State Administration for Market Regulation Releases a Batch of Typical Cases of False Advertising in Online Food Sales (Second Batch)

In 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation focused on prominent problems such as false advertising and misleading consumption in online food sales, and deployed market regulation departments in various regions to investigate and penalize a number of illegal cases in accordance with the law, rectify a number of disorderly practices and clean up a number of non-compliant entities. Six typical cases are hereby selected and announced:

I. Jincheng Municipal Market Regulation Bureau of Shanxi Province handled the case of false advertising of health food by Honghua Wellness Center

Since 2025, the Shanxi market regulation complaint and report platform has received multiple public reports reflecting that Honghua Wellness Center in Jincheng City was suspected of false advertising. Upon investigation, Liu, the operator of the party concerned, Honghua Wellness Center, and staff members promoted products such as Hanruibao-brand glucosamine chondroitin calcium carbonate capsules to consumers through oral presentations, WeChat chats, group lectures and distribution of leaflets, claiming that the products could dredge meridians, detoxify, replenish qi and blood, regulate intestinal function and improve sleep. The conduct 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 Chengqu District Market Regulation Bureau of Jincheng City, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, ordered the party concerned to stop the illegal conduct and imposed a fine of 310,000 yuan. In this case, the party concerned took advantage of elderly people's eagerness to seek medical treatment and their weak ability to distinguish, fabricated the efficacy of health food and induced consumers to buy products at high prices, seriously infringing upon the personal and property rights and interests of elderly people, and the case is of typical significance for rectifying the disorder of false advertising of health food.

II. Longquanyi District Market Regulation Bureau of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province handled the case of Hongai Health Consulting Co., Ltd. making false commercial publicity about product functions

The Longquanyi District Market Regulation Bureau of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province received a Letter on the Transfer of Illegal Clues from the Longhua Regulatory Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Guangdong Province, reflecting that the party concerned, Hongai Health Consulting Co., Ltd., was suspected of claiming that an ordinary food had disease prevention and treatment functions while livestreaming the sale of 'Tianmeishi Polygonatum Protein Peptide Beverage' on the Xiaoe Tech platform. Upon investigation, the party concerned, as a co-organizer, held the 'Aiqi International Southwest Market Launch Conference' with Tianfu Tianmeishi (Xiamen) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. at a hotel in Longquanyi District. At the meeting, a promoter, Chen, shared his experience of using 'Tianmeishi Polygonatum Protein Peptide Beverage' to cure hepatitis B 'small three positive', 'large three positive' and cirrhosis, using this as proof and recommendation. The party concerned recorded a video on site and stored it in its Xiaoe Tech platform account, then sent the livestream link to members who could not attend for free viewing. Upon investigation, the products involved did not have disease prevention or treatment efficacy. The conduct of the party concerned violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. In February 2026, the Longquanyi District Market Regulation Bureau, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, ordered the party concerned to stop the illegal conduct and imposed a fine of 30,000 yuan. This case is a typical case of false advertising in online food sales, conveying the regulator's signal of 'zero tolerance' for false advertising, and has strong representativeness and warning significance.

III. Qinghai Provincial Market Regulation Bureau handled a case of unfair competition involving false publicity of product performance

In March 2026, the Qinghai Provincial Market Regulation Bureau found that the host Tong of the Kuaishou account 'Diangong $ Hua'er' was suspected of false advertising in livestream selling. Upon investigation, from October 2025 to March 2026, the party concerned Tong claimed that three ordinary foods could treat stomach disease, constipation and gastric erosion. The conduct of the party concerned violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, and at the same time the livestream room did not publicly display the qualifications of the business entity, violating the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions. After the case was discovered, the party concerned actively cooperated with the investigation, truthfully confessed and removed the products for rectification. The Qinghai Provincial Market Regulation Bureau, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, the E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China and the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China, ordered the party concerned to complete the public display of its livestream room business license within 7 days, ordered it to immediately stop the illegal conduct, and imposed a fine of 30,000 yuan. Ordinary food is prohibited from claiming medical efficacy. This case clearly draws the legal red line for livestreamed food marketing and is a typical case of enforcing the statutory obligation of online hosts to display their licenses for business.

