'Weight Loss' Health Foods Still Sell CN¥ 1.1 Billion Online
By Jotham Lim
7 min read
China's registered health foods have until 2028 to replace the "weight loss" (减肥) claim with "helps control body fat", and in the year to August 2026 health-food listings still titled "weight loss" sold about CN¥ 1.1 billion across three of China's largest marketplaces, against about CN¥ 20 million for the new claim, according to Moojing Market Intelligence.
This article covers the third chapter of the full report, China Weight Management Industry Report 2023–2026, which looks at the ingredients health foods are sold on, at what the best-selling weight-management listings name in their titles, and at the rules that are changing what food may claim.
Key figures
- CN¥ 1.1 billion: online sales of health foods titled "weight loss", year to August 2026
- CN¥ 20 million: sales of listings using "helps control body fat", up from about CN¥ 12 million the year before
- −22%: like-for-like change in sales of health foods naming white kidney bean (白芸豆)
- +20%: whey, which sells mostly in the same listings as protein powder
Method and scope: observed online sales across three of China's largest marketplaces, September 2023 to August 2026, from Moojing Market Intelligence; not the total market. Ingredients and claims are measured by title: each series is the sales of products whose titles contain the Chinese word. Growth rates are like for like. Nothing in this article is a claim about any ingredient's effect on the body.
Which slimming ingredients are losing sales in China?#
Health foods naming three ingredients sold for slimming lost sales on all three marketplaces in the year to August 2026: white kidney bean (白芸豆, about CN¥ 730 million) fell 22% like for like, garcinia (藤黄果) 71% and apple cider vinegar (苹果醋) 42%, while whey (乳清) rose 20%, according to Moojing Market Intelligence.
Exhibit 5. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed marketplace data across three online marketplaces, sales of health foods whose titles name each ingredient, like-for-like growth in the year to August 2026 against a year earlier; sales in the latest year on the right. Ingredients that sold less than CN¥ 50 million are not shown; apple cider vinegar (about CN¥ 27 million) is below the floor. A title naming two ingredients counts under both. A light bar marks an ingredient whose sales moved in different directions on different marketplaces. Not the total market.
Garcinia sold about CN¥ 53 million and apple cider vinegar about CN¥ 27 million, so both are small. Whey sold about CN¥ 6.4 billion, but most whey sales are in listings also titled protein powder, so its rise largely restates protein powder's and is not separate evidence. Chia seed (奇亚籽) also grew on all three marketplaces, though it sold only about CN¥ 29 million. Probiotics, the largest of the seventeen ingredients we measured at about CN¥ 12.9 billion, and dietary fibre, at about CN¥ 1.8 billion, showed no clear trend; both are sold for more than weight management.
We believe the mix of health-food sales is shifting away from white kidney bean, garcinia and apple cider vinegar and towards protein, though our data cannot show whether the same shoppers are switching. The best-selling listings on the weight-management shelf have barely changed what they name: of the 1,200 best-sellers in the latest year, 19% name dietary fibre, the most of the ingredients we coded, and we look at what that means for brands in four moves for brands.
How is China changing what food may claim?#
China regulates what food may claim about the body in two tiers. Ordinary food may not claim a health function, and a registered health food, known as a "blue hat" product from the logo on its pack, may make only the claims on an official list. The 2023 revision of that list replaced "weight loss" with "helps control body fat" (有助于控制体内脂肪), one of 24 permitted functions, and gave products already registered five years to conform.
| In force | Rule | Sales of listings using the claim, year to August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Official list replaces "weight loss" (减肥) with "helps control body fat"; registered products have five years to conform | "Weight loss" titles about CN¥ 1.1 billion; "helps control body fat" about CN¥ 20 million |
| 1 Feb 2026 | Livestream e-commerce measures put duties on platforms, livestream rooms and presenters | Not measured |
| Apr 2026 | Six-month campaign against false claims in online food sales names "weight loss" as a high-risk term | Not measured |
| 20 May 2026 | Online food sellers may not claim that food prevents or treats disease | Not measured |
| Sep 2026 | On livestream platforms, checklists bar medical terms and bar ordinary food from claiming a health function | Not measured |
| 16 Mar 2027 | Labelling standard bars "no added" and "zero added" wording, such as 零添加 and 0添加, from food labels | Titles with 零添加 or 0添加 about CN¥ 1.2 billion (mostly two marketplaces) |
Exhibit 7. Source: the 2023 catalogue of health-food functions, the livestream e-commerce measures of the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Cyberspace Administration of China, the market regulator's six-month campaign, its Order No. 124 and food safety risk-control checklists, and the labelling standard GB 7718-2025, as cited in the full report; Moojing Market Intelligence, observed marketplace data across three online marketplaces, sales of listings whose titles use each word. Not the total market.
The market regulator's six-month campaign against false claims in online food sales, launched in April 2026, lists "weight loss" among its high-risk terms. The courts have backed the rules with cases: in September 2026 the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate published typical cases on online food safety, including a slimming candy sold by livestream that contained a diuretic and a slimming coffee that contained sibutramine, a drug banned from food. In October 2026 the market regulator published a draft revision of the Food Safety Law that adds duties for livestream sellers and bans false or misleading labels and promotion.
How much do "weight loss" health foods still sell?#
Health foods with "weight loss" in their titles sold about CN¥ 1.1 billion online in the year to August 2026, and listings using the approved replacement, "helps control body fat", about CN¥ 20 million, up from about CN¥ 12 million the year before, according to Moojing Market Intelligence. Registered products have until 2028 to make the change.
Exhibit 8. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed marketplace data across three online marketplaces, sales of listings whose titles use each word, year to August 2026. The health-food titles cover three marketplaces, and the "zero added" titles are mostly food on two. A title carrying both 零添加 and 0添加 counts twice, so the "zero added" total is an upper bound. Not the total market.
The "weight loss" titles also include unregistered products, so we cannot yet tell how far registered products have changed their claims, and their sales showed no clear trend in the latest year. Food listings titled "zero added" (零添加 or 0添加) sold about CN¥ 1.2 billion, mostly on two marketplaces, ahead of the revised labelling standard, which bars the wording from 16 March 2027. The report's third recommendation is that brands take both claims off titles and packs now and use the time to build the nutrient claims that will replace them.
Protein's growth is covered in China online protein powder sales, the campaign in China's Weight Management Year, and the wider health-food market in our China supplements and functional food and beverage report. The ingredient series, the best-seller coding and the sources for every rule are in the full report.
This content adheres to Moojing's editorial standards .
