Shanghai authorities on Tuesday issued a set of standards regarding food safety seals for takeaway and online-delivery orders.

The standards clarify for the first time the definition of reusable smart food safety seals – they should feature smart technology that prevents food packages from be opened without authorization of customers during the delivery. The seals should also be made of eco-friendly materials and have the ability to be reused tens of thousands of times.

Standards also stipulate quality indicators of disposable food safety seals, such as the stickiness of the seals to make sure they can only be used once.

The standards state that more information can be added to the barcodes on seals to improve the safety of delivery services.

In addition, the standards stipulate that for takeaway food that do not use food safety seals, the catering service providers shall be the primary party held accountable when accusations of food contamination arise, while for food takeaway food that use food safety seals, online food trading platforms shall be the primary party held accountable for related safety disputes.

The city promoted safety seals in the food delivery industry in August 2019. Over 40 million seals produced by related institutions have since been distributed to catering companies, under the guidance of Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.