Ministries specified in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP in organizing the implementation of this Circular.

c) Nutrition Institute shall review and propose revisions to dietary reference values in Appendix II hereof.

2. The People’s Committees of provinces and centrally affiliated cities shall organize the implementation of this Circular locally.

Article 12. Responsibility for implementation

Heads of units of and affiliated to the Ministry of Health, relevant organizations and individuals are responsible for implementation of this Circular. 

Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Health (Legal Department) for consideration./.

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PP. THE MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Do Xuan Tuyen

APPENDIX I

NON-COMPULSORY NUTRIENT CONTENTS ON FOOD LABELS [1]
(Promulgated together with Circular No. 29/2023/TT-BYT dated December 30^th 2023 of the Minister of Health)

1. Energy ≤ 4 kcal per 100 ml (liquid).

2. Protein ≤ 0,5 g per 100 g (solid) or per 100 ml (liquid).

3. Carbohydrate ≤ 0,5 g per 100 g (solid) or per 100 ml (liquid).

4. Fat ≤ 0,5 g per 100 g (solid) or per 100 ml (liquid).

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6. Total sugar ≤ 0,5 g per 100 g (solid) or ≤ 0,5 g per 100 ml (liquid).

7. Sodium ≤ 0,005 g per 100 g.

APPENDIX II

DIETARY REFERENCE VALUES
(Promulgated together with Circular No. 29/2023/TT-BYT dated December 30^th 2023 of the Minister of Health)

No.

Nutrient content

Unit

Dietary reference value

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1

Energy

Kcal

2000

Recommended dietary allowance for the Vietnamese population, daily diet according to National Nutrition Survey

2

Protein

g

50

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3

Carbohydrate

g

325

Recommended dietary allowance for the Vietnamese population

4

Total sugar

g

-

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5

Fat, including: Saturated fat

g

g

56

20

Fat: According to Recommended dietary allowance for the Vietnamese population, fat should not exceed 25% of energy intake;

Saturated fat: Recommendation of Codex Alimentarius

6

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mg

2000

Recommendation of WHO and Codex Alimentarius