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Health food, also commonly called health supplement, has been supervised in stringent regulatory environment in China. The stringency of supervision is not only reflected on the manufacture and market access, but also demonstrated on the advertising and publicity of local and imported health food products. A proper and ingenious advertising can win you a bigger commercial success, while the advertising may play a negative role if it violates the regulations. China witnessed lots of overhyped and false health food advertisements every year, which leads the government to intensify the crackdown on the illegal acts. ChemLinked brings 11 FAQs to help stakeholders navigate the laws and regulations regarding health food advertising.
Health products refer to products in general sense with health care effect on human body, including food, health food and ordinary products claiming to have health care function.
Health food refers to food products which claim to have specific health functions or provide vitamins or minerals supplement. It is regarded as a kind of special food.
All advertisements of health products shall not contain any assertion or assurance on efficacy or safety, any statement on the recovery or response rate and the function of disease prevention and treatment.
Article 46 of the Advertising Law stipulates that advertisements for medical treatment, drugs, medical devices, pesticides, veterinary drugs and health food, as well as other advertisements subject to censorship, shall be censored by relevant departments before publication The advertisement shall not be published without being undergone censorship.
According to Article 12 of the Interim Administrative Measures on the Review of Health Food, FSMP, Drug and Medical Devices Advertisements, the holders of health food registration certificates or filing certificates and their authorized and approved production and operating enterprises are the applicants. The applicants can entrust agents to handle the application for the advertising review of health food.
According to Article 4 and Article 13 of the Interim Administrative Measures on the Review of Health Food, FSMP, Drug and Medical Devices Advertisements, the application shall be submitted to the market supervision administration with censorship authority in the place where the production enterprise or import agent is located.
According to Article 7 of the Interim Administrative Measures on the Review of Health Food, FSMP, Drug and Medical Devices Advertisements, the contents of health food advertisements shall be in line with the registration certificate or filing certificate approved by SAMR, and the instructions for registered or filed product, and shall not involve any claim of disease prevention and treatment.
If the advertisement involves any claim of health function, functional ingredients or symbolic ingredients and corresponding amount, the suitable population, or recommended consumption, etc., it shall not exceed the scope of the registration certificate or filing certificate, or the instructions for registered or filed product.
According to Article 7 of the Interim Administrative Measures on the Review of Health Food, FSMP, Drug and Medical Devices Advertisements, the advertisement of health food shall clearly indicate that "health food is not a drug and cannot replace drugs in treating diseases", the sign of health food (blue hat), and the suitable and unsuitable population.
Article 18 of the Advertising Law stipulates that health food advertisements shall not contain:
(1) any assertion or assurance on efficacy or safety;
(2) any statement involving disease prevention or treatment functions;
(3) any claim or implicit indication that the advertised commodity is a necessity for maintaining health;
(4) any comparison with drugs or other health foods;
(5) any recommendation or certification by endorser; or
(6) any other information prohibited by law or administrative regulation.
No, these forms are recognized as kinds of disguised advertising of health food. According to Article 19 of the Advertising Law, radio stations, television stations, publishers of newspapers, journals, and audio-visual recordings, and Internet information service providers shall not publish advertisements on medical services, drugs, medical instruments, or health food in a disguised form such as introducing health or health care knowledge.
No. Article 40 of the Advertising Law stipulates that advertisements on medical services, drugs, health food, medical instruments, cosmetic products, liquor, or cosmetic surgery shall not be published on mass media targeting the minors.
The advertising content of health food shall also comply with the general principles that all advertisements shall follow as stipulated in the Advertising Law. It mainly includes:
Article 8 of the Advertising Law: where an advertisement indicates the performance, functions, place of origin, usage, quality, ingredients, price, producer, term of validity, and promises, among others, of the goods; or the content, provider, form, quality, price, and promises, among others, of the services, such indication shall be accurate, clear, and understandable.
Where an advertisement indicates that a gift is attached to the marketed goods or services, the variety, specification, quantity, term, and the form of the complimentary goods or services shall be explicitly indicated.
Where any content shall be explicitly indicated in an advertisement as required by any law or administrative regulation, it shall be indicated in a conspicuous and clear manner.
For any other compliance issue for health food in China, please refer to this foodpedia, or contact our ChemLinked team.
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