What is a pre made dish? How can the prefabricated food industry develop healthily? Now, there is an official answer to the above question. On March 21st, the State Administration for Market Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the "State Administration for Market Regulation") and six other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Safety Supervision of Prefabricated Vegetables and Promoting High quality Development of the Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which for the first time clarified the definition and scope of prefabricated vegetables at the national level, and made requirements from the construction of standard systems, food safety supervision, and promoting high-quality development of the industry. The process of standardized development of the prefabricated vegetable industry is accelerating. In recent years, the prefabricated food industry has shown a deep integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and its prospects have been optimistic by many parties. However, in the process of industrial development, pre made vegetables also face problems such as scope generalization, inconsistent standards, inconsistent industrial policy support, and public concerns about adding preservatives to pre made vegetables. Regulatory work also faces new challenges. "The 'Notice' will be a restructuring for the pre made vegetable industry. Zhang Chunhui, Chief Scientist of the Innovation Team at the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, stated in an interview with the China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that the 'Notice' has determined the connotation and extension of pre made vegetables, dividing their 'origin' and 'radius' by definition, providing industry boundaries for the next step of standard formulation, and will effectively serve, regulate, and guide the healthy development of the pre made vegetable industry.". In the eyes of industry insiders, the biggest highlight of the "Notice" is that it clarifies the definition and scope of pre made dishes for the first time by the government. The Notice points out that pre packaged dishes, also known as pre packaged dishes, are made from one or more edible agricultural products and their products as raw materials, with or without the use of seasoning and other auxiliary materials, without the addition of preservatives. They are industrialized and pre processed (such as stirring, pickling, rolling, shaping, frying, frying, baking, boiling, steaming, etc.), paired with or without seasoning packs, and meet the storage, transportation, and sales conditions indicated on the product label. They can only be consumed after heating or cooking. "The scope of prefabricated dishes should combine the characteristics of prefabrication and dishes." The person in charge of the relevant departments and bureaus of the State Administration for Market Regulation said in response to questions from reporters that dishes made in the central kitchen, clean vegetables, staple foods, ready to eat foods that are not heated or cooked, as well as cold dishes such as vegetables (fruits) salads that can be consumed directly, are not prefabricated dishes. In Zhang Chunhui's view, clarifying the definition and scope of prefabricated dishes has laid a fundamental foundation for industrial development. He pointed out that only by clarifying the definition of pre made dishes can we formulate the next step of classification terminology, processing technology specifications, as well as a series of supporting standard systems such as product standards and quality and safety standards, further standardize industry development, and create a good industry development environment. In fact, before the release of the Notice, there was no consensus in the industry on the standard definition of pre made dishes. According to the group standard for prepared dishes jointly drafted by the China Cuisine Association and several units and released in 2022, prepared dishes are divided into ready to eat (such as Babao Congee, ready to eat canned food), instant hot (such as quick frozen rice dumpling, self heating hot pot), instant cooking (semi-finished dishes that need to be heated for cooking), and ready to prepare (such as