In the past, except for registration of new enzymes produced by GMMs, other registrations of new food additives or food raw materials produced by GMMs are unacceptable by National Health Commission (NHC) in China, which means, these new food ingredients have no chance to enter the Chinese market as a food additive or food raw material. In the year of 2021, NHC opened the application channel for GMM food additives.

As of the end of June 2022, the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHC) issued 2 announcements (No. 1, 2022, and No. 2, 2022) for the approval of food-related products. Totally, 34 new food-related products (herein "new food contact additives and resins") are approved. Besides, from the website of NHC and China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA), a total of 10 new food contact additives and resins application were officially accepted and 5 food contact additives and resins (including expanded use) were issued for public comments.

At the end of June, the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHC) issued two announcements (No. 1 of 2022, No. 2 of 2022) in the form of "three new food" with a total of 68 kinds of products approved, including new food raw materials (novel food), new food additives and food-related products (new food contact substances). Among them, 29 kinds of new food additives (including expanded use) were approved. Besides, from websites of NHC and China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA), in the first half of 2022, a total of 37 new food additives applications were accepted, and 8 new food additives (including expanded use) passed the technical evaluation and were issued for public comments.

On 29 June, 2022, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) opened public comment for Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides. The deadline for public comments is 29 July, 2022.

On 1st July, 2022, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) issued one new food contact additive passing the technical review of the CFSA Expert Review Committee and it is now available for public comments. The deadline for public comments is 27th July, 2022.

On October 29, 2010, Haematococcus pluvialis was approved as a "new food ingredient", which can be used in health food (dietary supplement). Several products made from Haematococcus pluvialis were approved and registered after the ingredient was approved for use, but the number was not too large. Although the development of Haematococcus pluvialis industry in China lags behind that in Japan, Europe and the United States, the domestic competition environment is relatively loose, and Haematococcus pluvialis has a better market potential in the Chinese domestic market.

Until now, totally 81 FSMP products have been approved in China, including 52 domestic products and 29 foreign products. Among the 81 approved products, the dosage forms of 62 products are powder, and only 19 products are liquid. In terms of product type, as shown in the figure below, 36 of them are infant formula for special medical purposes, 25 are nutritionally incomplete food, and 20 are nutritionally complete food. While specific nutritionally complete food have not been approved until now.

In recent years, domestic and overseas enterprises are enthusiastic about the registration of new food raw materials in China. In 2021 alone, 27 new food raw materials were accepted by the National Health Commission (NHC), more than two times the number accepted in 2020. To apply for a new food raw material, the applicant needs to complete the preparation of a series of materials such as the raw material development report, safety assessment report and production process material. In order to help enterprises understand the status of new food raw material application and management system in China, CIRS Group will hold a webinar in June 2022.

Functional food includes health food (food supplement), but the scope of functional food is more than just health food (food supplements). Based on the active ingredients and nutrition of the products, functional food consists of functional carbohydrates, functional lipids, plant ingredients, probiotics and other food products. With the high incidence of “lifestyle diseases”, the reasonable intake of functional foods could modify organic functions of the humans to some extent.

On 13th May, 2022, National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHC) approved 3 new food raw materials and 18 new food additives. The detailed approval information is as follow: