Food Regulation in China

Food safety regulation in China has been a focal point of the government, Chinese consumers, and the international community. Unlike drugs and devices, a large portion of foods are not subject to pre-market approval. Therefore, the challenges for the government in this area have been unique, including experiments with risk analysis-based regulation and different types of criminal and administrative penalties and measures to achieve better administrative and quality control in the special foods area, such as required registrations for infant formula and medical foods. This chapter examines the regulatory landscape for general and special foods (i.e., health foods, infant formula, and medical foods) and their ingredients.