Nutricosmetics: The Next Big Thing

During recent interviews with China’s nutraceutical manufacturers, one of the most frequent questions I have been asking is, “what effects do you expect the upcoming Regulation on Supervision and Administration of Functional (Health) Foods to have on your business?”

This long-awaited regulation has been the hottest issue in China in recent years. That’s because the lack of relevant, clear-cut regulations and stringent supervision is always blamed for a host of scandals in China’s nutraceuticals market. These scandals range anywhere from false advertisement to inferior quality. The latest credibility crisis the manufacturers are facing is that an excessive amount of lead was reportedly found in spirulina, that blue-green algae which is said to be rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. Spirulina is one of the most popular dietary supplements in China.

According to China Daily, six out of eight popular brands of spirulina products sampled in March from drug stores, supermarkets and shopping centers in several major cities of China were tested and found to contain excessive levels of lead. The article claimed that substandard spirulina powder was the cause. According to reports, some certification agencies helped the manufacturers obtain official permits for their unqualified products by fabrication and bribery.

The study has again raised public concerns over current officials’ lax supervision of the nutraceutical market. These concerns are expected to make regulators issue even tougher rules under the Regulation on Supervision and Administration of Functional (Health), which will be issued by the Sino FDA this month. These regulations will cover both functional/health foods and supplements. Apart from scaling back the function claims producers are allowed to make, the regulation is intended to raise industry standards, and simplify the application processes, as well as strengthen penalties against illegal activities.

Boosted by TCM
Nutraceutical makers insist that they want a more regulated market, improved product credibility, strong ethics and technical excellence. Although new regulations may curtail product claims, most manufacturers note that they can convey their products’ benefits by following the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) model.

Chinese consumers are firm believers in the benefits of TCM, which has a 3,000 year-old history that is built on the concepts of holistic and preventative health. Furthermore, TCM advocates maintain that any medicine is toxic to some degree and therefore food therapy as a prophylactic should be the first option for preventing diseases and treating minor ailments. Due to the cultural acceptance of this theory, the concept of using ingestible products to enhance physical appearance has readily been accepted in China.

Consumers accept nutricosmetics, which contain food materials and or ingredients that are also used in TCM. Why? The concept of beauty from within fits so well with TCM that most Chinese consumers immediately associate these ingredients with their beautifying properties. For example, among widely recognized materials/ingredients with beautifying properties are Hong Zao (red dates) and Long Yan (Longan fruit) for stimulating blood circulation and hence promoting facial complexion, Yi Yi Ren (Seeds of Job’s Tears) and Bai He (lily bulb) for skin whitening and moisturizing, Lv Dou (mung bean) for detoxifying the body and clearing oily and acne prone skin, and Yin’er (white fungus) for skin hydration and anti-aging, to name a few.

Now and Later
Apart from the popularity of TCM in China, a rising middle class and bigger advertising budgets are also contributing to the rapid growth of nutraceutical sales, according to Euromonitor International. The averAdidas