CFDA Consults on Health Food and Food for Special Medical Purpose Advertisement Rules

 Take home:

• Advertisement and promotion of health food and FSMP will be subject to pre-market approval by competent authorities.
• Advertisements published on all public media and internet will be regulated.
• Specific nutritionally complete food (a category of FSMP) may only be advertised in recognized medical journals.

On December 15, 2016, CFDA released a notice to consult on the Draft of “Measures for the Examination of Medical Device, Health Food and Foods for Special Medical Purpose Advertisement” (hereafter called the measure). The public consultation deadline will end on 13th January, 2017. The measure aims to verify the qualifications of all applicants and ensure that advertised products have been registered legally and do not violate advertisement requirements.

Implications for health foods and FSMPs:

• Advertisement of health food and FSMPs should be examined and approved by competent authorities prior to market activities
• Advertisements that only show the product name and do not include any information relating to functions or targeted users will be exempted from the advertisement examination requirement
• Specific nutritionally complete food (one of FSMP category serves as sole nutritional intake) advertisements will be managed in the same way as pharmaceutical drug advertisements and can only be advertised on authorized medical journals appointed by the Department of the State Council Administering Health and CFDA. The examination requirements for other FSMP types will be the same as over the counter (OTC) drugs
• A CFDA health food/FSMP registration certificate will be required when applying for advertisement approval
• The advertisement approval will be valid for one year.

Reference

CFDA Notice