A Cross-Disciplinary Study on the Legal Regulation of Food Safety and Food Nutrition under the Implementation of Online Catering Regulations

Abstract

The Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of the Implementation of Primary Responsibility for Food Safety by Online Catering Service Providers (SAMR Order No. 123) officially took effect on June 1, 2026, marking a shift in the online catering industry in China toward systematic management. The Regulations, which focus on baseline food safety concerns such as verification of qualification, process control and prohibition of “ghost kitchens” also set an institutional basis for the joint governance of food nutrition. This paper analyses the institutional structure and regulatory rationale behind the new regulations, taking into account Article 150 of the Food Safety Law, which explicitly includes compliance with required nutrition standards as part of food safety. It also examines their strengths and weaknesses with respect to the regulation of food additives, prepared foods and nutrient information disclosure. This study shows that, while the Regulations mainly confirm the traditional safety standard of the food must be “non-toxic” and “non-hazardous”, the dimension of “nutritional adequacy” is still underdeveloped and largely subsidiary, particularly in the online catering sector. With the help of prepared dishes as a focal case, the paper argues that the lack of institutionalization of compulsory disclosure of nutritional information constitutes a major institutional gap. Based on the regulatory rationale for the compulsory “delivery-only” labelling, the paper recommends that compulsory disclosure of prepared dishes should be included in the current regulatory system, as it is a necessary measure for ensuring consumers' right to know and right to choose. Finally, the paper proposes an integrated governance approach which integrates nutritional protection with the food safety regulation, including better information transparency mechanisms, revision of the food safety law to concentrate nutrition-related obligations, creation of third party verification systems and greater participation of consumers in nutrition-related social supervision.