The children's gummy vitamins market is in chaos

Can flowery gummies solve children's "picky eating", "poor memory" and "not growing" and other growth problems? Recently, a variety of cute children's
gummies have become popular among children and parents.
On e-commerce platforms, many merchants claim that gummy products have the effects of "strengthening bones" and "protecting vision", and some parents use vitamin gummies as a shortcut for their children to obtain vitamins
.
But at the same time, these vitamin gummy products have also been questioned
by industry insiders.
Industry insiders said frankly that most of the children's vitamin gummies on the market are ordinary foods with health food "edge balls", and children's vitamin gummies are not a shortcut to supplementing vitamins, and excessive consumption will even make children face the risk of
obesity and dental caries.

The market for children's gummy vitamins is getting hot

"Children love to eat sugar, it is better to give children nutritious sugar" "Nutritional gummies to accompany children's learning and growth".
.
.
Recently, children's vitamin gummies have become the "new favorite" of many children, and sales have been rising
.

"Some time ago, a child vitamin gummy was 'planted' by a mother and baby blogger, and bought it back to supplement vitamins for children, the taste of this sugar is similar to QQ sugar, children like to eat it very much, will consider repurchase
.
" Ms.
Li from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province said
.
"I heard from a friend that a children's vitamin gummy is very good, and the child really loves to eat
it when I buy it.
" Li Shan, a citizen of Wuhan, Hubei Province, bought a gummy from a cross-border e-commerce platform to supplement her child with trace elements
.
On the e-commerce platform, children's vitamin gummies have also become popular items sold by merchants, with some item reviews exceeding 500,000, and sales in some stores skyrocketing
.
Among them, Lilcritters are called "Little Bear Candy"
by children.
In addition, Unilever's brand SmartyPants, Japan Yuha (UHA) and other foreign brands, Yangshengtang, Beobel, Jinbei High and other domestic brands, have also become children's vitamin gummies hot selling brands
.

Many brands also play the "efficacy" card in product promotion, including "strong bones", "protect eyesight", "increase immunity", "promote appetite", etc.
, claiming to solve the problems
that plague parents such as "picky eating", "not growing" and "poor memory".
Under the follow-up purchase of many parents, the price of children's vitamin gummies has also "risen"
.
Taking the Ligui Little Bear and Unilever Owl brands as examples, the prices of the two products are 239 yuan/190 capsules and 228 yuan/90 capsules respectively, which is much higher than the price
of ordinary gummies.

It does work or is an IQ tax

Children's vitamin gummies are also popular in the consumer market, but also cause many questions
.
In the online review section of several children's gummy vitamin products, some parents are skeptical about the efficacy of the products
.
A parent asked, "Does the baby have an effect after eating, such as better resistance and eating more?" In response to this question, many parents replied that "there is no obvious effect" and "give their children snacks"
.
Industry insiders said frankly that most of the children's vitamin gummies on the market are ordinary foods
with health food "edge balls".

After browsing major e-commerce platforms, it was found that only a few children's vitamin gummy brands such as Yangshengtang and Jinbei Gao had the "blue hat" health food logo
.
From the special food information inquiry platform on the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the registration information
of health food of Beobel, Ligui Xiaoxiong and other brands has not been retrieved.

According to Article 38 of the Implementing Regulations of the Food Safety Law, "Foods other than health food shall not be claimed to have health care functions
.
At the same time, the "Regulations on Excipients and Their Use for the Recordation of Health Food (2021 Edition)" and "Dosage Forms and Technical Requirements for Health Food Filing Products (2021 Edition)" implemented in China on June 1, 2021 have also officially included gel candies (gummies) into the dosage form
of health food filing.

In this regard, Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said that according to the above laws and regulations, children's vitamin gummies without the "blue hat" logo of health food are ordinary foods, and foreign imported food brands also need to comply with
them in China.
"The above-mentioned merchants claim in advertisements that children's vitamin gummies can 'strengthen bones', 'help protect visual function', and solve children's 'picky eating, small meals' and 'height lagging behind peers' and other effects, all of which are descriptions of health care functions, illegal acts, and easy to mislead
parents.
"

Wang Peng, a researcher at the Intelligent Society Governance Research Center of Chinese Minmin University, pointed out that children's health food made into gummies, which is more suitable for the taste of children and teenagers, is a marketing strategy of merchants, which is understandable at this point, but this must be under the premise that
the product has sufficient health science evidence.
In fact, some children's health foods have a lot of added sugar, which does not meet the growth needs of children and adolescents, and will increase health risks
such as dental caries and obesity.

Regulatory enforcement cannot be weak

In addition to being questioned by the "IQ tax", industry experts pointed out that children's vitamin gummies are not a shortcut to supplementing vitamins, and the sugar content in the product may be much higher than that of vitamin ingredients, and excessive consumption may have certain health risks
.
In addition, it is not uncommon for abuse of health food to affect children's health, and many parents are worried about their children's nutritional deficiencies or feel that they should improve their immunity
.
In fact, some children take some type of health food for a long time, and some children even take multiple health foods
at the same time.

In response to the current problem of excessive consumption, industry insiders believe that in addition to the correct publicity and guidance for children and parents, it is also necessary to crack down on violators in a multi-pronged manner
.

Chen Xue, a lecturer in the Law Department of the School of Economics and Management of China University of Geosciences, said that to prevent false publicity, illegal marketing and excessive consumption of children's health food, and to prevent the elderly from being deceived when buying health food, the first thing is to vigorously popularize the relevant knowledge of health food, so that parents know that children's health food is not a "panacea"
.
At the same time, relevant departments should strengthen grid daily supervision, crack down on illegal business behavior, supervision and law enforcement must not be weak, and increase the intensity
of inspections in key areas of illegal operations.

China's supervision of the health food market is gradually increasing, and the "Work Plan for the Governance of Key Areas of Counterfeiting and Inferiority (2019-2021)" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation proposes to carry out special food supervision special actions, focus on "one old and one small", and increase the sampling of health food and infant formula food
.

Industry experts pointed out that the management of children's health food cannot rely solely on government departments, mobilize the enthusiasm of all aspects of society with the concept of social governance, guide families, schools, communities, government departments, etc.
to participate in it in an orderly manner, and form a joint force of governance to ensure the standardized and orderly operation
of the market.

"Relevant departments should further improve the inspection and dynamic supervision mechanism of children's health food, and encourage social forces to actively participate in supervision
.
" As long as supervision is in place, penalties are followed, and supplemented by the popularization of relevant knowledge, it will definitely be able to effectively eliminate market chaos
.
Chen Xue said
.

"We must have a correct and reasonable expectation
of health food.
At the same time, for health food production enterprises, it is necessary to strictly control, and industry self-discipline must 'see the blood'
.
Zhong Kai, standing member of the Health Communication Branch of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, said
.

(Zhu Meiqiao comprehensive arrangement)

China Food News(December 28, 2022, Version 06)

(Responsible editor: Zhu Meiqiao)