China Approves Six Food Ingredients, including One Bacterial Strain for Baby Foods

Lactobacillus rhamnosus MP108 is the first approved bacterial strain fully researched and developed by a Chinese company. Up until April 26, 2021, China has approved 11 bacterial strains for baby foods.

As revealed by a notice¹ released on April 25, 2021, six food ingredients were approved by China’s National Health Commission (hereinafter NHC), including two new food additives and four new food raw materials.

Two New Food Additives

As two new enzymes are approved as food additives, quality specification of which shall conform to GB 1886.174 National Food Safety Standard Food Additive Enzymes for Food Industry.

No.	Name	Source	Donor
1	Protease	Bacillus subtilis	Bacillus amyloliquefaciens
2	Phosphoinositide phospholipase C	Pseudomonas fluorescens	Microorganisms isolated from the soil that contain the gene of Phosphoinositide phospholipase C

Four New Food Raw Materials

No.	Name	Recommended Intake	Note
1	β-1,3-/α-1,3-glucan	≤3 g/day	Unsuitable for infants, the pregnant and lactating women. Quality requirements, safety indicators and test method are specified in this notice.
2	Dihydroquercetin	≤100 mg/day	Maximum use amount in specific categories: beverage (20 mg/L); fermented milk and flavored fermented milk (20 mg/kg); cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products (70 mg/kg). Unsuitable for infants, children under 14 years old, the pregnant and lactating women. Quality requirements and safety indicators are specified in this notice.
3	Lactobacillus rhamnosus MP108	/	Can be used in baby foods
4	Nannochloropsis gaditana	≤ 2g/day (calculated on a dry matter basis)	Unsuitable for infants, the pregnant and lactating women.

Disclosed by Ausnutria’s press release² on the same day, Lactobacillus rhamnosus MP108 is the first approved bacterial strain for baby food which is fully researched and developed by a Chinese company called Bioflag. Bioflag (formerly called “Genlac Biotech International Corporation”) mainly engages in the R&D, manufacturing and sales of probiotics. In 2019, Ausnutria subscribed for the convertible bonds of Bioflag (converted into 26.01% equity interest in Bioflag³) and fully acquired its subsidiary company Aunulife Pty Ltd, which strengthens Ausnutria’s R&D capacity in probiotics.

Up until April 26, 2021, China has approved 11 bacterial strains for baby foods. They are:

No.	Latin name	Strain No.	Official Links
1	Lactobacillus acidophilus	NCFM (limited to foods for babies over 1 year old)	Official notice No. 25 in 2011
2	Bifidobacterium animalis	Bb-12
3	Bifidobacterium lactis	HN019/Bi-07
4	Lactobacillus rhamnosus	LGG/HN001
5	Lactobacillus reuteri	DSM17938	Official notice No. 10 in 2014
6	Lactobacillus fermentum	CECT5716	Official notice No. 6 in 2016
7	Bifidobacterium breve	M-16V	Official notice No. 6 in 2016
8	Lactobacillus helveticus	R0052	Official notice No. 4 in 2020
9	Bifidobacterium infantis	R0033
10	Bifidobacterium bifidum	R0071
11	Lactobacillus rhamnosus	MP108	Official Notice No.5 in 2021

Check ChemLinked food-list (a list of approved new food raw materials) and food additives database for more information about approved food ingredients in China.