IV. Youyi County Market Regulation Bureau of Heilongjiang Province handled the case of false advertising of health food by Youyi Wanshou Food Shop

In March 2026, the Youyi County Market Regulation Bureau of Heilongjiang Province discovered in routine supervision clues that Youyi Wanshou Food Shop was giving lectures to elderly people on the disease treatment efficacy of health food, and opened an investigation. Upon investigation, the party concerned, Youyi Wanshou Food Shop, attracted elderly people to the store for consumption and to join a member group by giving out free yuanxiao and cashback for prepaid health device fees, published online copy, cases and livestream content claiming disease treatment efficacy for the health food 'Ruicao Shijia Brand Cell-Wall-Broken Lingzhi Spore Powder Capsules', hired lecturers to give lessons, fabricated false cases of patients stopping hypoglycemic drugs and relying on the products to cure chronic diseases, and 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, but was unable to provide proof materials that the products had disease treatment efficacy. The conduct of the party concerned violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China. The Youyi County Market Regulation Bureau, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, ordered the party concerned to immediately stop the illegal conduct and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan. This case is a typical case of false advertising of health food targeting the elderly, reminding elderly consumers to be vigilant against marketing traps such as 'free gifts' and 'health lectures', and to seek medical treatment promptly when ill.

V. Changning District Market Regulation Bureau of Shanghai investigated and handled the case of Shanghai Lanque Catering Management Co., Ltd. engaging in food production without a license and false advertising

In April 2026, the Changning District Market Regulation Bureau of Shanghai, based on public reports, inspected three snacks operated by the party concerned, Shanghai Lanque Catering Management Co., Ltd. Upon investigation, the party concerned operated a physical store on Panyu Road in Changning District and registered an online store named 'Yexuan (Columbia Circle Store)' on the Meituan platform. Since April 1, 2026, without obtaining a food production license, the party concerned unpacked and repackaged purchased pre-packaged food in its back kitchen, sealed it, and made and affixed labels by itself before selling it. The labels printed by the party concerned contained content such as 'zero preservatives, zero artificial colors, zero artificial flavoring', but the ingredients of the pre-packaged food purchased and repackaged by the party concerned contained sodium metabisulfite, a component with a preservative effect, and the party concerned could not provide evidence to prove the authenticity of the label claims, which constituted false or misleading commercial publicity. As of April 15, 2026, the party concerned had produced 34 portions of the food involved and sold 18 portions, with a goods value of 1,224 yuan and illegal gains of 251.84 yuan. The conduct of the party 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. Taking into comprehensive account that the party concerned was a first-time offender, the duration of the illegal conduct was relatively short, the profits were small, and it voluntarily removed the food involved after the case was discovered, which meets the provisions of the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China on mitigating administrative penalties, the Changning District Market Regulation Bureau, 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, imposed a combined fine of 20,000 yuan on the party concerned. This case exposes the illegal conduct of online catering operators 'packaging' ordinary bulk goods into high-end healthy snacks in the back kitchen, and is a typical case warning online-famous food operators that they cannot use 'zero additive' labels to 'gild' their products.

VI. Changping District Market Regulation Bureau of Beijing handled the case of Li Mouling operating food with other substances potentially harmful to human health added

In June 2026, the Changping District Market Regulation Bureau of Beijing received a complaint and report reflecting that 'Xian SO Slimming Pressed Candy' purchased through WeChat was tested positive for sibutramine. The bureau immediately coordinated with the Changping District Public Security Sub-bureau for early intervention. Testing by the Beijing Branch of the National Anti-Drug Laboratory detected sibutramine, and an investigation was immediately opened against Li Mouling. Upon investigation, from December 2024 to April 2026, the party concerned Li Mouling purchased Xian SO Plant Fruit and Vegetable Pressed Candy, whose outer packaging did not indicate a production license number or product execution standard, three times through WeChat merchants added via Taobao. The party concerned divided the product into single tablets, packaged them in ziplock bags, sold them externally under the WeChat nickname 'Yuanyuan', and claimed that the product had weight-loss efficacy. In July 2026, the People's Procuratorate of Changping District issued a Letter Suggesting the Transfer of a Suspected Criminal Case, determining that the party concerned was suspected of the crime of selling food knowingly mixed with toxic or harmful non-food raw materials. The conduct of the party concerned 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. The Changping District Market Regulation Bureau, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China and the Provisions on the Transfer of Suspected Criminal Cases by Administrative Law Enforcement Agencies, transferred all case files to the Changping Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for criminal investigation. This case successfully cut off the illegal chain of 'online sourcing—private repackaging—private-domain marked-up sales—false efficacy advertising', and is a typical case of grassroots market regulation departments handling the sale of toxic and harmful food by online private-domain micro-businesses and deepening the linkage between administrative and criminal enforcement.