21st Century Business Herald reporter Ye Bihua intern Feng Chang Guangzhou reported that recently, Shanghai Yakult Dairy Co., Ltd. was fined 450,000 yuan by the Shanghai Pudong New Area Market Supervision and Administration Bureau for publicizing that "probiotics play an important role in the prevention and treatment of the new crown virus". After the incident was reported by the media, it immediately aroused widespread social concern.
The reporter noted that this is not the first time that probiotic products have been punished for exaggerating their efficacy and false publicity. In 2020, Yiyang Hair Salon in Zigong City, Sichuan Province, claimed that its "probiotic pulp" product had the function of preventing new coronary diseases, and was fined 200,000 yuan by the Market Supervision Bureau. However, the 21st Century Business Herald reporter found that the market is still full of many suspected false advertisements that promote the efficacy of probiotics for weight loss, alcohol relief, acne removal and so on.
At the 8th Probiotics International Summit Forum held on September 23, in response to the chaos of "probiotic" product promotion, Li Bisheng, chairman of the Guangdong Food Society, stressed that there are certain boundaries and restrictions on the promotion of probiotic products. "When probiotic products are promoted for efficacy, they should distinguish between ordinary foods, health foods, drugs and other fields. The efficacy of the products advertised by enterprises must be scientifically and rigorously verified, otherwise it will violate relevant laws and regulations. Li Biansheng said.
In fact, the main effect of probiotics is to alleviate the inflammatory response in the intestine and improve the body's immunity. According to Chen Chaogang, director of the Department of Clinical Nutrition at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, "Probiotics are an important factor in improving immunity, it can competitively reject pathogenic bacteria, promote the health and integrity of the intestinal mucosa, build a natural barrier to prevent the invasion of pathogenic bacteria, and gradually improve the body's immunity." ”
In recent years, with the popularization of probiotic science, its health role has been widely recognized, coupled with the improvement of national living standards and the emphasis on their own health, the probiotic industry has developed rapidly. According to Euromonitor International data, the annual market size of Probiotics in China reached 46 billion yuan in 2017, with an average annual growth rate of about 14%. Catalyzed by the epidemic, the sales growth rate of China's probiotic industry in the past two years once exceeded 20%. Industry insiders predict that probiotics are expected to become the next 100 billion-level big health market.
The good development prospects of the probiotic industry have attracted many enterprises to enter the market, and the capital has been continuously blessed. Yili, Mengniu, Wahaha and other brands have launched their own brand of probiotic drinks, such as Guanyi Milk, Chang light, Every Yitian, Youyi C and so on. On July 27, 2020, Ketuo Biologics, which focuses on the research and development of edible probiotic products, was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the "first stock" of probiotics.
How does capital incurs affect the probiotic industry? In the view of Wang Dingmian, former president of the Guangzhou Milk Association and dairy expert, capital blessing will promote the sustained development of the industry and make the entire probiotic market larger. "At present, the strains on the market are still dominated by foreign-funded enterprises, and the domestic research on probiotics is in its infancy, and many basic research needs to increase human, material and financial investment in order to have major breakthroughs." Wang Dingmian also said that most of the capital will invest funds in the marketing and publicity of products, rather than upstream links such as strain research and development, which is easy to produce false publicity, price wars and other adverse effects, damaging consumer confidence.
To this end, in view of the lack of sufficient professional understanding of probiotics by consumers and the lack of know how to choose and use probiotic products, the Guangdong Food Society has compiled the "Guide to The Consumption of Probiotic Products", which carries out science popularization from five dimensions such as the concept, classification, use, industry standards, and consumption reminders of probiotics, helping consumers strengthen their industry understanding and choose products scientifically.
Food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes: "The new generation of consumers attach great importance to appearance management, weight management, and health management, and integrate these needs into daily life, and probiotic products with health effects are favored by consumers." This also continues to force the industrial side to upgrade and meet new consumer demand. ”
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