As a type of packaged drinking water, "baby water" (natural water suitable for infants and young children) has attracted much attention since it was launched on the market. "The group standard of "Drinking Natural Mineral Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)" is an effective supplement to the national standard for packaged drinking water, and is also an important step for this sub-category to move towards standardization and specialization," said He Mei, director of the Chinese Nutrition Society and researcher at the Beijing Institute of Nutritional Sources.

In March 2020, the China Health Supervision Association issued the group standard T/WSJD 005-2020 "Drinking Natural Mineral Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)". The group standard was drafted by Beijing Institute of Nutrition Sources, China Food Fermentation Industry Research Institute Co., Ltd., National Drinking Water Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center and other institutions. In the view of He Mei, who is responsible for the drafting and formulation of the standard, baby water has achieved more standardized and healthy development under the guidance of the group standard in the past three years since its implementation.

In March 2020, the China Health Supervision Association issued the group standard T/WSJD 005-2020 "Drinking Natural Mineral Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)". The group standard was drafted by Beijing Institute of Nutrition Sources, China Food Fermentation Industry Research Institute Co., Ltd., National Drinking Water Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center and other institutions. In the view of He Mei, who is responsible for the drafting and formulation of the standard, baby water has achieved more standardized and healthy development under the guidance of the group standard in the past three years since its implementation.

When formulating the group standard, He Mei noticed that most of my country's mineral water is produced according to the national standard GB 8537 "National Food Safety Standard Drinking Natural Mineral Water", with a high mineral content. After the group standard was established, the drafting team collected tap water from seven cities in China and various mineral waters on the market for mineral salt determination, and found that the mineral content of the collected samples varied greatly. Therefore, compared with the national standard GB 8537, the group standard has stricter restrictions on mineral indicators such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, and has formulated a comprehensive standard for the mineral content of domestic baby water with reference to relevant foreign regulations.

In addition to low mineral content, "commercial sterility" is also a requirement clearly stated in the group standard "Drinking Natural Mineral Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)". "Commercial sterility" means that it does not contain pathogenic bacteria, nor does it contain any microorganisms that can reproduce during the storage, transportation and sales of the product.

"Infants and young children have sensitive intestines and weak immune systems, and have weak resistance to bacteria in drinking water." He Mei introduced that many authoritative organizations, such as the US Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, and the UK National Health Service, have put forward more stringent requirements for the microorganisms in drinking water and formula meals provided to infants and young children. my country's national food safety standards also stipulate that liquid infant formula, liquid formula for older infants and young children, and infant-filled supplementary food microorganisms should meet commercial sterility requirements.

Due to the weak immune ability of infants and young children, general packaged drinking water needs to be boiled before it can be drunk by infants and young children. The group standard stipulates that infant water must be sterilized by high-temperature heating and aseptic filling during production to meet commercial sterility requirements. Infant water that meets commercial sterility requirements can be directly drunk by infants and young children without boiling, eliminating the inconvenience caused by the need to boil and sterilize. Compared with general packaged drinking water, high-temperature heating disinfection kills microorganisms more thoroughly and is safer for infants and young children.

In addition, the provisions of the group standard for infant water on mineral content and commercial sterility of microorganisms also mean that this category has more stringent requirements for water sources. It is understood that the sources of infant water on the market are mainly concentrated in Changbai Mountain, Daxing'anling and Tibet in the northeast region. These water sources generally have unique geological environments and relatively good ecological environments, which correspond to the relevant requirements of the group standard to a certain extent.

"With the progress of social life, scientific feeding has been recognized by everyone, and the drinking water conditions of infants and young children should also be taken seriously." He Mei said that the group standard is a requirement for the standardization of the industry's own development, and provides a reference basis for my country to develop water sources suitable for infants and young children to drink mineral water.