In recent years, there has been a significant surge in health consumption, attracting many companies to flock to the nuggets. Under this, the nutrition market has accelerated its prosperity, and the field of probiotics has been deeply developed, resulting in the birth of many strains of different colors. However, some brands exaggerate the product function by using raw materials.
Just a while ago, the backstage of the mother and child frontier *** received a message from fans, pointing outA probiotic called Compelle P-8 has been blown to the sky, and it has been sold as "improving children's IQ, concentration and academic performance in the short term". But what exactly is it? Is what is advertised true or false?
With many questions, the author also has a look at the product.
Combra P-8 is just a probiotic foodThere is no verification of the functionality of the finished product
It is the expectation of every parent to hope that their children will become dragons and phoenixes among people. Therefore, in addition to opening the fine mode in all aspects of "raising",In terms of "education", it is even more laborious, and he is deeply involved in involution education and chicken baby wars. In order to let the child win over his peers, he does not hesitate to invest a lot of money, change school district housing, attend tutoring classes, etc.
This demand is also seen by the market, so many products related to "helping children maintain a better learning state" have emerged, and Compela P-8 is one of them. According to the official introduction, the product is a student probiotic that "relieves stress and anxiety and improves human memory and cognitive ability".
In addition to the core selling point,Compela P-8 also states that it has other probiotic functionsFor example, it has the function of immunomodulation, which can reduce resistance genes and antibiotic residues, improve alcoholic liver injury, reduce blood lipids and antioxidant capacity, and promote the maturation of intestinal flora, thereby improving the body's immunity.
It is worth mentioning that in order to dispel consumers' purchase doubts, Kang Pela P-8 has come up with a series of materials such as clinical trials, academic ** and national patents for endorsement. But no matter how much of these seemingly solid bases there are, when put into the promotion of product functions, they can't stand scrutiny and scrutiny.
Because it was found that Compela P-8 is just a "probiotic food" starting with SC,And its claimed functionality has not been scientifically proven at all. At present, the endorsement on which this product is based is actually derived from the research results of a certain ingredient in the ingredient list, that is, "Lactobacillus plantarum P-8".
And about this, the P-8 brand knows well. They made it clear in their previous publicity: "The clinical effect data are all based on the study of strains, and do not represent the efficacy of this product." ”But since you know that it is the function of the "strain", why do you still put a hard sleeve on your own "finished product"?
It is important to know that the first paragraph of Article 8 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates that "business operators shall not make false or misleading commercial promotions about the performance, function, quality, sales status, user evaluation, honors, etc., of their goods, so as to deceive or mislead consumers." ”
In this regard, Chen Xia Fuli, a lawyer specializing in advertising law, also explained: When merchants sort out the selling points of products, they will describe what ingredients are contained in themWhat does this ingredient do, but if the actual product is not the same as advertised, it may constitute false advertising.
And there are many lessons from the pastIn July 2023, a food commercial bank in Tianjin was ordered by the local regulatory department to stop its illegal acts and fined 10,000 yuan for false advertising. The reason is that when it sells Houwo brand compound active probiotic powder, it advertises that the strains contained in the product have the effect of regulating physical health and improving disease conditions. After investigation, the product is only an ordinary food and does not have the above effects.
Two main patentsNone of them can support the claimed function of the P-8
Speaking of Lactobacillus plantarum P-8, in fact, this strain is from Beijing Ketuo Hengtong Biotechnology Co., Ltd. *** referred to as "Ketuo Bio"). Since its discovery in 2005, it has completed whole-genome sequencing, strain toxicology experiments, antibiotic resistance transfer, and probiotic function research.
In 2022, Nanjing Jingyizhiyuan Life Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yizhiyuan") became the "Exclusive Authorized Partner of Lactobacillus plantarum P-8 National Offline Maternal and Child Channel Focus Application" of Ketuo Biologics. At the same time, the two parties designated "Carebree" as the product brand, and Jinhua Galaxy Biotechnology, which is controlled by Ketuo Biotechnology, is responsible for production.
To put it simply, Yizhiyuan is responsible for operation, and Ketuo Biotech is responsible for ODM.
Backed by the mountain of Ketuo Biology, it also allows Kang Bule P-8 to obtain many resources, such as "patent application" and so on. Therefore, the product claims to "add national patented live bacteria to improve concentration". That's true, but none of the two patents actually correlate to the attention function advertised by the P-8.
Among them, ZL2012104509859 is an application of Lactobacillus plantarum in improving alcoholic liver injury; and CN2012100622960 is a probiotic that can promote the secretion of SIGA in the intestine and its detection method. A tip: SIGA is a secretory immunoglobulin A, which mainly plays an important immune role in the human body.
It is true that at the moment of consumption upgrading, serious homogenization and intensified market competition, differentiation and high-end have become the core of various enterprises competing for users' minds. Therefore, patents have also become one of the necessary elements for all parties to prove their strength.
ButEven if there is a patent, it cannot confirm the authenticity of the efficacy, otherwise everyone does not need to register the quasi-word of Sinopharm, and apply for a patent certificate. The staff of the State Intellectual Property Office once told ** that the current patent application examination is mainly aimed at novelty, inventiveness and practicability, as for the effect of the products produced by the patent, whether the enterprises and businesses advertise the products are true, are not within the scope of patent examination.
To sum up, even if the ingredients used in the product are good and good, it may not be in accordance with the regulations to promote the efficacy. If it is to be recognized, the best solution is to come up with more evidence of "gold content" to support the functionality of the finished product.
Where do functional probiotics go?
If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight. Since Compela P-8 wants to advertise that the product is functional and has the strength to do human clinical trials, why not choose to join the regular army of health food, but instead put itself and the channel provider in the potential risk?
From the official introduction, it can be seen that Yizhiyuan is mainly engaged in the product development, brand operation and market development business of functional foodsThe brand positioning of Kang Bu Le is "functional probiotics". However, it should be noted that the concept of functional food does not exist in China's current regulations.
Functional food in the traditional sense is actually what we call "health food" in our daily lifeThat is, food with specific nutritional and health care functions, suitable for specific groups of people to eat, can regulate body functions, but is not for the purpose of disease.
However, in the process of practical application, functional foods have become ordinary foods with specific nutritional elements. In other words, most of the so-called functional foods on the market are still classified as ordinary foods in terms of regulation. As a result, these products do not require registration or filing, but they are also not allowed to make functional claims about the products.
In recent years, the probiotics industry has accelerated its development. According to the International Probiotics Association (IPA), China has become the world's second largest probiotic consumer market, and China's probiotics market will expand at a growth rate of 11-12%. The Prospective Research Institute predicts that by 2028, the scale of China's probiotics market is expected to exceed 190 billion yuan.
But obviously, there is a mixture of probiotic foods, probiotic drugs, and probiotic health foods. As far as the above information is concerned, it can be seen that the development of functional probiotics is facing an "embarrassing" situation. Under this, it is worth thinking about where the P-8 should go.