China News Service, October 21. According to the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, in 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation focused on prominent issues such as false propaganda and misleading consumption in online food sales, and deployed local market supervision departments to investigate and deal with a number of illegal cases in accordance with the law, rectify a number of chaos, and clean up a number of violators. Six typical cases are now selected for publication:
1. Shanxi Province Jincheng Market Supervision Bureau handles the case of false promotion of health food in Honghua Health Center
Since 2025, the Shanxi Market Supervision Complaint and Reporting Platform has received multiple reports from the public, reflecting that Jincheng Honghua Health Center is suspected of false propaganda. After investigation, the party concerned, Liu, the operator of Honghua Health Center, and his staff promoted Hanruibao brand glycosaminoglycosaminochondroitin calcium carbonate capsules and other products to consumers through oral introductions, WeChat chats, centralized lectures, and distribution of color pages, claiming to have the functions of unblocking meridians, detoxifying, replenishing qi and blood, regulating intestinal function, and improving sleep. The behavior of the party concerned violated the relevant provisions of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China". In January 2026, the Jincheng Urban Market Supervision Bureau ordered the party concerned to stop the illegal behavior and imposed a fine of 310,000 yuan in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China". The parties involved in this case took advantage of the elderly people's eagerness to seek medical treatment and weak discernment ability to fabricate the efficacy of health food and induce consumers to purchase the products at high prices. This seriously infringed on the personal and property rights of the elderly and has typical significance in rectifying the false propaganda of health food.
2. The Market Supervision Bureau of Longquanyi District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province handled the case of false commercial promotion of product functions by Hongai Health Consulting Co., Ltd.
The Market Supervision Bureau of Longquanyi District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province received the "Transfer Letter of Illegal Clues" from the Longhua Supervision Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, Guangdong Province, reflecting that the party involved, Hongai Health Consulting Co., Ltd., was suspected of claiming that ordinary food has disease prevention and treatment functions during the live broadcast sales of "Temex Polygonatum Protein Peptide Drink" on the "Xiaoetong" platform. After investigation, it was found that the party concerned, as a co-organizer, held the "iQi International Southwest Market Launch Meeting" with Tianfutianmax (Xiamen) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. at a hotel in Longquanyi District. At the meeting, publicist Chen shared his experience of using "Temex Polygonatum Protein Peptide Drink" to cure hepatitis B minor yang, major yang and liver cirrhosis as proof and recommendation. The video recorded on-site by the parties is stored in the "Xiaoetong" platform account, and the live broadcast link is sent to members who cannot be there to watch for free. After investigation, it was found that the products involved did not have disease prevention or treatment effects. The behavior of the parties violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. In February 2026, the Longquanyi District Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to stop illegal activities and imposed a fine of 30,000 yuan in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. This case is a typical case of false advertising in online food sales. It conveys the signal of regulatory authorities’ “zero tolerance” for false advertising and is highly representative and warning.
3. Qinghai Provincial Market Supervision Bureau handles unfair competition case involving false advertising of product performance
In March 2026, the Qinghai Provincial Market Supervision Bureau discovered that Tong, the anchor of the Kuaishou account "Electrician$Huaer", was suspected of false advertising in his live broadcast of products. After investigation, from October 2025 to March 2026, the party involved, Tong, claimed that three ordinary foods could treat stomach problems, constipation, and gastric erosion. The behavior of the parties concerned violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. At the same time, the live broadcast room did not disclose the qualifications of the business entities, which violated the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions. After the incident, the parties concerned actively cooperated with the investigation, made truthful confessions, and removed the products for rectification. The Qinghai Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, in accordance with the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China", the E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China, the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant regulations, ordered the parties to complete the live broadcast room business license disclosure within 7 days, ordered them to immediately stop the illegal behavior, and imposed a fine of 30,000 yuan. General food is prohibited from claiming medical effects. This case is a typical case that clearly delineates the legal red line for live broadcast food marketing and consolidates the legal obligations of online anchors to do business clearly.
