Three Suggestions for Accelerating Development of China’s FSMP Sector

To propel the development of China’s FSMP sector, an NPC deputy proposed to add more FSMP product types into the national standard, optimize the criteria for approval, expand the clinical scenarios in which FSMP products are used, and include FSMP products into hospitals’ prescription charging system.

In China FSMP products are now receiving a lot of attention from medical experts, medical institutions, and the public. The sector is held back by several major problems such as the high costs of products, a limited number of products in the market, and the industry chaos caused by false advertising and sale of solid beverages masquerading as FSMP products ^[1], etc. In the two sessions, an NPC deputy, Li Jie, gave his suggestions ^[2] to solve these problems.

Revise the national standard to provide more product types and optimize the criteria for approval

FSMP (food for medical purpose) products (View more at ChemLinked Pedia ^[3]) are widely used and recognized in many developed countries. However, due to the strict registration standard, the market scale of FSMP products in China is restrained. And most of the approved products are limited to infant FSMP products (as analyzed below), which fails to satisfy the diverse range of clinical scenarios where FSMPs are required.

Li suggested authorities revise the national standards and expand the number of product types to meet the demands of more patients and a greater scope of clinical scenarios. Additionally, the government shall also increase its support of the FSMP sector and look to optimize the product approval process.

*Note:

Until the end of April 2020, China had only approved 48 FSMP products, 29 of which are for infants under 12 months.

Categories	Product types	Approved numbers
FSMP for infants between 0-12 months	Lactose-free formula food	6
	Partially hydrolyzed milk protein formula food	5
	Extensively hydrolyzed milk protein formula food	3
	Premature or low birth weight formula food	11
	Nutrition supplement	3
	Amino acid metabolize disorder formula	1
FSMP for young children and people over one-year-old	nutritionally complete formula	15
FSMP for young children and people over one-year-old	nutritionally incomplete formula food	4

Strengthen research on clinical nutrition and promote the use of FSMPs

China is a late starter in clinical nutrition. Many departments of nutrition in China have inadequate staff and are not taken seriously. According to one Report ^[4], in 2015, there were only around 4000 clinical dietitians in China, while the number of registered dietitians reached 90 thousand in the U.S.

Therefore, the construction of nutrition departments and the cultivation of talent are still vital steps on China’s path to a better FSMP sector. Hospitals shall also conduct nutritional assessments, implement nutrition risk assessment, and guide the rational use of FSMP products clinically .

Include FSMP into hospitals’ prescription charging system

Li suggested authorities include FSMP products into the hospitals’ prescription charging systems. Products that are badly needed by patients with severe diseases, and are proven to be effective clinically, should be covered by the national medical insurance system to relieve patients’ financial burden.