China Drafts New Rules on Probiotic Health Food, Paving Way for Product Filing

On July 24, 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of China released the draft regulation Provisions on the Registration and Filing of Health Food Using Probiotics Raw Materials (Draft for Comments) (hereafter referred to as the Provisions) along with its drafting explanation to publicly solicit feedback. This significant overhaul proposes to establish a dual-track "registration and filing" system for probiotic health foods, marking a potential shift from the registration-only pathway that has been in place for nearly two decades. The deadline for submitting feedback is August 24, 2026.