Analysis of the Filing Status of Health Foods (Dietary Supplements) in China for 2024

In order to help enterprises better understand the status of health food (dietary supplements) filing in China, CIRS has gathered statistics on health foods approved in 2024 and analyzed them from multiple perspectives.

Related Links

• Health Food Registration and Filing in China
• Analysis of China Health Food (Dietary Supplement) Filing Status in the First Half of 2024
• Analysis on China Health Food (Dietary Supplement) Registration of 2024
• Major Changes: Candies, Chocolates, Jellies, and Beverages are Proposed to be Included in Health Food Filings!

The Filing Status of Health Food in China

According to the information released by the Special Food Information Query Platform of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), as of December 31, 2024, 4,345 health foods obtained filing certificates, of which 4,317 were Chinese health foods and 28 are imported health foods (detailed information is shown in Table 1).

Imported Health Food

Table 1. Filing Information of Imported Health Food

Chinese Health Food

In terms of Chinese health food, CIRS will analyze the statistics from four perspectives:

• Regions;
• Enterprises;
• Dosages forms; and
• Active ingredients.

The Filing Status of Health Food in Different Regions of China

The filing status of health foods varies significantly across different regions in China, including provinces, directly governed municipalities, and autonomous regions. Shandong province obtained a total of 1,258 health food filing certificates, securing the top spot in terms of the number of filings. Anhui province and Guangdong province secured the second and third positions with 726 and 416 certificates, respectively.

The Filing Status of Health Food in Different Enterprises

602 domestic health food enterprises obtained filing certificates. Weihai Baihe Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has the largest number of approvals with a total of 425 filed products, followed by Hubei Kangencui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Anhui Jinyuan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., with 114 and 103, respectively.

The Filing Status of Health Food in Different Dosage Forms

At present, the permitted dosage forms for filing include tablets, capsules (hard/soft), oral liquids, granules, powders, and gelatin candy (gummies). When filing products such as panacis quinquefolii radix, ginseng radix et rhizome and ganoderma, mixture, paste, and tea (bagged tea) dosage forms can be used.

In 2024, the main dosage form for domestic health food filing was tablets (1581), accounting for 36.6% of the total. There were 1,439 filings for capsule products – 1,006 soft capsules and 433 hard capsules. In addition, the number of oral liquids (including drops) and granule products was 222 and 114 respectively. Among oral liquid products, there were four drop products. The quantity of powder and gelatin candy (gummies) products was 826 and 132 respectively. There were two pastes and one bagged tea product.

The Filing Status of Health Food in Different Functional Components

Among the filed domestic health foods in 2024, there were 2,364 nutrition supplements, accounting for 54.8% of the total. The rest were 1,953 functional health foods such as broken ganoderma lucidum spore powder as raw material, accounting for 45.2% of the total.

Among the nutrition supplements, products with the function of supplementing a single nutrient are greater in quantity (1,008 products filed), followed by products supplementing multi-vitamins and minerals (871 products filed) and two nutrients (485 products filed).

Among nutrition supplements, the three major products were vitamin C supplements, calcium & vitamin D supplements, and multi-vitamins & minerals supplements, which were 348, 206, and 586 respectively.

Note: Nutrition supplements with less than five products are classified as “Others”.

There were 568 filed products with protein (soy protein isolate and/or whey protein) added as a raw material, of which 52 filed products of protein are combined with vitamins and minerals, and their health function is still "to enhance immunity". Among the rest of the functional health foods, products with coenzyme Q10, broken ganoderma lucidum spore powder rank second and third place with 483 and 375 respectively.

CIRS Comments

In 2024, the range of functional health food ingredients filed became more abundant and the quantity was larger, with the emergence of new dosage forms – paste and bagged tea.

On October 11, the SAMR, in response to the actual needs of industry enterprises, publicly solicited opinions and suggestions on the "Technical Requirements for Filing Health Food Products Dosage Forms (2024 Edition) (Draft for Comments)" and the "Regulations on Available Excipients for Filing Health Food Products and Their Use (2024 Edition) (Draft for Comments)." The aim is to enrich the filing dosage forms of health food, introducing food forms such as candies, chocolates, jellies, and beverages that are more appealing to younger demographics. Building upon existing regulations, the plan is to supplement, revise, and improve the relevant product dosage forms, associated excipients, and dosage form technical requirements to ensure the safety of the new dosage form products. This initiative is intended to inject further dynamism into the health food market.

Note:

I. The data in this article is from the Special Food Information Query Platform.

II. There may be some omissions in the data of the Special Food Information Query Platform, thus the data in this article is for reference only, and please refer to the information published by the government.

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

Key words: Health food, Health food filing, Data analysis.

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