Foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) are a category of foods for special dietary uses which are specially processed or formulated and presented for the dietary management of patients and can be used only under the guidance of doctor or clinical dietitian. They are intended for the exclusive or partial feeding of patients with limited or impaired capacity to take, digest, absorb or metabolize ordinary foodstuffs or certain nutrients contained therein, or who have other special medically-determined nutrient requirements, whose dietary management cannot be achieved only by modification of the normal diet, by other foods for special dietary uses, or by a combination of the two.
FSMP have been widely used in many developed countries such as USA, EU, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, as early as the 1980s, and the corresponding management regulations and standards have been formulated. Based on these regulations and experience as well as the clinical nutrition research, relevant standards and regulations have been developed in China as well, such as GB 29922 General Rules of Foods for Special Medical Purposes, and GB 25596 General Principles of the Formulas for Special Medical Purposes Intended for Infants.
CIRS has compared and analyzed the regulations and standards related to FSMP in different countries in order to help enterprises to understand them better. The details are demonstrated below in table 1.
Table 1. Comparison of domestic and foreign laws and regulations on FSMP
Since 2010, Chinese government has published the GB 25596, GB 29922 and Administrative Measures on Foods for Special Medical Purposes Registration, etc. The major laws and regulations for FSMP around the world are summarized by the CIRS group, as shown in table 2.
Table 2. The summarization of the major laws and regulations for FSMP around the world
Countries | The laws and regulations |
China | Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (2015 version) Administrative Measures on Foods for Special Medical Purposes Registration Dossiers Requirements for Foods for Special Medical Purposes Registration (trial)( 2017 revision) Clinical Trials Quality Control Specification of Foods for Special Medical Purposes (trial) Stability Research Requirements for Foods for Special Medical Purposes (trial)( 2017 revision) Labeling and Instructions Manuscript Requirements for Foods for Special Medical Purposes (trial) Key Points and Judgment Principles of On-site Inspection for Manufacturers of FSMP Registration (trial) GB 25596-2010 Food Safety National Standard, General Rules of the Formulas for Special Medical Purposes Intended for Infants GB 29922-2013 Food Safety National Standard, General Rules of Foods for Special Medical Purposes GB 29923-2013 Food Safety National Standard, Good Manufacturing Practices for Foods for Specific Medical Purposes GB 13432-2013 Food Safety National Standard, General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Food for Special Dietary Uses GB 14880-2012 Food Safety National Standard, the Usage of Nutrition Enhancers GB 2760-2014 Food Safety National Standard, the Usages of Food Additives |
CAC | CODEX STAN 72-1981 Standard for Infant Formula and Formulas for Special Medical Purposes Intended for Infants CODEX STAN 180-1991 Standard for Labeling of and Claims for Foods for Special Medical Purposes) CAC/RCP 1-1969 General Principles of Food Hygiene |
USA | Code federal regulation- Title 21 |
EU | COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 1999/21/EC Dietary Foods for Special Medical Purposes COMMISSION REGULATION(EC) No 953/2009 Substances that May Be Added for Specific Nutritional Purposes in Foods for Particular Nutritional Uses COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2073/2005 Microbiological Criteria for Foodstuffs REGULATION (EC) No 852/2004 The Hygiene of Foodstuffs |
ANZ | Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code Standard 2.9.5 Food for Special Medical Purposes Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code Schedule 29 Special Purpose Food Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code Standard 1.4.1 Contaminants and natural toxicants Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code Schedule 19 Maximum levels of contaminants and natural toxicants |
Japan | Health Promotion Act in Japan (Law No. 103 of 2002) |
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