The protein powder market needs to be regulated

"The ordinary protein powder drinks purchased for more than 200 yuan were sold to the elderly at a high price of more than 5,000 yuan in the
name of health food.
" According to relevant media reports, in a case announced by the Shanghai Pudong police, the elderly who were defrauded believed in this and paid for these "health foods" without "blue hats"
.
In fact, when purchasing goods in daily life, many consumers are confused about this, and are confused
with protein powder solid drinks and protein powder health foods.
In recent years, relevant national and local departments have issued consumption tips for purchasing solid beverages such as protein powder, solid drinks are ordinary food, not health food, nor medicine, do not have disease prevention and treatment effects, consumers should not be gullible that it has "improve immunity" and other efficacy publicity
.

Identity labeling is non-compliant

There are many kinds of protein powder products, including health food, food, etc
.
If you search on the e-commerce platform with "protein powder" as the keyword, you can find a variety of protein powder health foods and solid drinks
.
In terms of publicity, there are still some protein powder solid beverage products playing "edge ball"
.

There are various brands of protein powder, basically solid drinks are marked with the word "solid beverage" on the product packaging, but there are also some individual product packaging on the "solid beverage" labeling position is relatively hidden, and the font size is significantly smaller than the font size
of "protein powder".
On the e-commerce platform, some protein powder solid beverage products do not have a clear identification of "solid beverage" in the product introduction, and "protein powder"
is also marked on the product payment page.

In terms of publicity, many brands of solid beverage products are suspected of playing "edge ball", and it is more common to mark "enhance immunity" on the purchase page of the product, and emphasize the suitable people
of the product.

For the chaos in the solid beverage market, relevant national and local departments have issued consumer warnings
many times.
According to the consumer warning issued by the Yingde Market Supervision Administration of Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province, solid drinks are ordinary foods
made of powder, granules or lumps made of food raw materials and food additives for preparation or brewing and drinking.
Its product formula, production process, label and instruction manual do not require product registration approval, cannot provide nutritional support for people with special medical conditions, cannot label suitable groups, and do not need to be used
under the guidance of doctors and clinical dietitians.

On January 7, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Announcement of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Strengthening the Quality and Safety Supervision of Solid Beverages, which pointed out that the name of solid beverage products must not be the same as the name of special foods that have 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 less than other words (including the text contained in trademarks, designs, etc.
)
on the same display page.
Solid beverage labels, instructions and promotional materials shall not use words or patterns to expressly, imply or emphasize that the product is suitable for specific groups such as minors, the elderly, pregnant women, patients, people with nutritional risks or malnutrition, and shall not use production processes, raw material names, etc.
to express or imply disease prevention, treatment functions, health care functions, and meet the special needs of specific disease groups
.
This announcement is effective
as of June 1, 2022.
Previously manufactured products can continue to be sold
during the shelf life.

Implementation standards vary

For the protein powder product category, in December 2021, the Guangxi Consumer Rights Protection Commission recommended that consumers should pay attention to the production standards
implemented by protein (quality) powder products.
At present, there is no unified implementation standard for domestic brand protein (quality) powder, or the implementation of national standards such as solid drinks, sports nutrition products, health foods, etc.
, or the implementation of enterprise standards
.

For consumers, how to better distinguish protein powder solid drinks from health foods? Wang Dahong, Secretary-General of the Market Working Committee of the China Health Care Association, pointed out that the Food Safety Law clearly requires that the state strictly supervise formula foods for special medical purposes, infant formula foods and health foods, and has its own management requirements for sports nutrition foods, solid beverages, etc.
, and can use raw materials
such as soy protein and whey protein in the production of these types of products according to specific requirements.

Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, pointed out that there is a clear difference
between protein powder solid drinks and protein powder health foods.
Protein powder solid drinks belong to food, but the safety and functionality of protein powder health food have been rigorously scientifically verified
.

Deng Zhidong, general manager of Hainan Boao Medical Technology Co.
, Ltd.
, said that protein powder health food is a health food approved by relevant national departments, and has the "little blue hat" logo
for health food in China.
The state has strict regulations on the raw materials of health food and has a traceability mechanism, and after the test of food function test, it is certified, and all health food must be labeled to distinguish
it from drugs and ordinary food.
Protein powder solid drinks belong to food, there is no "little blue hat" certification, the packaging should be marked with "solid drinks", there is no label for health care functions
.

The market outlook is promising

In recent years, protein powder products have been favored by the public, and their consumer groups have also tended to be
younger.
According to enterprise investigation data, in 2021, there were 4,398 protein powder-related enterprises in China, of which 2,505 were in business and existing
.
In the past 10 years, the overall registration of protein powder enterprises in China has shown an upward trend
.

According to the "2022-2027 China Protein Powder Industry Market Comprehensive Analysis and Development Trend Research Report", the rise of fitness and sports boom and the continuous standardization of the dietary supplement industry have accelerated the development of
the protein powder industry.
The market size of the protein powder industry will continue to expand, and it is expected that the market size of China's protein powder industry will reach 2.
3 billion yuan by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.
5%.

Zhu Danpeng believes that in the post-epidemic era, Chinese consumers' management of weight, appearance, nutrition and health has been deeply rooted in the hearts of
the people.
He suggested that consumers should take the brand as the core and formal channels as the guarantee to rationally consume
protein powder products.

For how consumers choose protein powder products, Wang Dahong suggested, on the one hand, to help consumers figure out why protein supplements, such as what nutritional effect protein has on the body? What happens if I don't get enough protein? How can you tell if your body is deficient in protein? On the other hand, consumers need to be guided to buy rationally, that is, consumers need to be reminded to buy branded products
from formal commercial institutions.

(Wu Yueming)

China Food News(November 30, 2022, Version 06)

(Responsible editor: Zhu Meiqiao)