China Health food will be strictly inspected! Have you crossed these advertising red lines?

On April 23, the China State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice on “Deepening the Governance of the Internet Advertising Ecosystem” and simultaneously released the “Key Tasks for Regulating the Order of the Internet Advertising Market”. The rectification work will last for six months starting from the date of publication.

This work clearly lists health food as a target for strict inspection. According to China’s Advertising Law, violators will bear legal responsibilities, including fines of over ten thousand yuan and even the revocation of business licenses. CIRS Group has summarized the content related to health food in this work as follows:

Key focus: Advertising behaviors in live e-commerce that unlawfully claim health functions and disease prevention or treatment effects.

The regulatory basis: According to the Advertising Law, non-health food cannot claim health functions, and health food cannot claim disease prevention or treatment functions.

Key focus: The behavior of celebrities, internet influencers, and key opinion leaders endorsing health food and special medical purpose formula food advertisements.

The regulatory basis: The Advertising Law stipulates that health food cannot use endorsers for recommendations or endorsements.

Key focus: The use of artificial intelligence to impersonate or fabricate experts and other identities to create or publish advertisements.

The regulatory basis: The “Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services” stipulates that when providing and using generative artificial intelligence services, one must not infringe upon others’ portrait rights, privacy rights, and other personal information rights; the Advertising Law states that deceiving or misleading consumers with false or misleading content constitutes false advertising.

As a special food, health food advertisements are subject to strict regulation and must be reviewed by relevant authorities before publication. In addition to not crossing the aforementioned “red lines”, they must also meet the following requirements:

• Must not contain assertions or guarantees regarding efficacy or safety.
• Must not claim or imply that the product is essential for health maintenance.
• Must not compare with drugs or other health foods.
• The advertisement must prominently state, “This product cannot replace medication.”
• Radio stations, television stations, newspaper and audio-visual publishing units, and internet information service providers must not indirectly publish health food advertisements in the form of introducing health and wellness knowledge.
• Health food advertisements must not be published in mass media targeting minors.

In the information age, advertising has permeated all aspects of life, and consumers often form quick perceptions of products through advertisements, which influences their purchasing decisions. Additionally, claims on product labels also fall under the category of advertising and are regulated by laws such as the Advertising Law. CIRS Group reminds businesses that strong marketing is built on a foundation of compliance. If you have any compliance questions regarding advertisements or labels, feel free to consult us. CIRS Group provides professional review services to safeguard your product's market entry.

About CIRS Food Division

Established in 2012, the Food Business Division of CIRS Group has helped over 1,000 food companies globally in achieving one-stop compliance solutions. CIRS offers a full range of regulatory services, including but not limited to China novel food applications, synthetic biology-derived foods, U.S. GRAS notices, EU novel food applications, health food registration, and food for special medical purposes (FSMP).

Our Services

CIRS Group was established in 2007, with over 450 employees. The headquarters is located in Hangzhou, and the group has 11 subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Korea, Japan, and other locations, providing one-stop global food compliance services for enterprises, efficiently and reliably helping them access market entry.

• Review of prepackaged food formulas and labels in China
• Review of food label/advertising information in the United States
• Notification of structure/function claims for dietary supplements in the United States

If you need any assistance or have any questions, please get in touch with us via service@cirs-group.com.