As of June 30, 2023, 4 novel food have been approved by European Union (EU) in the second quarter of 2023. These are Cellobiose; 6’-Sialyllactose sodium salt produced by derivative strains of E. coli BL21(DE3); Iron milk caseinate?, and Aqueous ethanolic extract of Labisia pumila

According to the information released by the Center for Food Evaluation, State Administration for Market Regulation and the Special Food Information Query Platform, in the first half of 2023, State Administration for Market Regulation issued a total of 670 health food (dietary supplement) registration approvals, 358 of which are new health food products.

On June 14, 2023, the State Administration for Market Regulation released four official documents, including Health Food Raw Materials Directory of Nutrient Supplement (2023 Edition), Health Function Directory of Allowing Nutrition Supplement Claims (2023 Edition), Health Food Raw Materials Directory - Soybean Isolated Protein, and Health Food Raw Materials Directory - Whey Protein. On July 5, 2023, the supporting technical specifications and interpretation documents (draft for soliciting opinions) of the above-mentioned documents were released for public opinion. Comments are welcomed before August 4, 2023.

On July 18, 2023, we hosted a free webinar in Chinese and Japanese on health food registration and filing in China as well as an analysis of the difficulties. A lot of questions were raised during the webinar. CIRS Group has collected questions on health food and made a Q&A summary as follows:

In order to help enterprises better understand the filing status of health food (dietary supplements) in China, CIRS has gathered statistics on the health foods approved in 2023 (as of June 30) and analyzed them from multiple perspectives.

From our years of regulatory compliance experience, we’ve translated a selection of some frequently asked questions on health food and common food to help you understand the current requirements in China.

According to information recently released by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), the number of foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) products approved in China has reached 125. Companies must register FSMP products with the SAMR, and it is applicable to both foreign and domestic products sold in China. 31 new FSMP Products have been approved for use in the first half of 2023, containing fourteen nutritionally complete food, thirteen nutritionally incomplete food, and four infant formulas for special medical purposes. four nutritionally incomplete food; and one infant formula for special medical purposes.

On June 26, 2023, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) issued three new food additives for public comment, including one new food additive and two food processing aids with an expanded scope of use. The deadline for public comments is July 20, 2023.

On June 21, 2023, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) issued a public consultation on Yerba mate as a new food raw material. The deadline for public comments is July 21, 2023.

On 14 June 2023, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued four new regulations: Health Food Raw Materials Directory of Nutrition Supplements (2023 Version); Health Function Directory of Allowing Nutrition Supplement Claims (2023 Version); Health Food Raw Materials Directory - Soy Protein Isolate; and Health Food Raw Materials Directory - Whey Protein. They will take effect from October 1, 2023. Compared with the current regulations, there are six major changes in the new ones.