General foods must not claim therapeutic effects: this applies to labels, instructions, ads, and live-stream scripts alike

No cost involved. Simply review all promotional copy, product description pages, and live-stream scripts. The hard part is resisting the urge to use phrases like “lowers blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol” or “treats constipation.”

The Food Safety Law states: “Labels and instructions for food and food additives must not contain false information, nor may they make any claims regarding disease prevention or treatment. Producers and sellers bear full responsibility for the accuracy of such content.” Likewise, “Food advertising must be truthful and lawful; it must not contain false information or make any claims regarding disease prevention or treatment. Food producers and sellers are accountable for the veracity and legality of their ads.” In short, packaging, instructions, and ads must never assert any disease-preventive or curative effects, and sellers must accept full responsibility for any such claims. Violations of advertising rules are punished under the Advertising Law, which explicitly bans any non-medical ads from making disease-treatment claims or using medical terminology that might confuse consumers. Offenders face mandatory cessation of advertising, a public retraction of their claims, and fines ranging from 1–3 times their advertising spend; if the spend cannot be determined, fines of 100,000–200,000 RMB apply. Severe violations incur fines of 3–5 times the advertising spend, or 200,000–1,000,000 RMB, and may even result in revocation of the business license, effectively ending operations nationwide.

全国人大常委会 (2025 年第三次修正). 食品安全法（第七十一、七十三、一百二十五、一百四十条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=7b5a76d0461745a08d3f964916b87ef3；全国人大常委会 (2021 年修正). 广告法（第十七、五十八条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081817ab231eb017abd6bd860052d

Terms like “health benefits” are also prohibited for ordinary foods. Only foods officially registered as health supplements may make such claims, and only those listed in the national catalog are permitted. Consumers should be wary of such language; further guidance is provided in Section 6, Item 10. This regulation applies not just to physical packaging and ads, but also to online product pages, live-stream scripts, and social media posts — all of which constitute advertising material.