SAMR Published Over 8,000 Fraud and False Advertising Corrective Cases of Food and Health Food

From July 2017, 9 departments including the Food Safety Office of the State Council carried out food and health food fraud and false advertising corrective action in China. On May 3, 2018, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published the fraud and false advertising corrective cases of food and health food over the country.

By March 2018, food and drug regulatory authorities at all levels handled and published more than 8,000 administrative punishment cases related to the corrective actions. CIRS made a statistics on the cases of food and health food fraud and false advertising in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The details are as follows:

1. The number of corrective cases in each provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions

S/N	Regions	No.	S/N	Regions		No.
1	Guangdong	1242	16	Tianjin	161
2	Shandong	966	17	Szechwan	150
3	Gansu	955	18	Qinghai	137
4	Yunnan	496	19	Henan	123
5	Jiangsu	413	20	Jilin	122
6	Hubei	395	21	Peking	92
7	Jiangxi	353	22	Inner Mongolia	84
8	Hainan	331	23	Heilongjiang	76
9	Shanghai	287	24	Zhejiang	71
10	Shaanxi	278	25	Guizhou	47
11	Shanxi	263	26	Liaoning	39
12	Fujian	247	27	Hebei	18
13	Guangxi	245	28	Ningxia	11
14	Hunan	228	29	Chongqing	6
15	Anhui	166	30	Sinkiang	5

2. The number of corrective cases in each month

The figure above shows that from July 2017 to November 2017, the number of corrective cases increased month by month, which means the intensity of corrective action was gradually increased. After December 2017, the number of corrective cases decreased month by month, it can be seen that the corrective action had brought positive effect.

3. The situation of health food corrective cases

According to CIRS's statistics, among all corrective cases, there are 276 cases related to health food fraud and false advertising. The main reasons are shown in the following figure:

The main reason for the health food corrective cases is “health food production and operation activities without permission”. Before engaged in health food production and operation activities, the enterprises shall apply for relevant food production license and food operation license under local FDA according to "Administrative Measures on Food Production Licensing" and "Administrative Measures on Food Operation Licensing ". In addition, the label and instruction problems are also serious. As the SAMR management on health food label and instruction become more and more strict, enterprises shall generate the product label and instruction in accordance with relevant laws and regulations strictly. On the other hand, health food can't replace medicine, enterprises should carry out product function advertising based on the truths, and avoid using false and exaggerated content.

It is reported that SAMR and local FDA will continue to crack down on food and health food fraud and false advertising behaviors, and disclose the corrective information to public, to ensure the food safety. Therefore, enterprises should pay attention to relevant laws and regulations in China, bear the main responsibility and ensure that the products conform to the requirements of China.

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Reference:

Official News