On Jan. 13, SAMR published an official document asking local authorities to investigate on illegal selling and marketing of the so-called "anti-aging medicine", whose key component is nicotinamide mononucleotide (hereafter referred to as "NMN"). This document clarifies that NMN has not been approved as food additive, new food raw material or permitted to be used in drug or health food. That is, NMN is prohibited from being produced or sold as food in China.
"Anti-aging medicine" is popular in China
"Anti-aging medicines" made from NMN usually claim to have the functions of anti-aging, repairing DNA, and preventing senile dementia, and those functions make it extremely popular in China. For example, the sales volume of Doctor's Best NMN product from the USA reached one million USD within 10 days since it entered Chinese market.1 In addition, NMN products sold on domestic e-commerce platforms are generally high-priced. A bottle of imported NMN products with 60 tablets can be sold from 1200 to 3000 CNY.
Compliance of NMN
At present, NMN is only permitted in food in Japan and USA. In Mar. 2020, Japan included NMN in the food raw material list. The USA allows to use NMN as raw material of nutrition supplements. While in Europe, producing and selling such products is illegal. 2 In Australia, NMN is not allowed to be used in health food products. NMN products registered by TGA (Therapeutic Foods Administration) are only permitted for exportation.
Although producing and selling NMN product is illegal in China, cross-border e-commerce provides another opportunity. Currently, CBEC is the sole option for the legal import of NMN products to China because it could be regarded as derivative of vitamin B, which is included in the positive list of cross-border e-commerce. However, they can neither indicate "blue hat" on the promotion page nor have some function claims like anti-aging. Since one of Chinese CBEC importation requirements is that the products should comply with regulations and standards of their place of origin, and China is now investigating on illegal selling of NMN products, ChemLinked does not recommend to import NMN product from Australia through CBEC as there will be potential risks.
Future Trends in China
Considering the huge market opportunities of NMN products, Chinese authority may release the supervision measures for its legal sales in the future. It's not completely impossible to export NMN products through general trade. One thing enterprises can try is to apply for using NMN as new food raw material. Once it is approved with the application scope of heath food, enterprises can then apply for health food registration for products using NMN as raw material.
However, the most significant factors for the approval is to prove its safety and functions, which may take long time. "Although it is scarcely possible for NMN to obtain approval in China in the short term, it can be expected in the long run", said Xu Huafeng, vice directory & secretary general of China Health Care Association. 3
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