As the new year begins, ZMUni Compliance Centre is preparing to release a series of articles on global food compliance. This issue offers a comprehensive analysis of the health food registration and notification landscape in China for 2024. By leveraging multi-dimensional data insights, we aim to support global enterprises in navigating the Chinese health food market in 2025.
As of December 24, 2024, data from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of China reveals that 392 domestic health food products were granted registration certificates, while 4,210 completed notification this year. Compared to previous years, the number of notified products has notably increased, which is attributed to the simplified notification process for certain low-risk health foods, which facilitates market access.
Since the dual-track system for health food registration and notification was implemented on July 1, 2016, only two imported health foods were approved for registration in 2017. From 2018 to 2024, no imported health foods were granted registration. However, the number of imported health food notifications has remained relatively stable, 28 imported health foods completed notification in 2024.
Among the 392 registered health foods approved this year, products supporting immune health led with 58 approvals, continuing their strong momentum from 2023. This was followed by products aimed at maintaining healthy blood sugar levels (56 approvals) and those focused on controlling body fat (49 approvals). The varied distribution of approved functional claims this year indicates a trend towards a more balanced health food market, catering to a broad range of consumer health need.
In 2024, the dosage forms of registered domestic health food products remained consistent with previous years, with capsules, tablets, and softgel capsules making up 70.4% of all registrations. These forms are favored due to their mature manufacturing processes, convenience, and ease of use. Other forms include granules, powders, oral liquids, and miscellaneous types, as shown in Figure 4.
For notified domestic health foods, permitted forms include tablets, hard capsules, softgel capsules, oral solutions, granules, drops, gel candies, and powders. Tablets and capsules (softgel and hard capsules combined) dominate, accounting for 37% and 33%, respectively, of all notifications. Notably, powders have seen a significant rise, growing from 6% of notifications last year to 19% in 2024. This surge suggests that powders are gaining popularity as an innovative health food form among both manufacturers and consumers.
Traditional ingredients remain dominant in the registered domestic health food market in 2024. Ingredients such as angelica, rhodiola, American ginseng, astragalus, ganoderma, panax notoginseng, and ginseng are widely used due to their long-standing recognition in traditional Chinese medicine.
In addition to traditional ingredients, newer components are increasingly being adopted. Ingredients like vitamin E, collagen, taurine, and phospholipids are seeing broader applications in health foods.
Notified domestic health foods are divided into two categories: nutrient supplements and functional ingredient-based products. Of the 4,210 health foods notified in 2024, 2,299 were nutrient supplements (including single, dual, and multi-nutrient products), representing 54.6% of all notifications. Functional ingredient-based products totaled 1,911, accounting for 45.4%.
The 2023 addition of new ingredients to the notification directory, such as DHA algae oil, isolated soy protein, whey protein, ginseng, American ginseng, and Lingzhi, led to a significant increase in related notifications in 2024. Notably, protein powder—newly eligible for notification in 2023—accounted for 13% of all notifications, highlighting how policy changes can stimulate market innovation.
Functional ingredient-based health foods notified in 2024 prominently featured coenzyme Q10 and proteins, with protein powder taking the lead. For imported health foods, notifications focused on nutrient supplements, primarily vitamin C products.
In November 2024, SAMR issued a guideline detailing the renewal process for "double-no" health foods—those lacking effective periods or product technical requirements. This policy has clarified the renewal process, and 2025 is expected to see a surge in applications from companies holding such health food approvals.
In October 2024, SAMR proposed expanding the scope of permitted dosage forms for notified health foods to include candy products (such as candy, chocolate, and jelly) and beverages. This initiative signals that these new forms could soon be added to the filing directory, potentially leading to a wave of filings for these products.
New Functional Claims on the Horizon
In 2023, the first new functional claim application was submitted for health foods supporting normal platelet aggregation and healthy blood flow. Recently, SAMR completed its first technical review of such a claim, raising hopes for the approval of new functional claims in 2025.
The Chinese government continues to foster innovation in health food functionality, prompting many companies to prepare applications for new functional claims.
