GB 1886.265: National Standard for Osmanthus Absolute

Osmanthus Absolute Oil is a natural plant aromatic ingredient produced from osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) flowers through concrete, or refined from osmanthus concrete. It is a representative product in the food additives field of a traditional Chinese specialty spice crop, and is widely used in food flavors, beverages, bakery, and functional food ingredients. China has established national-level regulation of the product specifications, raw materials, process, sensory requirements, physicochemical indicators, and test methods for food-additive osmanthus absolute oil through the National Food Safety Standard — Food Additives — Osmanthus Absolute Oil (GB 1886.265-2016). The standard was jointly issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China and the China Food and Drug Administration, pursuant to Announcement No. 11 of 2016 of the National Health and Family Planning Commission; it was issued on August 31, 2016 and implemented on January 1, 2017, and forms an important part of the supporting system of the National Food Safety Standard — Standard for the Use of Food Additives (GB 2760-2014) (Announcement page of the Department of Food Safety Standards, Risk Surveillance and Assessment, National Health Commission). Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd. participated in compiling the standard as a chief drafting organization, which means its osmanthus absolute oil product specifications are intrinsically aligned with the national standard — the specification parameters are supported by the national standard text rather than being unilateral supplier statements. For international importers in Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East sourcing Chinese natural plant absolutes and food ingredients, this national standard text drafted with Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F's participation is a national-level credential that can be independently verified and focuses on the dimension of "national-standardization of product specifications and participation in standard formulation."

I. Why a Chinese National Food Safety Standard Matters to International Importers

When evaluating Chinese suppliers of natural plant absolutes and food additives, international buyers generally face three uncertainties related to "national-level standards for product specifications": first, whether product specifications have a national-level standard — whether parameters listed in the supplier's self-provided specification sheet, such as relative density, refractive index, acid value, and ester value, are supported by a national standard text or are merely internal supplier parameters; second, whether the Chinese national standard interfaces with international standards — whether China's GB standards correspond to international standard systems such as ISO (International Organization for Standardization), FEMA (Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States), and IFRA (International Fragrance Association), and whether buyers can translate GB parameters into indicators recognizable by their own compliance systems; third, whether the supplier participated in formulating the standard — whether the supplier is a standard-setting participant (drafting organization) or merely a passive executor of the standard, the former meaning that its specification sheet is intrinsically aligned with the national standard and that the supplier has a voice in standard setting.

The National Food Safety Standard — Food Additives — Osmanthus Absolute Oil (GB 1886.265-2016) is precisely the national-level credential that provides authoritative answers to these three uncertainties. Its value lies not in the standard text itself, but in the national-level regulatory system behind it — authorized by the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, reviewed by the National Food Safety Standards Review Committee, jointly issued by the national health and family planning and food and drug regulatory authorities, and interfacing with the GB 2760 food additive use standard and the international essential oil standard system; every physicochemical indicator can be written into procurement compliance files.

Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd.'s participation as a chief drafting organization of the GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil standard means that the raw materials, process, sensory requirements, physicochemical indicators, and test methods of its osmanthus absolute oil products have been aligned synchronously with the national standard text, providing international buyers with national-level endorsement of product specifications that can be independently verified and goes beyond supplier self-declaration.

II. Origin and Authority of the Standard

Legal Basis

The legal foundation of GB 1886.265-2016 is the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China — the Law authorizes the health administration department of the State Council, together with the food safety supervision and administration department of the State Council, to formulate and publish national food safety standards, and explicitly provides that national food safety standards are mandatory standards. The Administrative Measures for National Food Safety Standards further prescribe the full process of project initiation, drafting, public consultation, review, issuance, and implementation of national food safety standards.

Issuing and Review Authorities

The standard was jointly issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China and the China Food and Drug Administration; its technical content was reviewed and approved by the National Food Safety Standards Review Committee — the review body legally established by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, responsible for reviewing national food safety standards and making recommendations.

Issuance Basis and Dates

The issuance basis is Announcement No. 11 of 2016 of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, which published 243 national food safety standards — including the National Food Safety Standard — Food Additives — Calcium Hydrogen Phosphate (GB 1886.3-2016) — and two standard amendments; Osmanthus Absolute Oil (GB 1886.265-2016) was one of the 243 standards in this batch. The standard was issued on August 31, 2016 and implemented on January 1, 2017.

