Currently, in addition to eating natural foods, the use of nutritional supplements is also very common to ensure health. Before being sold, these products are subject to the publication procedure, and the publication needs to meet some of the basic requirements outlined in the article belows.
1. Overview of Supplements Requirements when declaring Supplemented Food
A supplement is a type of supplement. According to the definition of the Vietnam Functional Food Association, Functional Food (Functional Food) is a product that supports the functions of organs in the body, with or without nutritional effects, giving the body comfort, increase resistance, reduce risk and harm disease. Thus, functional foods will be products in the form of tablets, powders, liquids, etc., with the effect of nourishing and compensating for substances that the body is lacking.
Based on Vietnamese law, Supplemented Food means ordinary food supplemented with micronutrients and other elements conducive to health such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics and other biologically active substances. For example, Vinamilk nutritional milk product is a functional food. This is a dairy product supplemented with substances beneficial to human health, specifically Vitamin A, Vitamin D3 and Calcium.
When selling supplementary foods, businesses will have to apply for product claims and must meet specific claim requirements.
2. General requirements when announcing dietary supplements
2.1. Requirements for the content of the supplemented food
The content of the claim must contain the following information:
– Nutrient content claims:
When supplementing foods with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics and other biologically active substances, the claims about the contents of such substances in foods according to recommended nutrition intakes (RNI) for Vietnamese are specified in Appendix No. 01 of Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BYT:
– A substance shall not be mentioned if its content is below 10% RNI;
– If the content of a substance is from 10% RNI, its content in a serving or 100g of the product shall be specified;
– The maximum contents of vitamins, minerals in the foods according to recommended nutrition intakes provided by manufacturers shall not exceed the permissible maximum contents of vitamins and minerals in functional foods.
The maximum contents shall comply with regulations of CODEX or relevant international organizations if there is no RNI in Vietnam.
Example:
The calcium content in 100ml of Vinamilk unsweetened nutritional milk is 100mg, equivalent to 10% RNI, so the name and specific content of the substance will be announced on 100ml (equivalent to 100g) of dairy products.
– Health claims:
+ Health claims about a supplementary substance shall be made only when its content in the product reaches 10% RNI or above and is proven with specific scientific evidence;
+ For supplementary ingredients without RNI, health claims shall be made on the label only when they are proven with the scientific evidence or contents of such ingredients are conformable with recommendations on published scientific documents;
+ Health claims must be clear, consistent, and suitable for the suitable users and dosage.
2.2. Requirements for labelling Requirements when declaring Supplemented Food
Labels of supplement foods must comply with the following requirements:
– To be written in Vietnamese;
– On the main part of the label, there must be a phrase expressing the food group as “Supplement foods” or the heading name in a national technical regulation;
– The users to which RNI apply or conformable with scientific evidence of the recommended dose (if no RNI are available) must be specified.
3. Procedure on supplemented food announcement
Please make reference about the procedure on supplemented food announcement in this link:
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Legal basis: Requirements when declaring Supplemented Food
- Circular 43/2014/TT-BYT regulating the management of functional foods on November 24, 2014;
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