{"id":11607,"date":"2023-01-26T07:30:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T07:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=11607"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:34:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:34:23","slug":"chinas-advertising-regulations-for-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/chinas-advertising-regulations-for-food\/","title":{"rendered":"In China, get your food ads right … or pay the price"},"content":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s growing middle class and rising consumer awareness about the safety and origins of their food have driven demand for better products. Chinese authorities are also implementing higher standards across everything from beverages and food additives to detergents, contaminants and test methods, writes Kristina Koehler-Coluccia from Woodburn Accountants & Advisors<\/span><\/h2>\n

A crisis in food confidence began in China in 2008, when melamine was found in locally produced baby formula, sickening over 300,000 infants, and causing the death of three. Since then, many other food safety scandals have been recorded in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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More recently, a \u201cdouble standards\u201d scandal erupted when it was found that the soy sauce sold by food company Haitian outside of China had fewer additives and preservatives than its domestic counterpart.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to these scandals, in July 2022, the National Health Commission (NHC) announced the issuance of 36 new National Food Safety Standards and three revised National Food Safety Standards. This is the first batch of national food safety standards issued by the NHC since September 2021. <\/span><\/p>\n

Food advertising<\/a> has also been impacted by these new regulatory measures, with authorities coming down particularly harshly on campaigns and ads endorsing products that claim therapeutic effects. Heavy fines have been issued against food companies that claimed false information on their labels or called their products \u201corganic\u201d without obtaining the proper authorisation from the Certification and Accreditation Administration (CAA). Therefore companies marketing food products in China should avoid any misleading or false content in their campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n