MINISTER OF HEALTH DIRECTS TO STRENGTHEN CONTROL OF FUNCTIONAL FOODS

Strengthening decentralization and post-inspection to improve the quality and control the uses of functional foods is the latest direction of the Minister of Health on the functional food market.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, from 2021 to present, the food market has more than 84,000 common foods; 54,549 functional food products (29,779 health protection foods, 350 medical nutritional foods, 1,287 foods for special diets; 23,133 food supplements), of which up to 80.4% are domestically produced products of 201 production facilities.

In the context of the food market growing strongly in terms of quantity and variety of products and the emergence of new business forms on e-commerce applications and trading platforms, it is necessary to strengthen post-inspection and more comprehensive control of food quality.

Regarding the management of the functional food market, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan affirmed that the current system of legal documents related to the management of functional foods is quite complete, including regulations from the production stage, registration of declarations and self-declaration, labeling, advertising to the business stage.

The current system of legal documents related to the management of functional foods is quite complete.
Important legal documents in this field include the 2010 Law on Food Safety, Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of the Government, Circular 43/2014/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health, and other legal documents.

Functional foods are classified into four main groups: Food supplements, Health protection foods, Medical nutrition foods and Foods for special diets. Each of these product groups must comply with strict regulations before being put on the market.

Specifically, health protection foods, medical nutritional foods and foods for special diets must register their declaration with the competent state agency, while food supplements only need to self-declare and submit the declaration to the state management agency.

In addition, the Ministry of Health also sets out strict regulations on the production, quality and advertising of functional foods.

Regarding production conditions, health protection foods, whether domestic or imported, must be produced at facilities certified with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or equivalent. Other products must be produced at facilities certified with food safety conditions.

Regarding quality control, all functional foods circulating on the market must meet the standards issued by the Ministry of Health or the standards of the manufacturer announced to the competent authority. For imported food supplements, the product must be state inspected by state inspection agencies designated by the Ministry of Health.

Regarding advertising, health protection foods, medical nutritional foods and foods for special diets must register and confirm advertising content with the competent authority before advertising.

Although dietary supplements are allowed to self-advertise, the advertising content must be fully consistent with the nature and features of the self-declared product.

In that context, since 2022, the Ministry of Health and relevant authorities have implemented strong measures to control the functional food market.

The Ministry of Health has fined a total of 87 establishments with a total amount of VND16,858 billion, while local authorities have fined 20,881 establishments with a total amount of VND123,840 billion. These measures reflect the determination in management and supervision, and are a strong warning to establishments producing and trading functional foods that do not comply with regulations.

To strengthen control of functional food products on the market, the Ministry of Health has established a Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment under the National Institute for Food Safety Control.

Every year, the Ministry of Health will issue documents directing localities and specialized institutes under the Ministry of Health to increase sampling and monitoring and warn the community about unsafe food products.

At the same time, localities are also required to strengthen inspection, examination and post-inspection of functional food production and trading establishments in the area. Violations of food safety regulations will be strictly handled and information on violations will be made public on the Ministry of Health’s website.

The Ministry of Health also coordinates with the Ministry of Public Security and the Market Management Agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to control functional food products circulating on the market, especially through e-commerce trading floors, online sales applications, e-commerce websites and business booths on applications.

The Ministry of Health has also been strengthening the dissemination of food safety regulations and knowledge about the production and trading of functional foods to businesses. Violations related to the production and trading of functional foods will also be strictly handled and information about violations will be widely publicized.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Health will continue to coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to complete the system of management documents on food safety, including amending the Law on Food Safety and Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of the Government towards simplifying administrative procedures, strengthening decentralization and post-inspection.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health will focus on controlling the features and uses of functional foods, avoiding excessive advertising of product uses and ensuring the quality of these products when they are put on the market.

It is known that in order to improve the effectiveness of functional food market management, the Ministry of Health is proposing to amend Decree 15/2018/ND-CP, which especially emphasizes the requirement for tighter control over organizations and individuals whose names are listed in product declaration dossiers.

Only the manufacturer or product owner is allowed to be named in the product declaration file. If it is not one of these entities, the organization or individual bringing the product to market must have a clear authorization letter. This is to avoid a lack of transparency, falsification of declaration files, and clearly define the responsibility of the manufacturer.

The leader of the Food Safety Department, Ministry of Health said that through post-inspection work, many organizations and individuals have been discovered to announce functional food products without any real connection to the production facility, making it difficult to investigate responsibility when problems occur.

In addition to controlling organizations and individuals, the Ministry of Health also proposed adding regulations on explaining ingredients in functional foods and health protection foods.

This is to more closely control the features and uses of the product, and at the same time minimize the situation where functional food manufacturers mix too many unnecessary chemicals or medicinal ingredients into the product without explaining the reason.

Mixing incompatible substances can lead to dangerous chemical reactions, with long-term effects on the health of consumers.

The draft Decree also proposes that businesses must re-declare products if there is a change in the responsible organization or individual, product name, ingredients, uses, or any factor that affects the quality and safety of the product. This helps ensure that when there is a change, the product still meets the safety and use standards as declared.

Along with that, the Ministry of Health also issued regulations requiring the revocation of the Certificate of Registration of Declaration for food products that are not produced or traded within 3 years after the declaration. This is a necessary measure to stop the circulation of products that are no longer produced or no longer meet quality requirements.

Strengthening post-inspection work not only helps protect consumers’ health but is also a measure to ensure sustainable development of the functional food market.

The Ministry of Health emphasized that the new regulations do not increase administrative procedures or compliance costs for businesses, but simply improve management processes, helping to increase the responsibility of organizations producing and trading functional foods and health protection foods.

These proposals are expected to contribute to creating a more transparent and safer functional food market, helping consumers to have complete confidence in the health protection products they use every day.

Soure: Báo Đầu tư

About STELLAPHARM

Stellapharm J.V. Co., Ltd. is currently known as one of leading generics pharmaceutical companies and strong manufacturers in Vietnam. Established in 2000, Stellapharm was built on the foundation of a manufacturing factory in Vietnam and formed a joint venture with a partner from Germany. We focus on both prescription drugs and non-prescription especially in cardiovascular diseases, anti-diabetics drugs, etc. Products of Stellapharm are now used by millions of patients in more than 50 countries worldwide.

The company is globally recognized for its quality through our facilities have been audited and approved by stringent authority like EMA, PMDA, Taiwan GMP, local WHO and others.

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