CNHFA’s Seminar on the Research of the Socio-Economic Value of Health Foods_Local Updates_News and Media

　　CHNFA held the Seminar on the Research of the Socio-Economic Value of Health Foods on April 14.The seminar promoted the high-quality development of the industry by exchanging foreign research progress,sharing global experience and insights,reviewing previous research methods and results,and discussing future research directions based on national conditions.

　　In the"Healthy China 2030"strategy,it is clearly stated that"health as a business should be built and shared by all",and the healthcare industry in China requires a fundamental shift from"treatment"to"prevention".China,like many other countries and regions,is facing the huge challenge of an ageing population,the increasing social and economic burden caused by various health conditions,and the growing demand for better health.The research of the socio-economic value of health foods aims to study the role of health food within the context of building a healthy China.CNHFA is ready to set up a research platform for this project,inviting scholars from all walks of life and industry enterprises to participate and share research results.This seminar is the first round of communication for the launch of the project.

　　The meeting was chaired by Li Liangqiu,Executive Vice President of CNHFA,and nearly 100 people from government departments,universities,research institutes and member units attended the meeting either face to face or remotely.

In his speech,Bian Zhenjia,President of CNHFA,expressed a warm welcome to all the leaders and experts who attended the event.He pointed out that"China's nutrition and health industry is faced with both opportunities and challenges",and he hoped that"through the sharing of experts at home and abroad,we can find common ground in the research of the value of health foods,as well as providing more information for China's research and more support for the development of the industry".

Next,overseas experts presented their research and shared insights.This session was moderated by Oran Kwon,Professor of Department of Nutritional Sciences and Food Management,Ewha Womans University.

Simon Pettman,Executive Director of IADSA,gave an overview of the research on the socio-economic value of health food.He stated that the primary role of health food is to reduce healthcare costs.In the future,as the world population ages and global health care budgets are under tremendous pressure,using health food as an intervention will become more crucial to reduce healthcare and social costs.

Michelle Stout,Board of Director of Council for Responsible Nutrition(CRN),suggested that the economic value of dietary supplements to the whole industry lies in the systematic analysis of the methodological framework of foreign studies,including those in the United States.That is to say,we need to prove that dietary supplements can reduce the risk of chronic diseases,thus reducing overall medical expenses and helping to shift from disease treatment to disease prevention.

　　Patrick Coppens,Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs of Food Supplements Europe(FSE),shared the objectives of EU food supplements legislation.He also introduced the benefits of dietary supplement intake in European countries and hoped that food supplements can be supported by nutrition policies to enhance people's health.

Ji-Yun Hwang,Associate Professor of Department of Food Service Management and Nutrition,Sangmyung University,presented how to save medical costs through dietary supplements.She shared a case where CVD-related risks as well as medical costs were reduced through omega-3 fatty acid supplementation.

　　Christopher Shanahan,Director of Global Research at Frost&Sullivan Consulting,used a generic,visual calculation to demonstrate the economics of dietary supplements from a clinical trial perspective.He demonstrated that by consuming the relevant nutrients,not only can medical expenditures be reduced through avoiding events,but also the corresponding tax revenues can be obtained.

　　Afterwards,domestic and foreign experts shared viewed on foreign consumers'attitudes towards dietary supplements based on the data given.The second session of the seminar was participated by leaders of domestic regulatory authorities,academic experts,and representatives of vice presidents.The following guests attended the meeting:Inspector Zhang Jinjing,Deputy Director-General Fan Hongping and Director Wan Chao of the SAMR's Department of Special Food Safety Supervision and Regulation(DSFSSR);Deputy Director Zhang Lanlan and Director Liu Hongyu of the SAMR's Food Review Center;Yao Wenying,Director of the Political and Legal Department of the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Center,the Ministry of Agriculture;Tian Ming,Deputy Researcher of the SAMR's Development Research Center;Deputy Director Yuan Fei and Associate Researcher Zhang Zijuan from the Agricultural Product Safety Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine(CAIQ);Shen Guolin,Deputy Director of the CAIQ's Chemical Safety Institute;and Yan Weixing,former Deputy Director of the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment(CFSA).In addition,the following experts from research institutions also participated in the discussion:Zhang Yongjian,Director of the Research Center for Food and Drug Industry Development and Regulation,Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS);Hu Yinglian,Professor of the State Administration School,the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China;Hu Jinguang,Professor of Renmin University of China;Ye Xingqian,Vice Dean of Zhejiang University;Luo Yunbo and Bai Junfei,Professors of China Agricultural University;Deng Yong,Professor of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine;Bi Qi,Professor of Capital Medical University Affiliated Beijing Anzhen Hospital;Hui bodi,Professor of Beijing Union University;and Lu Wenwei,Deputy Director of Jiangnan University.The meeting was also attended by the CNHFA's vice presidents and member representatives,including:Peng Xianwu,General Manager of the Technical Regulation Department of Amway(China)Daily Products Co.,Ltd.;Li Chaodong,Chief Representative of Nu Skin's Beijing office and Vice President of Business Support and Compliance,Nu Skin Greater China;Liang Shuisheng,President of By-health Co.,Ltd.;Chen Yuqi,Chairman and CEO of Zhen-ao Group;Zheng Qunyi,Vice President of CNHFA and Chairman and Senior Vice President of Herbalife China;Zhao Youyou,Chief Scientist of Sirio Pharma Co.,Ltd;and Zhou Lijuan,Vice President of Golden Sun Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd.In addition,the following enterprises also sent representatives to the conference:Infinitus Co.,Ltd,Yang Sheng Tang Co.,Ltd,Perfect(China)Co.,Ltd,Health and Happiness(H&H)Group,KGC China and Guangdong Health Products Chamber of Commerce.The participating experts discussed the research direction of China's nutritional health food and put forward relevant opinions and suggestions based on China's national conditions and from the different perspectives of nationals,enterprises,industry,wider society and the country.

