A senior official from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has vowed to implement higher standards for the registration and production of health food products amid inadequate quality control and a disorderly market.

A man selecting healthcare medicines at a drug store. [File photo]

"With inadequate control measures for materials and production quality, many substandard products exist in the health food market," said Tong Min, a senior official from the SFDA's health food and cosmetics supervision department, at a Tuesday meeting.

Tong said several companies, especially those that sell products intended for weight loss and blood sugar reduction, use illegal additives and exaggerate the effects of their products in advertisements.

According to Tong, the SFDA will revise its regulations to adjust the permitted scope and usage of health food products and adopt new methods to evaluate the products.

Official figures show that China has 2,054 health food production companies with an annual production value of 260 billion yuan (41.3 billion US dollars). However, many of the companies are small and scattered throughout the country, making supervision difficult.

Hinting at an upcoming regulation on health food supervision and management, Tong said the SFDA will launch a special campaign to supervise the entire health food production chain, including material purchases, manufacturing and sales.

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