For a long time, canned food has held a marginal position in the consumption structure of Chinese households. However, with the explosion of the "single-person economy" and the refinement of civil emergency response systems, staple food canned products, characterized by room-temperature preservation, are becoming a key variable in industrial upgrading. Recently, the release of the draft for comments on the industry standard for "Staple Food Canned Products" not only fills a regulatory gap in China's grain-based canned food technology but also establishes "rules" for this industrial breakthrough.

Market Shift / The Underlying Logic from "Supporting Role" to "Essential Need"

At severalchain supermarkets in Fengtai, Beijing, a Consumer Daily reporter observed a significant change: traditional high-sugar fruit canned products are receding, while "staple food canned products" such as udon noodles, multigrain rice, and whole wheat bread are grabbing center stage. Behind this shift lie two overlapping essential-needs markets:

• The Single-Person Economy and the Convenience Gap

Traditional cooking models cannot meet the demand for "efficient, single-serving" meals. Staple food canned products, with their room-temperature storage feature, effectively fill the market gap between fresh food and frozen products.

• The Safety Backbone of National Strategy

In the face of public health crises and extreme weather challenges, high-calorie, long-shelf-life staple food canned products have transcended their commercial attributes to become an indispensable part of the national security reserve system – their importance far exceeding that of mere consumer goods.

Defining "Staple Food Canned Products"

In today's consumption landscape, buyers of canned goods generally fall into two categories: those who know exactly what they want and grab it, and those who repeatedly compare ingredient labels in front of the shelf. But regardless of category, most people's understanding of "staple food canned products" still seems stuck in the "eight-treasure porridge" era.

In fact, over the past two years, the variety of staple food canned products in supermarkets has been quietly expanding, with product iteration even outpacing traditional meat and fruit canned goods. Beyond classic options like longan and lotus seed porridge, new flavors such as purple sweet potato and purple rice porridge, red date and millet porridge, peeled corn porridge, as well as low-sugar series targeting health-conscious consumers, are gradually becoming new growth drivers. Despite the increasingly diverse choices on shelves, the concept of "staple food canned products" remains vague in consumers' minds – they've heard of it but struggle to articulate what it really is.

Standardization to Fuel Industry Expansion

Recently, the draft for comments on the industry standard for "Staple Food Canned Products," jointly drafted by the China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries, the China Canned Food Industry Association, and other organizations, was officially released for public comment. This marks a key step forward in the standardization system for China's canned food industry.

1.Redefinition: Covering All Grain-Based Foods

For the first time, "staple food canned products" are scientifically defined: canned foods made primarily from one or more ingredients such as cereals, legumes, tubers, and their processed products, through processes including processing and shaping. This brings noodles, rice noodles, steamed buns, and even bread into the regulatory scope, achieving a shift from "single-category porridge" to "full-category staple foods" and establishing a comprehensive grain-based product matrix.

2."De-Industrialization" of Sensory Indicators

The standard directly addresses pain points, strictly prohibiting a "raw starch flavor" and introducing a "dispersibility" indicator. This means that future canned noodles will no longer be "clumps of dough" but must approximate freshly prepared texture.

• Eliminating "Raw Taste": The product is explicitly forbidden to have a raw starch flavor.
• Emphasizing "Dispersibility": For noodle and rice noodle products, the standard specifically introduces a "dispersibility" indicator. This poses a significant challenge to production processes, requiring companies to innovate in sterilization techniques and formulations to ensure that the reheated product closely resembles freshly made food, rather than a sticky mass.

3.Scientifically Quantified Physicochemical Indicators

By meticulously setting sensory indicators such as color, taste and odor, tissue structure, and impurities, the standard ensures that products meet high standards in appearance and taste, satisfying consumers' visual and palatal needs. Strict regulations on physicochemical indicators – including moisture content, acidity, natural strand separation rate, cooking loss rate, strand adhesion rate, and specific volume – drive the industry's transition from "filling the stomach" to "functional nutrition."

Labeling Revolution: A Market Strategy to Break Stereotypes

Beyond technical indicators, the standard's innovation in labeling and identification reflects regulators' deep insight into consumer psychology.

• De-Canned Naming

For a long time, the term "canned" in Chinese consumers' minds has often been associated with "preservatives" and "not fresh." The standard creatively proposes: "The product name does not need to include the word 'canned'." For example, "Braised Beef Noodles Canned" can be directly labeled as "Braised Beef Noodles." This measure will significantly lower consumers' psychological resistance and help products enter the mainstream fast-food market.

• Transparency of Health Information

The standard encourages companies to label glycemic index (GI) values and serving suggestions. In an era of rapidly growing sugar-control and fitness populations, GI labeling will become a key selling point for product premiumization, driving the industry's shift from "filling the stomach" to "functional nutrition."

Industry Outlook: Raised Barriers and Reshaped Landscape

"Standardization can play a guiding, safeguarding, and supporting role in the development of the food industry," Qiu Kai emphasized in an exclusive interview with Consumer Daily. With the implementation of this standard, the staple food canned products industry will face a deep restructuring:

• Higher Entry Barriers: Small and medium-sized workshops that cannot solve the issues of "dispersibility" and "undercooked texture" will be eliminated.
• Standardized Market Competition: A unified benchmark will curb low-price, low-quality competition and protect the R&D enthusiasm of compliant enterprises.
• Empowered Emergency Response System: Standardized staple food canned products will provide authoritative technical basis for the procurement of civil emergency and disaster relief supplies in China.

This is not merely the release of a standard; it is a microcosm of the Chinese food industry's transition from "manufacturing" to "quality manufacturing"!!!

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