　　Zhang Jinjing,Inspector of the SAMR's DSFSSR,gave his advice on how to carry out research topics on the socio-economic value of health food and gave everyone endless confidence to move forward.His first advice was to plan how to develop in the long run,and the other was to see effects in the short term as well.In terms of methodology,he believed that firstly,the existing basic research results can be used to avoid starting research and evaluation from scratch again;secondly,we can draw on the domestic authoritative research,which is a good start as it will be based on the specific conditions of the country and will be conducive to the industry going further.

　　Fan Hongping,Director-General of the SAMR's DSFSSR,said that although health food plays an important role in promoting public health and advancing the healthy China strategy,there is still an obvious gap in relevant socio-economic value research.Thus,we should firstly sort out,summarize and conduct research to provide better scientific data for industrial development.Secondly,the industry should actively guide consumers to improve health awareness and literacy.Finally,enterprises should pay more attention to product innovation and research,optimize business model and clarify product value positioning to enhance consumers'confidence in domestic health food.

　　Experts have agreed that the study of socio-economic value of health food is very necessary and valuable.

　　Hu Yinglian,Professor of the State Administration School,the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China,suggested that China,as the largest developing country,needs to take into account our national conditions to clarify some research points when calculating the socio-economic value of health food.

　　Ye Xingqian,Vice Dean of Zhejiang University,and Yan Weixing,former Deputy Director of the CFSA,both said that when researching the economic and social value of health food,researchers should organize teams to systematically categorize foreign literature on the health benefits of health foods.Moreover,regular group discussions should be held to gain some data on this basis.

　　Deng Yong,Professor of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,pointed out that the socio-economic value of health food concerns the whole society and everyone needs to pay attention to it.The topic cannot be solved by an expert from a certain field or a certain profession.Instead,it involves many disciplines,such as nutrition,preventive medicine,public health,and food law.Therefore,we need to carry out consensus research by brainstorming,having more cooperation and more discussions.He also expressed his willingness to actively participate in the research on the social and economic value of health food products in the context of medicinal food.

　　Bi Qi,Professor of Capital Medical University Affiliated Beijing Anzhen Hospital,stated that his team is currently conducting research on the preventive effects of nattokinase and Hong Qu(red yeast rice)on heart diseases,so he is willing to actively share the current research from a clinical perspective.

　　Bai Junfei,Professors of China Agricultural University,suggested that we should seriously consider the positioning and perception of health food from the perspective of management,regulation,development,and customer needs,which will be helpful to the research on the socio-economic value of health food and the healthy development of the whole industry in the future.

　　Yuan Fei,Deputy Director from the CAIQ's Agricultural Product Safety Research Center,mentioned that as one of the categories of special food,the social value of health food is that it can make the people feel happy and gain a sense of well-being.

　　Yao Wenying,Director of the Political and Legal Department of the MOA’s Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Center,believes that research on drug efficacy should be studied in both medical and industrial contexts.

　　Director Zhang Yongjian of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,Professor Hu Jinguang of Renmin University of China,Professor Luo Yunbo of China Agricultural University,Professor Hui Baidi of Beijing Union University and Deputy Director Lu Wenwei of Jiangnan University all expressed their affirmation of conducting projects on the economic and social values of health food.

　　The industry representatives also gave their opinions and suggestions on this topic from various aspects,and expressed their willingness to actively participate in the research by combining the characteristics of their own enterprises and leveraging their strengths.

　　Peng Xianwu,General Manager of the Technical Regulation Department of Amway(China)Daily Products Co.,Ltd.,expressed the hope that the knowledge of nutritional health food can be popularized in a planned and systematic manner with the help of a credible and appealing platform to promote the socio-economic value of nutritional health food.

　　Liang Shuisheng,President of By-health Co.,Ltd.,expressed his hopes that the industry would reach a consensus on a longer term research of the socio-economic value of health food,so as to have a positive impact on the development of the health food industry.

　　Zheng Qunyi,Chairman and Senior Vice President of Herbalife China,suggested that the research on the economic value of health food should include a focus on health food raw materials and the huge economic benefits brought by the health food industry to independent entrepreneurs and employees.

　　Li Chaodong,Vice President of Nu Skin,pointed out that the industry should strengthen self-regulation and self-discipline,improve product quality,and set a positive reputation for health food.

　　Chen Yuqi,Chairman and CEO of Zhen-ao Group,suggested that while learning from the experiences from other countries,traditional medicine and food should be carried out in line with national conditions,and a dual-track approach should be adopted to form a nutritional and health food industry with Chinese characteristics,so as to achieve"precise nutrition and health".

　　In the concluding speech,Li Liangqiu,Vice President of CNHFA,said that the Association has been committed to carrying out research-based topics with the support of science and data,making contributions to the industry and wider society.She added that the aim of the event is to invite all experts,research institutions and member representatives to share relevant research results,paving the way to carry out systematic and step-by-step research work in the future while reaping short-term achievements,laying a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the industry.She also expressed gratitude to Amway China as the vice president company of CNHFA for its support in inviting speakers and co-organizing the conference.