Solid beverages pretending to be special foods won't work

In recent years, the size of China's solid beverage market has continued to expand, and solid beverages "disguised" as special foods such as health food, formula food for special medical purposes, and infant formula milk powder have also occurred from time to time

Solid beverages need to be prominently displayed

Wang Haining, executive chairman of the leisure food professional committee of the China Non-staple Food Circulation Association and secretary-general of the beverage branch, pointed out that the "Announcement" made refined regulations on the labeling, warning information and false claims of solid beverages, which greatly improved the solid beverage industry.

The "Announcement" stipulates that the name of solid beverage products shall not be the same as the name of the special food that has been approved for release; the special name "solid beverage" reflecting the true attributes of the food shall be prominently displayed on the product label, and the font size shall not be smaller than other words (including trademarks) on the same display page.

The minimum sales unit of protein solid beverages, plant solid beverages, special-purpose solid beverages, flavored solid beverages, and solid beverages with edible fungi added directly to consumers shall also be marked on the same display page as "This product cannot replace special medical Special food such as purpose formula food, infant formula food, health food” as warning information, the area should not be less than 20% of the surface where it is located

The "Announcement" requires that the labels, instructions and publicity materials of solid beverages shall not use words or patterns to express, imply or emphasize that the products are suitable for specific groups such as minors, the elderly, pregnant women, patients, and those with nutritional risks or malnutrition.

It can be seen from the above content that the "Announcement" focuses on putting "tightening spells" on solid beverages pretending to be special foods through regulations on labels, warnings, and slogans

Before the "Announcement" was released, the State Administration for Market Regulation had issued the "Administrative Measures for the Registration of Formulas for Special Medical Purposes (Draft for Comment)" in October 2021, which stipulated that special medical food "highlight the labelling characteristics and warning terms of special medical food"

In the solid beverage market, milk powder, protein powder, instant coffee, instant tea, milk tea, fruit powder and other products occupy a major share.

Consumer rights are guaranteed

The growing solid beverage market and the frequent occurrence of chaos are regarded by the industry as the reason for the introduction of the new regulations

Previously, solid beverages "disguised" as infant formula food, health food and other sales phenomenon occurred from time to time

According to industry insiders, solid beverages are powder, granule or block processed with food raw materials, food additives, etc.

　　Solid drinks are "disguised" as health foods, claiming that they have functions such as disease treatment

　　Zhang Wenbo, senior partner of Beijing Jundu Law Firm and director of the life science and health care law department, said that the entry threshold for special food is very high, and tens of millions of yuan are invested in the starting cost.

　　Wang Hesong, secretary-general of the Health Advisory Service Committee of the China Health Care Association, reminded that solid beverages are only a form of food, and special foods such as health food, formula food for special medical purposes, and infant formula milk powder need to be registered or filed before they can be sold on the market.

　　(Comprehensive by Zhu Meiqiao)

　　"China Food News" (July 20, 2022 Edition 06)

　　(Editor-in-charge: Zhu Meiqiao)