Food technology Standards Summary – September 2025 Monthly Overview

Looking back at September 2025, the Food technology sector experienced a productive month in international standardization, with four pivotal ISO standards finalized and released. These standards covered foundational areas in food ingredient quality, classification methodologies, and safety requirements, all of which directly influence industry operations globally. September's publications focused on diverse yet interconnected domains: green coffee specification methods, advanced tea classification by chemical composition, unique seasoning oil characteristics, and the technical profiling of baker’s yeast products. Together, these standards demonstrated the sector’s ongoing evolution towards increased safety, traceability, and scientific precision in food technology.

For industry professionals, compliance officers, procurement leads, and researchers, this comprehensive retrospective overview summarizes each published standard and explores its context and strategic value. Whether you are catching up on missed developments or looking for deeper insights into September 2025’s regulatory progress, this analysis distills the essential industry knowledge you need to stay ahead.

Monthly Overview: September 2025

September 2025 saw an impressive cohort of Food technology standards, with four new ISO documents strengthening quality, classification, and regulatory guidance across commodity products and food ingredients. The month's activity reflected several key themes:

• A pronounced focus on ingredient traceability and specification, notably for green coffee and baker’s yeast.
• The use of quantitative chemical analysis and advanced statistical methods, as seen in tea classification, indicating a shift towards more data-driven quality controls.
• Standardization of sensory, physico-chemical, and safety requirements in both traditional and regionally significant products, such as Zanthoxyli pericarpium seasoning oil.
• Enhanced alignment with international best practices in sampling, packaging, and marking, supporting global trade and fostering consumer confidence.

Relative to previous months, the sector’s September 2025 publications displayed a notable expansion in analytical methodologies (especially laboratory-based verification) and an increasing integration of food safety with quality and functionality metrics. These developments suggest a broader industry movement towards harmonized specification, advanced classification, and greater supply chain transparency.

Standards Published This Month

ISO 9116:2025 – Green coffee – Guidance on methods of specification

Green coffee – Guidance on methods of specification

ISO 9116:2025 provides a structured framework for describing green coffee, addressing specification methods that govern sale and purchase transactions in the global coffee market. The standard sets out best practices for specifying a lot’s key characteristics—including variety, origin, bean size, and moisture content—while also prescribing robust procedures for sampling, packaging, marking, storage, and shipping. Importantly, the standard is applicable to green coffee as defined in ISO 3509, ensuring consistency across related commodity codes.

Major sectors impacted include green coffee producers, traders, importers, exporters, commodity brokers, and any food technologist focused on raw material quality in coffee supply chains. For businesses transacting or certifying green coffee, adherence to ISO 9116:2025 is now essential for ensuring product traceability, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance—both at the national and international levels.

Of particular note:

• The document details standardized methods for describing lots or consignments to streamline quality communication and meet contractual obligations.
• Comprehensive guidance on sampling practices minimizes variability and dispute during coffee grading.
• Updated requirements for labeling, storage, and shipping promote product preservation and regulatory conformity during transport.

Key highlights:

• Standardizes terminology and criteria for green coffee description
• Improves transparency and reduces ambiguity in international trade
• Enhances the quality assurance framework from farm to market

Access the full standard:View ISO 9116:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/TS 5617:2025 – Tea – Classification by chemical composition

Tea – Classification by chemical composition

ISO/TS 5617:2025 marks a forward leap in tea standardization by introducing a data-driven method for classifying six major tea types (black, green, white, oolong/blue, dark, and yellow tea) based on the statistical analysis of their chemical compositions. Rather than relying solely on sensory or process-based criteria, this technical specification applies principal component and Fisher’s discriminant analysis to key determinants—total catechins, caffeine, theanine, EGCG/total catechins ratio, and interaction terms (theanine × theanine, theanine × caffeine).

This approach empowers laboratories, tea producers, and trading companies—particularly those supplying or certifying primary and refined teas produced in China—to objectively identify and differentiate products, supporting accuracy in labeling, authenticity verification, and quality benchmarking. Rapid market growth, especially in dark and yellow tea segments, makes this standard particularly timely.

Scope limitations are clearly articulated: ISO/TS 5617:2025 does not extend to reprocessed or flavored teas and is currently most validated for Chinese-origin teas, reflecting data collection constraints at this stage.

Key highlights:

• Provides a robust, scientifically validated framework for objective tea type classification
• Utilizes principal components analysis and Fisher’s discrimination for maximum accuracy
• Facilitates authentication, quality control, and fair trade in a complex global tea market

Access the full standard:View ISO/TS 5617:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 18731:2025 – Spices and condiments – Seasoning oil of Zanthoxyli pericarpium – Specification

Spices and condiments – Seasoning oil of Zanthoxyli pericarpium – Specification

With growing global interest in distinctive spices and their derivatives, ISO 18731:2025 brings long-awaited clarity to the quality, safety, and trading parameters of seasoning oil of Zanthoxyli pericarpium—a key condiment across Asian cuisine, valued for its distinctive aroma and pungency.

