With the increasing awareness of health, everyone attaches great importance to physical health. According to health reports, osteoarticular problems (those relating to, involving, or affecting bones and joints) have imperceptibly become one of the top ten problems plaguing national health. Osteoarticular problems are also beginning to impact younger citizens as well including those born in the 90s and even the 00s. Under such circumstances, an increasing number of people have become aware of the necessity of maintaining their bones and are willing to buy some health products with related functions for health care, among which glucosamine products are becoming the most prevalent.

In recent years, NMN (β-Nicotinamide mononucleotide) products are quite popular among businesses and consumers for its “anti-aging” function. In May 2022, SyncoZymes (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. received the first US FDA New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) approval for its NMN ingredient. Recently, however, the FDA has changed its position and stated that NMN cannot be marketed as a dietary supplement because it has been authorized for investigation as a new drug.

Since the 1990s, the aging of China’s population has accelerated. According to the data of the seventh national population census, the proportion of Chinese aged 65 and over has reached 13.5%, which is higher than the global average of 9.3%. The aging population has promoted the development of the “silver economy” and expanded the consumption of the products and services aimed at older consumers. This article lays out the new opportunities and challenges for the "geriatric food industry".

On November 7, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released a public consultation on the Draft of the Labeling Guidelines on Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP). The deadline for the feedback is November 25, 2022.

On October 28, 2022, two HMO products (2’-fucosyllactose and Lacto-N-neotetraose) of E. coli origin have passed the technical review of the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) Expert Review Committee and now open for public comments. CIRS has sorted out the detailed information about the acceptance and review information of HMO products in China as following: