The topic of "pre-made dishes" has recently garnered significant consumer attention. What exactly are pre-made dishes? In fact, relevant authorities issued related notifications last year, clarifying the definition of pre-made dishes and which foods do not fall under this category.

**What are Pre-made Dishes?**

On March 21, 2024, the State Administration for Market Regulation and five other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening Food Safety Supervision of Pre-made Dishes and Promoting High-Quality Industry Development," which clearly defined: Pre-made dishes, also called pre-made cuisine, are pre-packaged dishes made from one or more edible agricultural products and their derivatives as raw materials, with or without seasonings and other auxiliary materials, without adding preservatives, processed industrially (such as mixing, marinating, tumbling, forming, frying, deep-frying, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc.), with or without seasoning packets, meeting the storage, transportation and sales conditions specified on product labels, and can only be consumed after heating or cooking.

**Which Foods Do Not Qualify as Pre-made Dishes?**

From the perspective of dish attributes: - Fresh-cut vegetable foods that have only undergone simple processing such as washing, peeling, and cutting without cooking belong to edible agricultural products and are not pre-made dishes. - Frozen rice and flour products, convenience foods, boxed meals, rice bowls with toppings, steamed buns, pastries, Chinese hamburgers, bread, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza and other staple food products do not qualify as pre-made dishes.

Additionally, chain restaurant enterprises widely apply the central kitchen model. The fresh-cut vegetables, semi-finished products, and finished dishes they produce and distribute to their own outlets should comply with legal regulations and standard requirements for food service safety. Dishes made by central kitchens are not included in the scope of pre-made dishes.

The definition of pre-made dishes emphasizes that they can only be consumed after "heating" or "cooking": - Heating refers to the process of heating food to an edible state, specifically the simple reheating of already pre-processed and cooked products before consumption. - Cooking refers to the process of cooking food through frying, deep-frying, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc., meaning products that are not fully cooked during the pre-processing stage and require thorough cooking before consumption.

Ready-to-eat foods that can be consumed without heating or cooking, as well as directly edible vegetable (fruit) salads and other cold dishes, do not qualify as pre-made dishes.

**How to Strengthen Food Safety Supervision of Pre-made Dishes?**

Strictly implement primary responsibilities. Supervise pre-made dish production and operation enterprises to establish and improve food safety management systems according to the "Supervisory Management Provisions for Enterprises Implementing Food Safety Primary Responsibilities," strengthen risk control in food production and operation, strictly control raw material quality, legally verify compliance certificates and other product quality certificates for edible agricultural product raw materials, and strictly regulate food additive use.

Strengthen production license management. Revise and improve relevant food production license review guidelines and raise industry entry thresholds for pre-made dishes. Local market supervision departments should implement classified licensing for pre-made dishes based on factors such as food raw materials and processes, strictly conduct license reviews and on-site inspections, and strictly control pre-made dish production license approval.

Increase supervision and inspection efforts. Focus on inspecting the implementation of quality and safety measures in incoming inspection, production process control, storage and transportation links of pre-made dish production and operation enterprises. For problems discovered during inspections, order rectification and form a regulatory closed loop. Organize supervision sampling inspections and risk monitoring of pre-made dishes, and severely crack down on illegal activities.

**Strongly Promoting Transparency in Restaurant Use of Pre-made Dishes**

Article 8 of the "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that consumers have the right to know the true conditions of goods they purchase and use or services they receive.

Currently, consumers are generally concerned about the use of pre-made dishes in food service establishments. The Notice requires relevant departments to coordinate development and safety, supervise food production and operation enterprises to engage in pre-made dish production and operation activities according to requirements for raw materials, processing technology, product scope, storage and transportation, and consumption methods. Strongly promote transparency in restaurant use of pre-made dishes to protect consumers' right to information and choice.

**What Considerations Led to the Regulation Prohibiting Preservatives in Pre-made Dishes?**

Previously, when relevant department heads answered reporters' questions about the Notice:

Although pre-made dishes undergo industrial pre-processing, they still fall under the category of cuisine. Consumers generally do not add preservatives during dish preparation, so stipulating that pre-made dishes do not contain preservatives better meets consumer expectations.

The food additive principle of "no unnecessary addition" and "minimizing the use of food additives in food while achieving expected results" has gradually become industry consensus. Pre-made dishes do not technically require preservatives due to storage conditions such as freezing and refrigeration, as well as post-sterilization processing techniques.

Not adding preservatives complies with pre-made dish risk control requirements. Pre-made dishes have high requirements for environment, temperature, humidity, lighting, etc. during production, storage, transportation, and sales. Comprehensive food safety risk control throughout the entire chain should be strengthened, and different categories of pre-made dishes should strictly meet corresponding freezing, refrigeration and other condition requirements to ensure food safety.