China’s top health authority, the National Health Commission, has recently issued an announcement, approving #hyaluronicacid (“#HA”) as a new food ingredient, which can be added into to ordinary foods. This is a new milestone in the development of China’s HA industry.
HA is widely found in the joint cavity, skin, vitreous humor and other tissues of human body. As people age, its content in the human body gradually decreases, leading to arthritis, skin aging, wrinkles and eye blossoms. Studies have found that oral administration of HA helps improve human skin moisture, alleviate joint function osteoporosis and repair gastric mucosal damage. Supplements and foods containing HA are quite common in overseas markets. Prior to this “green light”, HA can only be used in skincare products and health products (with a Blue Cap) in China. But now it is allowed in the use of milk and dairy products, beverages, alcohol, cocoa products, chocolate products as well as confectioneries.
The application of HA as a new food ingredient is led by Huaxi Bio, which is the world’s largest hyaluronic acid R&D, production and sales enterprise, with a global market share of 39% in 2019.
Research shows that the global food-grade HA end-products market reached about $350 million in 2019 and is expected to reach about $480 million in 2024, with a promising market outlook. Insiders believe that the approval of HA as a new food ingredient will greatly change the previous situation of China’s HA food market, which was dominated by foreign brands. But on the other hand, HA will be more recognized by Chinese consumers than before, which will also benefit foreign brands.