4. The Market Supervision Bureau of Youyi County, Heilongjiang Province handled the case of false promotion of health food by Youyi Wanshou Food Store
In March 2026, the Market Supervision Bureau of Youyi County, Heilongjiang Province discovered during daily supervision that there were clues that the Youyi Wanshou Food Store promoted the therapeutic effects of health food to the elderly, and opened a case for investigation. After investigation, the party involved, Youyi Wanshou Food Store, attracted the elderly to shop and join its membership group by distributing free Lantern Festivals, prepaying cash rebates for health care equipment, etc., and published online copywriting and cases containing claims about the disease treatment efficacy of the health food "Ruicao Shijia Brand Broken Ganoderma Spore Powder Capsules" and live broadcast content, hired lecturers to teach, and fabricated false cases of patients stopping antidiabetic drugs and relying on products to cure chronic diseases. They falsely claimed that the products could prolong life, regulate the five internal organs, protect the liver, cure fatty liver, and lower blood sugar and blood pressure. However, they were unable to provide proof that the products had disease treatment effects. The behavior of the party concerned violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. The Market Supervision Bureau of Youyi County ordered the party concerned to immediately stop the illegal behavior and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. This case is a typical case of false promotion of health food for the elderly. Elderly consumers are reminded to be wary of marketing traps such as "free gifts" and "health lectures" and to seek medical treatment promptly when sick.
5. Shanghai Changning District Market Supervision Bureau investigated and dealt with the case of Shanghai Lanque Catering Management Co., Ltd. engaging in food production and false propaganda without permission
In April 2026, Shanghai Changning District Market Supervision Bureau inspected three snacks operated by the party Shanghai Lanque Catering Management Co., Ltd. based on reports from the masses. After investigation, the person involved operated a physical store on Panyu Road, Changning District, and registered an online store named "Yexuan (Shangsheng Xinshuo Store)" on the Meituan platform. Since April 1, 2026, the party concerned has unpacked and sealed the purchased pre-packaged food in the kitchen without obtaining a food production license, and made it by himself, posted labels, and sold it externally. The label self-printed by the above-mentioned party contains "zero preservatives, zero artificial colors, zero artificial flavoring", etc. However, the prepackaged food ingredients purchased and packaged by the party contain the preservative ingredient sodium metabisulfite, and the party cannot provide evidence to prove the authenticity of the label promotion content, which is false or misleading commercial propaganda. As of April 15, 2026, the parties involved produced a total of 34 pieces of the food involved in the case and sold 18 pieces to external parties, with a value of 1,224 yuan and illegal income of 251.84 yuan. The behavior of the parties concerned violated the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. Considering that the party violated the law for the first time, the violation lasted for a short time, and the profit was small, and the food involved was taken off the shelves after the incident, which complied with the provisions of the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China on mitigating administrative penalties, the Changning District Market Supervision Bureau imposed a combined fine of 20,000 yuan on the parties in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. This case exposed the illegal behavior of online catering operators "packaging" ordinary bulk goods into high-end healthy snacks in the back kitchen. It is a typical case that warns Internet celebrity food operators not to use "zero added" labels to "gold-plat" their products.
6. The Changping District Market Supervision Bureau of Beijing handled the case of Li Moulin’s business in food that added other substances that may be harmful to human health.
In June 2026, the Market Supervision Bureau of Changping District, Beijing received a complaint reporting that the "Fiber SO Slimming Tablet Candy" purchased through WeChat contained sibutramine. The bureau immediately coordinated with the Changping District Public Security Bureau to intervene in advance, and after testing by the Beijing Branch of the National Drug Laboratory, the ingredient sibutramine was detected, and Li Moulin was immediately investigated. After investigation, from December 2024 to April 2026, the party Li Mouling added WeChat merchants through Taobao three times to purchase fiber SO plant fruit and vegetable tablet candies whose outer packaging did not indicate the production license number or product implementation standards. The parties involved split the product into single pills and packed them in ziplock bags, sold them under the nickname "Yuanyuan" on WeChat, and claimed that the product had weight-loss effects. In July 2026, the Changping District People's Procuratorate issued a "Letter Recommending the Transfer of Suspected Criminal Cases" and determined that the person involved was suspected of selling food that was knowingly adulterated with toxic and harmful non-food raw materials. The behavior of the parties involved violated the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Regulations on the Transfer of Suspected Criminal Cases by Administrative Law Enforcement Agencies, the Changping District Market Supervision Bureau transferred all the case file materials to the Changping Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for criminal investigation. This case successfully cut off the illegal chain of "online purchase-private packaging-private price increase sales-false efficacy promotion". It is a typical case of grassroots market supervision departments dealing with the sale of toxic and harmful food by online private domain micro-businesses and deepening the connection between executions.
