On August 20th, the CNHFA held the kick-off meeting for the “Nutritional Meal Replacement Research” project at the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University. The meeting was attended by esteemed guests including Chen Long, Senior Organizer (fourth level) of the Shenzhen Market Inspection Bureau; Zhang Leijun, Vice President of the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University (SHSMU); Zhang Zhongyuan, Deputy Director of the SHSMU’s Party Office; Wang Jin, Deputy Director of the SHSMU’s Department of Medical Affairs; Bian Zhenjia, President of the CNHFA; Li Liangqiu, Vice President of the CNHFA; Zhang Zhongpeng, Secretary General of the CNHFA; Zhu Cuifeng, Chairman of the CNHFA’s Weight Management Professional Committee; Weng Min, Zhang Fan, Zhang Pianhong, Zhang Yungsheng, Zhou Li, Hu Huaidong, and Shen Yenjun, Vice Chairmen of the CNHFA’s Weight Management Professional Committee, along with representatives from relevant member enterprises of the CNHFA, such as Herbalife and Dongpeng Beverage.

Chen Long provided an overview of the investigation and handling of cases involving illegal food additives. He discussed the industry’s current situation and the challenges faced by regulatory authorities, focusing on issues related to false advertising, illegal additives, and fraud targeting pensioners. He stressed the importance of scientific research on nutritional meal replacement and related food by the CNHFA.

Lu Youfeng, Director of the CNHFA’s Regulatory Affairs Department, presented the Nutritional Meal Replacement Research (NMRR) project, outlining its background, work plan, expected outcomes, and the goal of promoting scientific knowledge about nutritional meal replacement among consumers. He also called for enterprises to scientifically design nutritional meal replacement products.

Wan Xianghong, Senior Director of Product Regulatory Affairs at Herbalife China Innovation Centre, provided an in-depth introduction to the clinical research and safety of nutritional meal replacements. She discussed the definition of nutritional meal replacement, the industry landscape, its relationship with a balanced diet, and highlighted the significance of nutritional meal replacement for weight management and risk control of chronic diseases in Chinese consumers, and that there exists a huge consumer demand and market potential, which is urgently in need of scientific research, guidance and publicity.

Zhu Cuifeng, Chairman of the CNHFA’s Weight Management Professional Committee, detailed the work plan and task allocation for the NMRR project. She emphasized the need for standards, guidelines, and expert consensus in the field, proposing working directions for the Weight Management Professional Committee, including “Nutrient Content Standards of Nutritional Meal Replacements”, “Nutritional Meal Replacement Management Standards”, and “Nutritional Meal Replacement Expert Consensus”.

The participants engaged in a lively discussion and exchanged views on project implementation methods and timelines based on the presentations.

Bian Zhenjia concluded that the CNHFA’s work on this project holds academic and societal significance. Despite the demand, products, and market for nutritional meal replacement, there is currently a lack of national standards and legal status. He underscored the importance of steady progress in the project, aligning with policy guidelines to provide scientific leadership to the industry and a basis for regulatory authorities.

In the next steps, the CNHFA working group will efficiently conduct research based on the meeting’s outcomes.

(The CNHFA holds all rights to the information published on this website. For sharing and republishing queries, please contact: cnhfa@cnhfa.org.cn. Authors and sources should be indicated for sharing and republishing purposes.)