Seeking opinions on nutritional supplements for the elderly

There is no unified "universal supplement" standard. Instead, access requirements are formulated based on three scenarios: daily supplementation, chronic disease auxiliary, and clinical special preparation. At the same time, the penalty for false efficacy promotion is increased to 20 times the value of the product, and the approval process for low-risk basic supplements is reduced by 30%. The results of all opinion collection will be compiled before December this year and will be officially implemented in the first half of next year.

To be honest, I have been working in the field of nutrition for the elderly for almost 7 years, and the outrageous supplements I have seen can fill half a room. Last month, I accompanied Sister Zhang from the nutrition department of the community hospital to sort out the samples for mass consultation. The things I pulled out of the drawer can make people laugh: there are sugar water and half a tablet of vitamin C and they are called "Elderly Immunity Pills" and sold for 99 a box; When I went to the countryside for a free clinic with Sister Zhang, I met a 78-year-old man with gout. He went to a shopping mall and bought 6 boxes of "deep sea fish oil" for 200 yuan. After eating it for three days, he was in so much pain that he couldn't get out of bed. After taking it for a test, he found out that it contains seafood extract, which is pure and fatal.

There is indeed a lot of controversy in the industry over this regulatory adjustment. From the perspective of clinicians, most people raise their hands to support the grading standards - the physical condition of the elderly is too poor, and the high-protein powder that healthy elderly people can eat is a burden in the hands of elderly people with kidney disease. ； Ordinary calcium supplements may cause stones if given to the elderly with hypercalcemia. The previous standards were too rough. It was like giving shoes of the same size to all the elderly. Most people with small feet had to be forced into the shoes. Now it is required that supplements for chronic diseases must be clearly marked with contraindication groups, and even need to be clinically verified for the corresponding groups. This is equivalent to tailor-made shoes for each pair of feet, which is definitely safer.

However, from the perspective of small and medium-sized manufacturers making affordable supplements, they also have their own concerns. A friend who runs a nutritional supplements factory complained to me that if all supplements required a lot of testing, the cost would definitely go up. A bottle of calcium tablets that originally cost 10 yuan ended up selling for 30 yuan. Elderly people in rural areas were reluctant to buy them, so they turned around and bought the three-no products on the market. On the contrary, they did not have a regulatory effect. In fact, this point was also taken into consideration in this solicitation for opinions. For basic daily supplements, such as simple vitamin D and calcium tablets, as long as the core ingredients meet the dietary nutrient reference intake requirements of residents, the standards for other additives and packaging will be appropriately relaxed, in order to keep costs down and make ordinary elderly people affordable.

To be honest, I was walking downstairs in the community last week, and I met a few aunts who were studying the "Yak Marrow Powder" that they grabbed in the live broadcast room. They said that their shoulders no longer hurt after eating it. I took a look at the package and saw that the first place in the ingredient list was glucose, the second place was maltodextrin, and the active ingredients were ranked second to last. The characters were as small as ants, and even the elderly wearing 300-degree reading glasses could not see clearly. This time the solicitation for opinions also raised a very down-to-earth direction: Is it necessary to force the core functions and contraindications of supplements to be printed in the most conspicuous part of the package in a contrasting color font of size 3 or above, so that the elderly do not have to dig through to find the small print. I immediately liked this post when I saw it. This is really thinking about the issue from the perspective of an old man.

Of course, some people have concerns. Will the grading leave room for manufacturers to play around with the side effects and sell ordinary supplements as supplements for chronic diseases at high prices? Don’t worry too much about this. The solicitation for opinions this time clearly stated that as long as a product dares to make claims related to chronic diseases such as “suitable for diabetics” or “helping lower blood pressure”, it must provide corresponding clinical trial data. If the promotional content contains even one more word that has not been verified, it will be considered false advertising, and the penalty will be much heavier than before.

There is actually no threshold for soliciting opinions this time. Whether you are an ordinary consumer with elderly people at home, a self-employed person who opens a pharmacy, a staff member of a senior citizen canteen, or even an elderly person who needs supplements, you can provide your opinions. If you have encountered any supplement pitfalls, think what the elderly need most, or think the price of supplements is appropriate, you can leave a message on the corresponding channel on the official website of the National Health Commission. The deadline is the end of October this year.

To put it bluntly, this standard has never been set for manufacturers, but for our own parents, grandparents, and your casual suggestions may help several elderly people who have been in trouble before.