Official Responses to Food Regulatory Proposals from Two Sessions 2022, Involving Health Food & Probiotics

From May 4 to March 11, 2022, China held its most important annual political gatherings, the "Two Sessions", where a variety of proposals were raised from delegates to China's top legislature body, including several proposals related to food industry. Recently, China National Health Commission (NHC) started to respond to these proposals of great concern in food industry: 

New Food Raw Materials 

During the Two Sessions, some substances with great application potential, such as Eucommia ulmoides, Glucosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, were suggested to be approved as new food raw materials. In the response to those proposals, NHC first pointed out that the major purpose of administrative examination and approval of new food raw materials is to examine food safety. As long as the proposed substance meets the safety requirements, it can be approved and used as a new food raw material. In addition, NHC encouraged such proposals to promote the healthy and sustainable development of related industries.

Raw Materials Catalogue of Health Food 

The proposal of including Glucosamine into the catalogue of health food raw materials was also replied by NHC. In principle, the application for a new raw material for health food shall strictly follow the provisions stated in Administrative Measures on Directory of Health Food Raw Materials and Directory of Health Functions. Besides, NHC revealed that back in 2019, NHC entrusted Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ) to carry out systematic research on the source, production process, quality standard and safety of Glucosamine.

China's Probiotics Industry 

For the proposal about boosting the development of China's probiotics industry, NHC noted that a series of laws and regulations had been launched to regulate and promote the development of the probiotics industry. To ensure the safety of probiotic strains, NHC has drafted Strains Preparation for Food Processing, Hygienic Standard for Producing Strains Preparation for Food Processing and Procedures for Safety Assessment of Strains Used in Food. The reply concluded that more related regulations and laws can be expected to be unveiled.

Health Function of Camellia Oil 

It is widely believed that camellia oil is healthier comparing with other oils, and has many health benefits. A proposal of developing standards for the clarification on health functions of camellia oil was raised to NHC. In the response, NHC stated that for any product that intended to claim health functions, it shall finish the health food filing or registration first. In the next step, NHC will actively cooperate with SAMR in formulating and adjusting the catalogue of health food raw materials and the catalogue of health functions.