Eating vegetarian or vegan in China, and the broth problem

The packet has to tell you; the bowl does not

The Food Safety Law requires the packaging of prepackaged food to carry a label showing the composition or ingredient list, along with the name, net content, production date, producer's contact details, shelf life, storage conditions and production licence number. There is no equivalent duty anywhere for a dish cooked and served in a restaurant.

Article 67 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)

The labelling standard stops at the kitchen door

GB 7718 states in its scope clause that it applies to the labelling of prepackaged foods and does not apply to the labelling of foods in bulk, or to foods that are made and sold on the same spot. That single sentence is why a Chinese restaurant menu carries no ingredient information and is not breaking any rule by carrying none.

GB 7718-2025, Clause 1, Scope · Prepackaged Food Labeling Standards Finalized (CH2025-0070), carrying a full English translation of GB 7718-2025 (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Beijing, page dated 2025-04-03, read 2026-07-25)

The 25 percent rule is the hidden-broth mechanism

Where an ingredient added directly to a food is itself a compound of two or more ingredients, the compound's name must be declared with its own ingredients listed in brackets. But where a national, industry or local standard exists for that compound and it makes up less than 25 percent of the food's weight, its ingredients do not have to be declared. Compound ingredients added to compound ingredients are never expanded.

GB 7718-2025, Article 4.3.3 · Prepackaged Food Labeling Standards Finalized (CH2025-0070), carrying a full English translation of GB 7718-2025 (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Beijing, page dated 2025-04-03, read 2026-07-25)

Order tells you less than it looks like it does

Ingredients are declared in descending order of the amount added, but ingredients making up less than 2 percent of the food do not have to appear in descending order, and ingredients volatilised or removed during processing do not have to be declared at all.

GB 7718-2025, Article 4.3.2 · Prepackaged Food Labeling Standards Finalized (CH2025-0070), carrying a full English translation of GB 7718-2025 (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Beijing, page dated 2025-04-03, read 2026-07-25)

Some additives can drop out of the list too

Food additives contained in a compound ingredient that has a national, industry or local standard, where the compound is less than 25 percent of the total food, need not be declared if they meet the carry-over principles in GB 2760. Processing aids and deactivated enzyme preparations need not be declared either.

GB 7718-2025, Article 4.3.4.1 · Prepackaged Food Labeling Standards Finalized (CH2025-0070), carrying a full English translation of GB 7718-2025 (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Beijing, page dated 2025-04-03, read 2026-07-25)

From March 2027 the label starts helping

GB 7718-2025 makes allergen declaration mandatory from 16 March 2027, and four of the eight categories matter here: eggs and products, dairy and dairy products including lactose, fish and products, and soybeans and products. Until that date allergen marking is recommended rather than required, so a silent label is not a vegan label.

GB 7718-2025, Article 4.12.1 · Prepackaged Food Labeling Standards Finalized (CH2025-0070), carrying a full English translation of GB 7718-2025 (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Beijing, page dated 2025-04-03, read 2026-07-25)

Loose food carries four fields and no recipe

Where a food business sells food in bulk, the container or outer packaging must show the name, the production date or batch number, the shelf life and the producer's or seller's name, address and contact details. Nothing requires an ingredient list, which is why the loose-noodle bin and the bakery tray are guesswork.

Article 68 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)

What a caterer actually owes you

Catering service providers must establish and implement raw-material control requirements and may not buy food ingredients that fail food safety standards. Making the cooking process public and publishing the ingredients and where they came from is advocated, not required. That is the entire published duty, and none of it is about answering a customer's dietary question.

Article 55 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)

Genetically modified food must be marked

Food that is genetically modified must be conspicuously labelled as such under the Food Safety Law. It is the one compositional fact besides the ingredient list that a Chinese packet is obliged to volunteer, and it matters most to readers checking soy and oil.

Article 69 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)

A false claim on a packet is already a violation

Labels and instructions for food may not contain false content and may not touch on disease prevention or treatment; producers and sellers are responsible for their content; and food that does not match its own label may not be sold. Unlabelled prepackaged food may not be produced or sold at all.

Articles 71 and 34 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)

Where the complaint goes

The market regulator merged five complaint hotlines into a single number, 12315, and a single platform at www.12315.cn, reachable by phone, on the platform, and through the 12315 app and mini-programs. Food safety regulators at county level and above must publish a phone number or email for enquiries, complaints and reports, and must reward reporters whose reports are verified.

Food Safety Law, Article 115 · 12315, on your side (State Administration for Market Regulation, page dated 2019-03-15, read 2026-07-25)

Is Chinese restaurant food required to say whether it contains meat?

No. The prepackaged labelling standard explicitly excludes food made and sold on the same spot, so a restaurant dish is outside it. The Food Safety Law requires caterers to control their raw materials, but publishing what is in a dish and where it came from is only encouraged. If nobody in the kitchen has been told, nobody has broken a rule by not telling you.

Why does a packet that lists no meat still contain meat stock?

Because of the compound-ingredient rule. A stock, sauce or seasoning base counts as a compound ingredient, and where it has a national, industry or local standard and makes up under 25 percent of the food's weight, its own ingredients do not have to be listed. A compound ingredient inside another compound ingredient is never expanded. So one word on the label can legitimately stand for a recipe you cannot see.

How do I read a Chinese supermarket label if I cannot read Chinese?

Photograph the ingredient list — the composition or ingredient list is legally required on every sealed packet — and run it through a translation app before you buy. Ingredients are in descending order of quantity, except that anything under 2 percent need not be in order. Genetically modified food must be conspicuously marked. Loose food from a bin carries no ingredient list at all.

Will the new allergen rules help a vegan?

Partly, and not yet. From 16 March 2027 prepackaged food must declare eight allergen categories, four of which are relevant here: eggs, dairy including lactose, fish and soybeans. Until then allergen marking is recommended rather than mandatory, so a packet that says nothing about eggs or milk has told you nothing.

I ordered a vegetable dish and it arrived with meat in it. What now?

Treat it as a communication failure rather than a rule breach, because a restaurant has no disclosure duty. Send it back, and for the next order hand over a written card that names broth, lard, fish sauce and oyster sauce separately from the word 'meat'. If instead a packaged product's label made a claim the contents contradict, that is a violation and the market regulator takes it on 12315.

What Chinese words should I have on a card?

At minimum: 我吃素 for 'I eat vegetarian', and separate lines for 不要肉汤 (no meat broth), 不要猪油 (no lard), 不要鱼露 (no fish sauce) and 不要蚝油 (no oyster sauce). Vegans should add 不要鸡蛋 and 不要牛奶. These are ordinary words rather than text quoted from any official document, so have the wording checked by your hotel front desk on day one.

Does 'vegetarian' on a Chinese menu mean no broth?

No opened source defines it, and this page will not guess. There is no published Chinese definition of a vegetarian dish in a restaurant, no labelling duty behind the word, and no standard a restaurant has to meet to use it. Ask about the broth as a separate question every time.

Where do I complain about a packaged food that misled me?

The market regulator runs a single national number, 12315, and a platform at www.12315.cn, plus an app and mini-programs. Separately, the Food Safety Law requires food safety regulators at county level and above to publish a phone number or email address for enquiries, complaints and reports, to handle those in their remit within the statutory period, and to reward reporters whose reports are verified.