CHONGQING – Restaurants in southwest Chongqing will soon have to let their customers know how their dishes are prepared, including the ingredients used, down to the exact parts of the livestock.

They will also need to indicate whether their dishes contain any precooked elements and describe flavor profiles and portion sizes. Pre-cooked items include ready-to-eat meals that only require quick reheating before consumption.

The new industrial standards, the first of their kind in China, aim to improve food safety standards and protect consumer rights, according to an official statement published on October 19 on the Chongqing municipal government website.

City officials are working to ensure the industry follows the new guidelines by contacting restaurants and eateries to help them compile the information. New information will eventually be included in physical menus and on online delivery platforms, the press release added. No date has yet been given for the implementation of the new guidelines.

Chongqing authorities said the guidelines would prevent cooks from using banned ingredients, such as lymphatic meat, in place of pork belly.

Lymphatic meat, which contains fatty tumors, thyroid glands and lymph nodes, is considered cheap and low-quality meat in China. Restaurants across the country have reportedly replaced more expensive pork belly with lymphatic meat.

Diners are “increasingly attentive to the ‘wok taste’ of dishes and are particularly concerned about whether the food is cooked on site,” authorities said in the press release.

“Clearly stating key information such as food preparation methods and whether ready-made meals are used helps ensure consumer rights,” they added.

Chongqing’s move is part of a national effort to strengthen food safety standards as the central government promotes the food and beverage (F&B) sector amid overall weak domestic demand.

Catering has been a bright spot in China’s economic slowdown, with revenue from the sector rising 6.2% to 3.94 trillion yuan (S$728 billion) in the first nine months of 2024 , compared to the same period in 2023.

Across China, local authorities are cracking down on food safety violations by taking measures such as tightening controls and even enlisting delivery workers as whistleblowers.

In Beijing’s Dongcheng district, a two-week undercover operation that ended on October 30 revealed 13 cases of restaurant owners selling rotten food, poorly disinfected utensils and cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods.

In the Guangxi autonomous region in southwest China, checks are being carried out on “all food production and commercial entities in the region” as part of an inspection campaign until the end of 2024, authorities said.