What are Special Dietary Foods in China and How to Import them

Different with general foods in China, special dietary foods are formulated for certain groups (e.g. infant, pregnant woman, exerciser) who have special dietary requirements. With the growing pursuits for healthy lifestyle, such products with balanced nutrients and customization features have become a trend. Here CIRS will introduce the basic conditions of special dietary foods in China, and help you better understand how to get access to China market successfully.

What are Special Dietary Foods in China?

I. The special dietary foods are specially processed or formulated food that meet the special physical or physiological conditions and/or meet the special dietary needs of diseases, disorders, etc. The nutrients contents are significantly different with the similar general foods.

II. There are several kinds of special dietary foods in China as follows.

Except infant formula milk powder and FSMP, there is no registration requirement for other special dietary foods, which means, the importation of those products will be very similar with general food.

If your products can be classified into those categories and meet relevant GB requirements, it will be much easier to import them to China than the foods need registration (such as health food). As the infant complementary foods are more familiar to public, here we will focus on the following 3 kinds of special dietary foods.

Part I Complementary Nutritional Supplements

Definition

I. Complementary nutritional supplements refer to supplements containing a variety of micronutrients (e.g. vitamins and minerals). This kind of supplements may (not) contain base materials and other accessories.

II. They are used in the instant complementary foods for infant of 6-36 months, and they can also be used for children of 37-60 months.

Product Advantages

I. A variety of vitamins & minerals are available

Components of the products include Ca, Fe, Zn, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin K1, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Choline, Biotin, Vitamin C, and DHA.

II. Suitable for infant and children

• Compared with similar health food, there is no registration or filing requirement for this product currently;
• Compared with general food, the suitable crowd of this kind of supplements, infants or children, can be claimed on the label with sufficient legal basis.

Part II Sports Nutrition Food

Definition

I. Sports nutrition food is the specially formulated food for exercisers, to meet their physiological metabolism, exercise capacity and special needs of nutrients.

II. The exercisers refer to the groups that participate in physical exercise 3 or more times per week, with the duration of 30mins or above for each time, and each exercise intensity reached moderate or above.

Product Advantages

I. Target at exercisers

II. More nutrients are available than general food

• Nutrients, such as creatine, Mn, Mo, Cr, Se, which are not allowed to use in most general foods are available for sports nutrition food.

Part III Nutritional Supplements for Pregnant Women and Nurse

Definition

The nutritional supplements for pregnant women and nurse are foods that specially processed with high-quality proteins and a variety of micronutrients (e.g. vitamins and minerals), which are suitable for pregnant woman and nurse to supplement nutrients.

Comparison with the formulated milk powder for pregnant women

There is a general food category for pregnant women in China as well, which is formulated milk powder for pregnant women. This kind of food products is different with nutritional supplements for pregnant women and nurse. The public may confuse the two different products easily.

Part IV How to Import these 3 Kinds of Special Dietary Foods?