This standard defines sensory requirements, physico-chemical properties, limits on contaminants and mycotoxins, and pesticide residue criteria. The methods for packaging, marking, storage, and transport are also codified, ensuring consistency for both small-scale producers and large-scale exporters. It further includes normative annexes with detailed test methods (e.g., ultraviolet spectrophotometry for amides), thus supporting laboratory verification and regulatory oversight.

Enterprises involved in the manufacture, export, or regulatory inspection of Zanthoxyli pericarpium oil will find this document essential for achieving market access and consumer safety compliance, especially in regulatory-sensitive environments.

Key highlights:

• Establishes uniform quality benchmarks for a high-value spice oil
• Mandates testing for contaminants, mycotoxins, and pesticide residues
• Supports international trade through standardized packaging and transport conditions

Access the full standard:View ISO 18731:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 23983:2025 – Food products – Characteristics of fresh and dry baker’s yeast

Food products – Characteristics of fresh and dry baker’s yeast

ISO 23983:2025 sets out comprehensive technical and application criteria for living fresh and dry baker’s yeast—from general product characteristics to its application in fermentation, package mass, storage guidelines, physico-chemical properties, microbiology, and selected nutritional values. The standard differentiates between baker’s yeast product forms (block, granulated, liquid, active dry, instant dry), and supplies detailed guidance on activity, conservation, and safe handling.

Target sectors include bakery operators, yeast manufacturers, food technologists, and quality managers, all of whom rely on clear, consistent definitions for both procurement and end-use quality control. In an era where microbial quality and traceability are paramount, adherence to this standard is increasingly critical across supply chains.

Key highlights:

• Details characteristics for both fresh and dry baker’s yeast, facilitating standardized product evaluation
• Specifies requirements for microbial safety (including limits on coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria)
• Supports international trade, laboratory testing, and consumer safety by harmonizing criteria worldwide

Access the full standard:View ISO 23983:2025 on iTeh Standards

Common Themes and Industry Trends

A cross-standard analysis of September 2025’s publications in the Food technology sector reveals several compelling themes:

• Scientific Rigor and Analytical Methodology: There is a marked increase in the demand for laboratory-based, quantitative verification of food ingredients and products. Particularly, ISO/TS 5617:2025’s application of principal components analysis and Fisher’s discriminant functions to tea exemplifies this sectoral shift.

• Specification and Traceability: Detailed guidance for product description, sampling, and marking in both ISO 9116:2025 and ISO 23983:2025 supports more reliable traceability and reduces risk throughout the food supply chain.

• Safety and Quality Controls: Enhanced limits on contaminants, microbiology, and conservation (notably in ISO 18731:2025 and ISO 23983:2025) reflect urgent market needs for food safety and consumer protection in both traditional and innovative food ingredients.

• Support for Global Trade: These standards collectively facilitate access to international markets by harmonizing quality, safety, and testing practices, thereby reducing technical barriers and supporting fair trade.

• Product Differentiation and Authenticity: Standards such as ISO/TS 5617:2025 allow for objective authentication—critical in high-value segments where mislabeling or adulteration can be problematic.

Looking at the sector holistically, these publications demonstrate a robust movement towards digitalization of process control, harmonization of international trading criteria, and a more connected, transparent supply base.

Compliance and Implementation Considerations

Organizations and professionals affected by these standards should prioritize the following steps to remain compliant and competitive:

1. Gap Assessment: Evaluate existing internal quality systems, supplier documentation, and laboratory protocols against the updated standards—particularly those relating to specification, sampling, and testing methodologies.

2. Training and Awareness: Invest in the training of quality control, laboratory, and procurement personnel to ensure a thorough understanding of new analytical requirements and interpretation of results.

3. Supply Chain Coordination: Collaborate closely with suppliers and logistics partners to ensure packaging, marking, transport, and traceability requirements are consistently met and verifiable.

4. Implementation Timeline: Review the effective dates of each standard and develop prioritized action plans for high-risk or high-value categories, allocating resources to ensure timely transition.

5. Engage with Expert Resources: Leverage reputable platforms, such as iTeh Standards, for access to original documents and implementation tools, ensuring accurate interpretation of standard clauses.

Recommended resources for compliance:

• iTeh Standards platform for full standard documents and related tools
• ISO technical committee updates for future amendments
• Sector workshops and e-learning sessions on analytical methodologies and specification compliance

Conclusion: Key Takeaways from September 2025

September 2025’s Food technology standards deliver vital advances in product specification, safety, and authenticity for core ingredients and commodities. Professionals should note the enhanced analytical rigor, the focus on traceability, and the explicit requirements for safety and usability across the four standards published this month.

Top recommendations for sector stakeholders:

• Stay informed of new and revised standards affecting your product portfolio.
• Prioritize implementation of analytical and traceability best practices outlined in these documents.
• Collaborate organization-wide to ensure seamless integration into compliance, supply chain, and quality management systems.

Ultimately, maintaining currency with these standards will enable industry leaders to meet market demands, ensure product integrity, and foster trust in a competitive global context. For deeper exploration and implementation support, access the full standards via iTeh Standards and consult the references linked throughout this overview.