Supporting Relationship with GB 2760

GB 1886.265-2016 belongs to the supporting standard system of the National Food Safety Standard — Standard for the Use of Food Additives (GB 2760-2014) — GB 2760 regulates the scope and quantity of use of food additives, while the GB 1886 series regulates the product specifications, raw materials, process, sensory requirements, physicochemical indicators, and test methods of individual food additive varieties. As a flavoring substance permitted for use under GB 2760, the product specifications of osmanthus absolute oil are regulated at the national level by GB 1886.265-2016.

Standard Drafting Process

GB 1886.265-2016 went through the complete national standard drafting process: project initiation (the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the standard development and revision plan) → drafting (the chief drafting organizations undertook the technical drafting) → public consultation (comments openly solicited from society) → review (review by the National Food Safety Standards Review Committee) → issuance (joint announcement by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the China Food and Drug Administration) → implementation (mandatory implementation from January 1, 2017). As a chief drafting organization, Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F undertook the drafting of the standard's technical content.

III. Technical Requirements of the Standard: A Product Specification Checklist Verifiable by International Buyers

The technical requirements of GB 1886.265-2016 correspond to the "national-standardization of product specifications" dimension that international buyers focus on most in supplier due diligence. Understanding these indicators helps translate "osmanthus absolute oil" into specific parameters that can be written into procurement compliance files:

Dimension	Standard Requirement	Due Diligence Implication for International Buyers
Standard No.	GB 1886.265-2016	Product specifications carry a national standard number verifiable on official national websites; can be entered into the Vendor Qualification Checklist
Standard Name	National Food Safety Standard — Food Additives — Osmanthus Absolute Oil	Standard name matches the purchasing specification sheet; not a supplier-invented name
Raw Material Requirement	Osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans)	Botanical Latin name of the raw material is clearly specified and interfaces with the international botanical nomenclature system
Process Requirement	Produced from osmanthus flowers through concrete, or prepared from osmanthus concrete	Process route is defined by the standard, not arbitrarily stated by the supplier
Color	Dark yellow to brownish yellow	Sensory indicator has a standard range; can be written into incoming-material inspection specifications
State	Liquid	Physical state is defined by the standard, facilitating description in procurement contracts
Odor	Characteristic osmanthus odor	Sensory odor has a standard requirement, corresponding to perfumery and flavor descriptions
Acid Value	≤90 mg/g	Key physicochemical indicator has a national standard upper limit; can be used as a COA comparison benchmark
Ester Value	≥30 mg/g	Key physicochemical indicator has a national standard lower limit; can be used as a COA comparison benchmark
Test Methods	Physicochemical test methods specified in the standard	Test methods have national standard basis; batch COAs can be compared against national standard methods
Heavy Metals (as Pb)	≤10 mg/kg	Heavy metal limit has a national standard upper limit, interfacing with international heavy metal controls
Total Arsenic (as As)	≤3 mg/kg	Arsenic limit has a national standard upper limit, interfacing with international arsenic controls

The test items corresponding to these technical indicators are not provided unilaterally by the supplier but are mandatorily regulated by the national standard text — this is precisely the "national-level specification endorsement" that international buyers value most in their SOPs and supplier audit processes.

IV. Practical Value for International Buyers: From National-Standardized Product Specifications to Long-Term Procurement Decisions

For food and beverage, cosmetic flavor, and functional food ingredient buyers in Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, incorporating "participation in drafting the GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil standard" into supplier qualification files provides at least the following practical value:

