Teach you a trick to identify medicines, health products and food

During the stay-at-home period, e-commerce is booming and online transactions are becoming more mature. Online drug purchases are as convenient and fast as other goods, and the prices are relatively favorable. When shopping online, how can we correctly distinguish between drugs, health products and food?

1. Drugs must be approved by the National Medicine Approval Number

(1) The drug approval number is approved by the drug supervision and administration department. Each product of each manufacturer has a specific approval number.

(2) The format of the national drug approval number is “国药准(试)字+1 Chinese Pinyin letter+8 Arabic numerals”, where “药” stands for drug and is the basis for distinguishing health products from food. Any drug without the “国药准字” is not a drug; “准” stands for drug approved for formal production by the state, and “试” stands for drug approved for trial production by the state[1][2].

① “1-letter” refers to 7 letters, including: Z, S, B, T, F, J, which represent different categories of drugs respectively, and the first letter of the Chinese pinyin is capitalized: H represents chemical drugs, Z represents traditional Chinese medicine, S represents biological products, B represents health care drugs, T represents in vitro chemical diagnostic reagents, F represents pharmaceutical excipients, and J represents imported packaged drugs.

② “8 digits” means that the first and second digits are the source code of the original approval number, the third and fourth digits represent the last two digits of the year in which the approval number was reissued, and the last four digits are the serial number. [2]

How to query the "National Drug Approval Number": Open the official website of the State Drug Administration (www.nmpa.gov.cn), click the "Drug" column in the "Query" column on the middle right side of the website homepage, and enter the relevant information of the product to query (it is best to enter the name of the product).

1. The logo of health products is a "blue hat"

The so-called health products are actually health foods. They are different from the health drugs represented by "B" mentioned above. Health foods are special foods and are strictly distinguished from drugs. They have certain regulating functions for specific groups of people, but they cannot replace the therapeutic effects of drugs on patients. In daily life, even some so-called health products do not meet the qualifications of health foods, let alone therapeutic effects. Be careful when purchasing. The logo of health food is easy to recognize. It is a sky blue pattern with the four words "health food" written below, commonly known as the "blue hat".

The format of the approval number for domestic health food is: Guo Shi Jian Zi G + 4-digit year code + 4-digit serial number; the format of the approval number for imported health food is: Guo Shi Jian Zi J + 4-digit year code + 4-digit serial number. The approval number is: Guo Shi Jian Zi G or J, "G" means domestic production, and "J" means imported [3]. Previously, "Wei Shi Jian Zi" and "Wei Yao Jian Zi" were used, of which Wei Yao Jian Zi was abolished in 2002. If you see this type of number, do not buy or take it. So don't assume it's medicine just because it has the word "Yao"!

Tips

(1) First, you must identify the mark: blue hat + approval number

(2) Confirm the function. Currently, there are only 22 health functions of health foods approved by the Ministry of Health of my country. Consumers should be careful to distinguish them when purchasing. At the same time, the packaging and related advertisements should indicate the warning "This product cannot replace medicine".

(3) You can check the authenticity of the product by logging on to the website of the State Food and Drug Administration.

(4) Health foods also have contraindications. Health foods that are explicitly or implicitly claimed to be suitable for all symptoms and all groups should be purchased with caution.

(5) Remember to keep your shopping receipts, health product packaging boxes and other shopping vouchers, as they can be used as a basis for filing a complaint in the event that your rights are infringed.

3. Distinguish between organic food, pollution-free food and green food

(1) Pollution-free agricultural products: refers to agricultural products whose toxic and hazardous substances are controlled within the safe range and meet the "Standards for Pollution-free Agricultural Products", or agricultural products that use these substances as the main raw materials and are processed in accordance with the technical operating procedures for the production of pollution-free agricultural products. This is the most basic market access condition.

(2) Organic food: Organic food does not use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, livestock and poultry feed additives, etc. in production, does not use genetically engineered organisms and their products as means, follows the laws of nature and ecological principles, adopts a series of sustainable agricultural technologies, coordinates the relationship between planting and breeding, and promotes ecological balance, species diversity and sustainable use of resources. It must be produced and processed in accordance with organic agricultural production requirements and corresponding standards, and certified by a legitimate organic food certification agency.

(3) Green Food: Green food is a general term for pollution-free, safe, and high-quality food in my country. It refers to safe, high-quality edible agricultural products and related products that are produced in a good ecological environment, in accordance with green food standards, and subject to full-process quality control from land to table. The right to use the green food logo is obtained in accordance with the procedures prescribed in the Green Food Logo Management Measures.

When buying green food, you should first look at the logo and also pay attention to the anti-counterfeiting logo. Some green foods have anti-counterfeiting logos, which can show the product's standard number and the signature of the person in charge of the Green Food Development Center under fluorescence. You should also look at the label. The label of green food complies with the general national food label standards, such as food name, factory name, production date, shelf life, etc.

In short, check the "National Medicine Approval Number" for medicines, recognize the "logos" for health products and foods, purchase them through formal channels, and don't trust so-called "miracle drugs".

References:

[1] Chinese Pharmacists Association Home Pharmacy Service Pharmacists Branch, Healthy China Research Center Drug and Health Products Expert Committee, China Health Promotion Foundation Medical Knowledge Management Special Fund Expert Committee, etc. Expert consensus on the management and guidance of rational drug use for people's home drug treatment during the epidemic [J]. Drug Evaluation, 2020, 017(004):1-7,29.

[2] Zhang Tao. A brief analysis of the newly revised “Regulations on Drug Registration and Administration”[J]. Northern Pharmacy, 2020, v.17(08):167-168.

[3] Anonymous. Measures for the Registration and Administration of Health Food (Trial Implementation)[J]. Chinese Journal of Food Hygiene, 2005, 17(4): 356-363.