Solid Drinks Pretending to Be Powdered Milk Lead to “Big Head Dolls” Experts: Special Medical Food Industry Needs to Strengthen Self-Discipline

Original title: Solid Drinks Pretending to Be Powdered Milk Lead to “Big Head Dolls” Expert: Special Medical Food Industry Needs to Strengthen Self-Discipline

Recently, several “big-headed dolls” in Yongxing County, Chenzhou, Hunan, shocked society. According to media reports, many children were diagnosed with “rickets” after eating a solid drink called “Beamamine” that purported to be “special milk powder for doctors.” Currently, the local market supervision department has organized a special class to carry outFull investigationAnd organize free medical exams for children.

For this, many experts in the field of food are accepting the Economic Daily-China’s economic networkThe journalist said in an exclusive interview that the threshold for special medical food is high,profitGenerous, hugeDealLet some unscrupulous businessmen seize the opportunity to enter the hole and harm the children. Some experts called for the specialty medical food industry to strengthen the industry’s self-discipline and self-management, and they hope that relevant government departments will seriously check gaps in approval, submission procedures and market oversight, and strengthen strict oversight. of this industry.

“Big-headed doll” plays the culprit by posing as powdered milk in a “special doctor” coat

On May 11, according to a report in Hunan TV’s “Jingshi Focus” section, a maternal and infant store called Aiyingfang in Yongxing County purported to be baby milk powder with solid protein drinks that had no special milk ratings on medical powder, which resulted in eating problems. Abnormalities such as eczema, severe weight loss, “big head doll” and nonstop patting on the head were diagnosed as “rickets”.

The video shows that these young children were diagnosed with a milk allergy during the medical examination. The doctor recommended that parents buy powdered milk with amino acids for their children. Parents bought the “Bemin” under the strong promotion of the shopping guide of the baby-friendly store and mothersproduct. When some parents questioned the word “solid drink” on the product packaging, the shopping guide stated that “Beminamine” is the best milk powder in the store, and many allergic babies are eating. When a parent discovers that the child is abnormally prepared to stop, the shopping guide states that the parent is not giving enough and even asks the parent to increase the dose.

One parent discovered in research that this lactose-free and lactose-free deep hydrolyzed protein formula two-in-one powder is not actually milk powder, but rather a solid protein drink under the banner of “special medical formula food.”

Once the incident was exposed, it immediately caused a strong response on the Internet. According to data from Beijing Yunchuang Netcom Market Supervision Public Opinion Big Data Center, as of 10:20 a.m. on May 13, 2020, a total of more than 6,300 comments were monitored, and around 62% of comments believed that producers and distributors should be severely punished; 14.29% of comments believe that regulatory oversight is not in place and should draw lessons from past lessons and increase oversight; about 7.6% of comments believe that parents are also responsible and should buyBrand; Another 16% of comments point to hospitals, foreign forces, etc. Data analysis shows that the incident woke uppublicStrong anger, expressing condemnation and aversion to illegal activities, and hoping to better understand the details and reasons behind it.

In response to this incident, some experts bluntly said that “Big Head Doll” has returned after many years, making people feel “surprised” and “horrified”.

“Special medical foods are a type of food that must be provided to people with special clinical needs under the guidance of a physicianTo guaranteeFoods that need health to maintain a normal life and healthy living conditions. Illegal businessborrowIn the name of the “special doctor,” it is true to seek money and harm lives, especially to harm young children. Liu Xiumei, a researcher at the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a journalist at the Economic Daily-China Economic Net.

In response to this incident, Yongxing County has established a special working class to carry out a thorough investigation into the baby and baby stores in Aiyingfang in accordance with the law and regulations. At the same time, the county town hospital is willing to provide free medical exams for children, and clinical diagnosis and medical treatment for symptomatic infants and young children. Additionally, Yongxing County also launched a one-month special food safety rectification, especially baby and toddler food safety, and cracked down on illegal activities such as unskilled quality and false propaganda.

According to media reports, this “Beminamine” milk powder is produced and soldthe companyFor the health of Hunan WeileindustryLimited liability company. Tianyan verification information shows thatFoundedIn 2015, the paid-in capital was 900,000, the staff size was less than 50, and the legal representative was Xiao Shi Arc. The company has only added beverages containing milk and vegetable protein drinks, infant milk powder, foods with special medical formulas, and healthy foods to the business arena since 2017. Prior to this, its primary business environment was self-operated andattorneyVariouscommodityAnd Technologyimport and exportAnd wholesale and retail of various daily necessities.

According to Beijing News, the company’s official customer service stated that the “Beminamine” product was discontinued last year, and the company has been involved in the investigation of the incident.

Special medical food has a high threshold and rich earnings.

Under the influence of “the strictest new milk powder policy in history”, China’s milk powder industry as a whole has shown a trend of safe and healthy development. In recent years, the domestic milk powder sample approval rate has reached 99.5%, which has been ranked as the highest in the world and can be said to be rated among all foods. One of the categories with the rates higher.

However, infants and toddlers allergic to milk protein cannot meet these high standards and strict requirements for milk powder. Due to the need to limit dietary protein intake in milk, this group of infants and toddlers can only choose special non-hypoallergenic infant formulas for medical purposes, giving illegal companies an “opportunity.”