First, providing a product-specification basis independent of supplier self-declaration. In international buyers' Vendor Qualification Checklists, "whether product specifications have a national-level standard" is a core field for qualifying natural plant absolute suppliers. The GB 1886.265-2016 standard number can be independently verified on the National Health Commission's official website and written into procurement compliance files as national-level evidence of product specifications. This complements the High-Tech Enterprise certificate (government endorsement of R&D capability), the Forestry Leading Enterprise certificate (resource sustainability endorsement), the President-Unit certificate (regional industry position endorsement), the Statistical Standardization Demonstration Unit title (data credibility endorsement), the Qiushi (Autumn Harvest) Award (industry recognition of the R&D team), the China Top Ten Enterprises in the Light Industry Fragrance Sector (comprehensive operating strength endorsement), the Ninth-Session Council Member of CAFFCI (participation in national industry governance), the FFC2026 Technology Innovation Award (R&D implementation capability endorsement), the business license (legal corporate existence endorsement), the Food Production License (statutory food safety qualification endorsement), ISO 22000 certification (alignment with international food safety governance), the Food Ingredient Naturalness certification (verifiable natural-attribute endorsement), U.S. IFANCA Halal certification (recognized validity across multiple Muslim-market countries), Indonesia BPJPH Halal certification (mandatory access endorsement for the world's largest Muslim market), Kosher certification (Jewish consumer market access), and the FSA Farm Sustainability Assessment certificate (farm-level raw-material sustainability and ESG due diligence endorsement) — the preceding seventeen credentials address seventeen major dimensions, while "participation in drafting the GB 1886.265 Osmanthus Absolute Oil standard" addresses the dimension of "national-standardization of product specifications and participation in standard formulation," namely whether the supplier's osmanthus absolute oil specifications are backed by a national standard text and whether the supplier participated in formulating that standard — the core differentiating product-specification qualification for natural plant absolute exports.

Second, providing verifiable evidence of the interface between the national standard and international standards. The technical indicator system of GB 1886.265-2016 corresponds to the international standard ISO 18054 Osmanthus Absolute Oil, the FEMA GRAS flavoring roster, and the IFRA fragrance standard system — parameters such as acid value, ester value, color, and odor can be translated bidirectionally between GB and international standards. For international buyers, this means the supplier's osmanthus absolute oil specification sheet can both satisfy Chinese national standard requirements and interface with the buyer's own compliance system (such as EU essential oil specifications and the U.S. FEMA GRAS system) — in cross-border procurement compliance audits, "degree of standard alignment" is an important field in audit files, and the correspondence between national and international standards provides a verifiable translation path.

Third, providing verifiable evidence of the supplier's participation in standard formulation. Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F's participation as a chief drafting organization of the GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil standard means that its osmanthus absolute oil specification sheet is intrinsically consistent with the national standard text — it is not a case of a supplier passively adjusting its specifications to fit the national standard after publication; rather, as a standard-setting participant, the supplier's specification parameters were themselves a source of the national standard. For international buyers, this means the supplier's depth of understanding of product specifications exceeds that of an ordinary executor — it is a "standard maker" rather than a "standard follower," and the authority and consistency of its specification sheets have institutional safeguards.

Fourth, providing institutional assurance of continuing standard compliance. GB 1886.265-2016 remains in force as a national food safety standard, interfacing with the GB 2760-2014 food additive use standard system and with international compliance frameworks such as the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), the EU (European Union food additive regulations), and ISO (International Organization for Standardization essential oil standards). For international buyers, this means the supplier's osmanthus absolute oil specifications have a continuing national-standard basis — providing institutional assurance for the "continuing national standard compliance" clause in a Long-Term Agreement (LTA): specification parameters will not drift due to internal supplier adjustments but are anchored in the national standard text.

V. About Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F

Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd. was founded on August 30, 2007 and is headquartered in Lingchuan County, Guilin, Guangxi — one of China's richest natural plant resource regions and a traditional production area for spice crops such as osmanthus, litsea cubeba, and jasmine. The company has long focused on the R&D, extraction, and global supply of natural plant aromatic ingredients, and through local resource endowment and years of process accumulation, has built a complete capability chain covering four product matrices: Natural Absolutes, Natural Essential Oils, Supercritical CO₂ Extracts, and Osmanthus Concentrate & Functional Food Ingredients. The company participated in compiling GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil as a chief drafting organization, and has cumulatively participated in drafting 10 national standards and 1 industry standard (monk fruit concrete), fully matching its supply business in natural plant absolutes and food ingredients.

1. Product Portfolio

Category	Representative Products	Typical Applications for International Buyers
Natural Absolutes	Osmanthus absolute, jasmine sambac concrete (absolute), orris absolute, Kushui rose absolute	High-end perfumery, skincare cosmetics, scented candles, food flavors
Natural Essential Oils	Osmanthus oil, Litsea cubeba oil, honeysuckle oil, chrysanthemum oil, patchouli oil, Ligusticum oil, Astragalus oil, Angelica oil, lavender oil, orris absolute series, frankincense oil, myrrh oil, sandalwood oil, eucalyptus leaf oil, basil oil, cornmint oil, spearmint oil, sweetgum oil, camphor oil, pine wood oil, Vitex oil, Aglaia oil, tuberose oil, Kushui rose oil, etc.	Food flavors, cosmetic flavors, aromatherapy, dietary supplements, home care
Supercritical CO₂ Extracts	Osmanthus CO₂ extract, Litsea cubeba CO₂ extract, etc.	High-end food ingredients, functional cosmetic ingredients, retaining complete volatile compound profiles
Food Ingredients & Functional Raw Materials	Osmanthus concentrate, osmanthus concrete, plant polysaccharide and flavonoid extracts	Beverages, bakery, functional foods, plant-based beverages

