The nutraceutical and health food industry in China, rooted in a 5000-year tradition of medicinal foods, has yet to reach its trillion-dollar potential due to a limited consumer group (mainly the elderly) and a failure to attract younger people. Currently, China’s nutraceutical and health food sector remains fragmented, constrained by regulatory barriers, lack of industrialization, and with limited product innovation. This opinion paper discusses the history, status, challenges, and opportunities of the nutraceutical and health food industry in China. Through analyzing three successful industrial cases, we propose several strategies for the transformation of this industry to reach a more sustainable development.
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- Opinion
The Challenges and Opportunities of Nutraceutical and Health Food Industry in China
Author Information
Received: 11 Aug 2025 | Revised: 17 Sep 2025 | Accepted: 19 Sep 2025 | Published: 26 Sep 2025
Abstract
Keywords
food supplements | food industry | medicinal food | food innovation
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How to Cite
Wang, M.; Kuai, Y.; Gan, R.-Y. The Challenges and Opportunities of Nutraceutical and Health Food Industry in China. Food as Medicine 2025, 1 (1), 4. https://doi.org/10.53941/fm.2025.100004.
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Copyright (c) 2025 by the authors.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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