China's drug regulator has introduced a plan to clamp down on the nation's unruly health food market.

The crackdown will focus on licensed health food without an expiration date label, health foods with illegal additives and those whose benefits are exaggerated, according to the plan of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

SFDA ordered drug regulators across China to crack down on illegal marketing and fake and low-quality health food. Deceptive public lectures and exaggerated promotion are two targets.

Any producers or sellers of health food who use deceptive advertising will be publicly exposed and punished according to the law, SFDA said.

According to a monthly report by the China Health Care Association in March, exaggerated and false promotion were the most common violation of laws on health and food safety.

By the end of 2007, China's health food market had become crowded with over 8,900 varieties of products generating annual revenue of over 100 billion yuan (US$14.6 billion).

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2010)