China Regulates Health Food Market

China regulates health food market

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) — China will tighten supervision over health food market by checking up on the registered health food products and lifting the market access standard, according to China’s food and drug watchdog.

Addressing a national seminar on food and drug supervision held here Friday, Shao Mingli, director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), said that China will strictly regulate the examination and approval of health food products so as put the health food market in order from the source.

SFDA started registration of health food products in October of 2003. By the end of June of this year, 7,231 kinds of health food products were approved to enter the market, including 6,694 home- made and 537 foreign ones.

A trial regulation on registration of health food products issued by SFDA has taken effect since July 1, 2005.