“Due to the strict approval process and long time for specialty medical products, there are only 48 specialty medical products approved so far, giving counterfeit products the opportunity to take advantage of market vacancies. In the sales process, because Special medical foods require clinical and nutritional guidance on the one hand. Sales, on the other hand, were unable to enter the hospital directory, which caused further problems for market sales, “Li Liangqiu, vice president of the Association of Nutritional Health Foods of China.

Professor Luo Yunbo, from the Faculty of Food Sciences and Nutritional Engineering, China University of Agriculture, noted that the threshold for special medical qualification is high, but the benefit is huge. “ThuscompanyThe use of the side ball is used to describe ordinary food as special medical food for profit. Zhao Yali, president of the China Beverage Industry Association, also bluntly said that the abuse of solid drinks has also been around for a long time.

At the same time, Luo Yunbo noted that some media reports described this behavior as “production and sale of counterfeit food.” “Chenzhou is ready to test the products involved, but the reference standard can only be the standard for solid drinks. Perhaps the product is qualified, there is no counterfeiting and poor quality phenomenon, and it is essentially different from the milk of leather or melamine milk. “

He said that if there are still nonconformities according to the solid drinks test, it can be punished according to the nonconformities of solid drinks. “I don’t know how the company promotes it. If it’s just a play on words, in the end the company is more likely to escape criminal responsibility.”

Article 73 of the Food Safety Law establishes that the use ofmeetingIn the case of false food propaganda through conferences, lectures, health consultations, etc., the Food Government Oversight Department and Food Safety Administration at or above the county level will order the removal of the impact. If there are illegal profits, the illegal profits will be confiscated; The sanctions of Article 10, paragraph 5; If you belong to a unit that violates the law, you must also be in accordance with the provisions of Article 75 of this regulation to the legal representative of the unit, the main responsible person and those directly responsible.SupervisorPersonnel and other directly responsible personnel will be punished.

Experts Call for: Strengthening Industry Self-Discipline, Paying Attention to Consumer Food Science Education

For ordinary consumers, there is a wide variety of baby and toddler products on the market, and the various concepts on offer are dazzling, and it’s hard to tell the truth from the “movie” in the shopping guide. So how should consumers distinguish the difference between foods formulated for special medical purposes and ordinary foods?

Zhong Kai, deputy director of the Kexin Nutrition and Food Information Exchange Center, said that when purchasing powdered infant milk or powdered infant milk for special medical purposes, you should read the information on the label carefully and not believe the information. of marketing.

“First, food securityNational standardAll products must be clearly marked with a special name that reflects the true nature of the food in a visible place, so that parents can leave the words “infant formula”, “special medical use formula” or similar meanings on the package accidental when buying. Second, infant milk powder (including those for special medical purposes) strictly implements registration management and batch inspection in China, with frequent samples on the market and better safety guarantees. The registration number on the product packaging can be retrieved in the “Special food information consultation platform” on the official website of the General Administration of Market SupervisionProduct Information. Products that cannot find relevant information may not have been registered or may be counterfeit or counterfeit. Consumers are advised not to buy them. Zhong Kai told a reporter from the Economic Daily-China Economic Net.

“The implementing regulations of the Food Safety Law stipulate that special foods cannot be mixed with ordinary foods for sale. Companies must also have sales qualifications. Consumers only need to know this to avoid fraud,” said Luo Yunbo.

For those infants and toddlers who are allergic to milk protein, can infant formula for regular special medical use be used for a long time? Luo Yunbo noted that some consumers still have trouble using these products. “The use and dosage of antiallergic deep hydrolyzed milk powder is indicated. It cannot be used as a staple for a long time, but only in a short-term transition.”

“Thousands of anti-fraud, the first in popular science”. Luo Yunbo said that companies renew illegal marketing methods, consumers can not avoid it, food science education can not be relaxed. He also noted that powdered milk for infant formula still needs to be enriched in product categories to meet the nutritional needs of specific populations.

“Today, a large number of manufacturers have seen special medical food as a blue ocean, but investment in research and development for special medical food is not enough, and consumers do not have enough knowledge about special medical food. therefore, the phenomenon of counterfeiting of special medical food with solid preparations is frequent. ” Li Liangqiu said that the China Healthy Food and Nutrition Association is launching an outreach plan this year to strengthen outreach of science and technology for industry and consumers. At the same time, the association is developing a health apprentice qualification assessment, hoping to standardize the market and services through qualification exams for sales and nursing staff. consumer.

Li Liangqiu also said that, on the one hand, there is a need to introduce special post-marketing surveillance measures for medical foods as soon as possible to combat common foods that pretend to be special medical foods. On the other hand, it urges the government to actively respond to the spirit of “leave, manage and serve” and speed up the approval process for special medical foods. . As safe and effective special genuine medical products enter the market,dealRun these fake special medical products while guiding consumers to make the right choice.

“China’s specialty medicinal food industry is still in its infancy, calling on the specialty medical food industry to strengthen the industry’s self-discipline and self-management. I hope the relevant government departments can seriously check for gaps in approval. , submission procedures and market supervision, and really achieve strict supervision. ” Said.

(Editor in charge: DF529)