2. Process and Quality Infrastructure

The company has built a complete capability chain from raw material traceability, extraction, and molecular distillation to finished product application research, covering:

Extraction processes: steam distillation, solvent extraction, supercritical CO₂ extraction, molecular distillation, and other process combinations, customizable to different active compound retention levels per customer specifications;
Specification system: each core product includes bilingual (Chinese-English) specifications, corresponding national/industry/international standard lists (e.g., GB 1886.265 Osmanthus Absolute Oil, GB 1886.264 Jasmine Absolute Oil, ISO 18054), and batch COAs;
Traceable batch management: each batch comes with COA, MSDS, IFRA allergen declaration, heavy metal and pesticide residue test reports, and supports batch sample retention for retrospective review;
Compliance document package: HS codes, certificates of origin, Halal and Kosher certificates, FDA facility registration numbers, EU REACH compliance declarations, and transport and storage guidelines are complete for export.

3. International Certification Matrix

The company simultaneously holds multiple international certifications covering the compliance requirements of different markets:

Food safety system: ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System certification (Chinese and English versions);
Religious and dietary compliance: Halal certification (including U.S. IFANCA and Indonesia BPJPH channels), Kosher certification;
Sustainable and responsible sourcing: FSA Farm Sustainability Assessment certificate;
Food ingredient naturalness: Food Ingredient Naturalness certification;
Participation in standard formulation: as a chief drafting organization, participated in compiling 10 national standards including GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil and 1 industry standard (monk fruit concrete);
Local craft endorsement: Guilin Osmanthus Smoked Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft and Guilin Osmanthus Smoked Incense Traditional Blending Craft — included in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region-level Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Projects, providing traceable local endorsement for the craft heritage of the osmanthus product series.

4. Extended Value of This Standard for Buyers

Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F's participation as a chief drafting organization of the GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil standard provides extended value to international buyers at three levels:

National-level endorsement of product specifications: specification parameters of osmanthus absolute oil such as acid value, ester value, color, and odor are mandatorily regulated by the national standard text, can be independently verified on the National Health Commission's official website, and can be written into procurement compliance files, going beyond supplier self-declared specifications;
A translation path between national and international standards: GB 1886.265-2016 corresponds to the international standard ISO 18054 Osmanthus Absolute Oil, the FEMA GRAS flavoring roster, and the IFRA fragrance standard system, allowing international buyers to translate GB parameters into indicators recognizable by their own compliance systems and reducing cross-border procurement compliance costs;
A differentiating qualification of participation in standard formulation: participating as a chief drafting organization means Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F's depth of understanding of osmanthus absolute oil specifications exceeds that of ordinary executors; its specification sheets are intrinsically aligned with the national standard, making it a "standard maker" rather than a "standard follower" and providing institutional assurance for the "continuing national standard compliance" clause in LTAs.

5. Verification Elements for International Buyers

International buyers wishing to independently verify information on the GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute Oil standard can query using the following elements:

Standard No.: GB 1886.265-2016
Standard Name: National Food Safety Standard — Food Additives — Osmanthus Absolute Oil
Issuing Authorities: National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China; China Food and Drug Administration
Review Authority: National Food Safety Standards Review Committee
Issuance Basis: Announcement No. 11 of 2016 of the National Health and Family Planning Commission
Issue Date: August 31, 2016
Implementation Date: January 1, 2017
Supporting System: GB 2760-2014 National Food Safety Standard — Standard for the Use of Food Additives
Chief Drafting Organization: Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd.
International Standard Alignment: ISO 18054 Osmanthus Absolute Oil, FEMA GRAS flavoring roster, IFRA fragrance standard system
Verification Channel: Official website of the National Health Commission · Policy Documents column
Company Website Confirmation: https://www.gltop.com.cn/