Efficacy food gray zone

“Monkey spoon cookies, made from Hericium erinaceus, and stomach; eat in the morning and eat in the afternoon.” Last September, this food advertisement started to land on major TV stations and caused controversy: whether monkey spoons are food or health foods. ?

In many supermarkets in Beijing, the reporter saw a box of 720g monkey spoons sold at about RMB 100, and the price of 1440g can reach 189 yuan. This is a luxury in all cookies. In Jiangzhong Group's official website, this product is defined as "functional food."

What is a functional food? The relevant person of the State Food and Drug Administration told the reporter that there is no effective food in food. Ordinary foods cannot promote efficacy. If the company thinks that this food has a functional effect, you can apply for health foods and approve these effects through approval. In the absence of proof before the propaganda, it is illegal propaganda. "A lot of illegal propaganda is playing policy."

Enter the word "monkey spoon" in the health food database of the National Food and Drug Administration and it shows that there is no such product.

The "Measures for the Management of Health Food Products" (hereinafter referred to as "Measures") shows that the "health foods" mentioned in the "Measures" refer to foods that have specific health care functions. That is suitable for a specific group of people to eat, with the function of regulating the body, not to treat diseases for the purpose of food. The monkey spoon clearly indicated a suitable group of people, namely the stomach group.

The "Measures" also stipulates that health foods must meet the following requirements: they must have a clear and stable health care function through necessary animal or human functional tests; all raw materials and their products must meet food hygiene requirements and do not produce any acute harm to the human body. Sub-acute or chronic hazards; the composition and amount of the formula must have a scientific basis and have a definite efficacy component. If the functional ingredients cannot be identified under the current technological conditions, the name of the main raw material related to the health care function should be determined; the label, brochure and advertisement must not publicize the therapeutic effect. In addition, all foods claimed to have health functions must be reviewed by the Ministry of Health.

“We are further studying and rationalizing the regulatory convergence between health food and general food for some new conditions and new issues found in the supervision.” Yan Jiangxi, spokesperson of the State Food and Drug Administration, pointed out that the “Food Safety Law” being revised will There are a series of long-term mechanisms to build.

The reporter learned that in the existing regulatory policies for food and health foods, there is no clear identification of functional foods and functional foods, but it is clearly required that only health foods can promote efficacy. This will be clearly defined in the revised Food Safety Law.

"The "Food Safety Law" strives to be introduced at the end of this year as far as possible." Sources revealed to reporters that after the introduction of the new law, heavy penalties may be imposed on illegal propaganda. In other words, after the implementation of the new law, it will be an invisible blow to the Chinese medicine industry to use the monkey spoon as its own competitive product.

The reporter contacted the secretary general of the Chinese medicine industry and the phone had been unanswered. Jiang Chinese Medicine issued a clarification announcement on March 5. It stated that the monkey spoon biscuit was a functional food with stomach-enhancing effect planned and launched by Jiangxi Jiangzhong Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd., the controlling shareholder of the company, in the second half of 2013. Currently it is not a listed company. According to the relevant provisions of information disclosure, the sales data, planning and other relevant information of the monkey spoon is not yet a disclosure issue.

“As a new product, monkey spoons have undergone a relatively long growth cycle from being listed, promoted, and finally accepted by consumers. This stage requires a large market investment, and due to the fierce competition in the market faced by biscuits, There is a certain degree of uncertainty in the results of the marketing.” The announcement stated that if the monkey spoon is successfully marketed (if the product achieves profitability or similar conditions), it will be at a suitable timing (taking into account the company’s strategic positioning and business development needs) , financial status and other related factors) Inject high quality assets into listed companies. As of now, the monkey spoon is still a new product promotion period, the company has not yet conducted a formal argumentation on its asset injection plan, and there is no clear timetable.

In 2013, the annual report on the achievements of Jiang's traditional Chinese medicine industry showed that the total operating income was 2.78 billion yuan, a decrease of 13% from the same period of last year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 172 million yuan, a decrease of 24% from the same period of last year.

According to the announcement, during the reporting period, the company persisted in the development strategy of “using the Chinese medicine industry as the main body and operating non-prescription medicines, health products and functional foods” to reorganize and position brands and products, and in the second half of 2013, especially the fourth The brand and promotion strategy of the new and old products were updated in the quarter, gradually increasing the market investment. Therefore, affected by the above marketing strategies and input adjustments, combined with factors such as the implementation of basic medicine policies, competitive landscape, changes in the market environment, and company sales assessment incentives, the company's main business has experienced a certain degree of decline.