The live-streaming room claims that the core indicator of fish oil exceeds 95%

Fish oil has become a popular health food favored by consumers and has been selling well on e-commerce platforms due to its cardiovascular health benefits. Its main component is Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, and its characteristic substances EPA and DHA have health care effects such as preventing cardiovascular diseases and promoting the development of the human brain and retina. Therefore, they become the core indicators of fish oil, and the higher their content, the better the product.

On a certain video live streaming platform, when promoting products, the hosts focus their publicity on three indicators: Omega-3, EPA and DHA. They claim that this "Gold-plated Upgraded Haematococcus pluvialis Deep Sea Fish Oil" they are selling not only has a high purity, with the core indicator of the active ingredient Omega-3 exceeding 95%, but also contains an additional natural antioxidant, astaxanthin. However, the test results show that for this Haematococcus pluvialis Deep Sea Fish Oil, which is claimed to contain 85% EPA and 10% DHA, these two characteristic components were not actually detected.

Meanwhile, the reporter noticed that the implementation standard marked on the package of the Haematococcus pluvialis Deep Sea Fish Oil is GB 17399. After inquiry, it is the National Food Safety Standard Candy issued in 2016, which has nothing to do with fish oil products.

Passing off general food as health food is suspected of false propaganda

Experts believe that it is a typical false propaganda for merchants to pass off general food as health care fish oil products, which seriously violates the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law, the Food Safety Law and the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests. According to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, consumers can claim a refund of the purchase price and receive compensation equivalent to three times the purchase price in case of damage caused by fraud.

Professionals said that at present, there are only two recommended standards for the fish oil product industry in China, namely the Fish Oil and the Polyunsaturated Fish Oil Products issued by the MARA.

Due to the lack of mandatory constraints, there is a large space for false propaganda in the entire fish oil industry. Some products are clearly marked with the implementation standards of candies or other foods, but are sold under the guise of fish oil, deceiving consumers who are unaware of the truth.

To avoid an increased risk of various chronic diseases caused by a lack of EPA and DHA, the Chinese Nutrition Society recommends that the total daily intake of EPA and DHA for Chinese adults should be between 250 mg and 2,000 mg. Therefore, for fish oil products, the higher the content of EPA and DHA, the more beneficial it is to consumers’ physical health. However, among the fish oil currently sold on the market, even for those health foods that passed strict approval, the content of EPA and DHA in some products is relatively low.

The live-streaming rooms play a borderline game by using Chinese characters with similar forms

In live-streaming rooms, many foods are also claimed to be beneficial to the health of infants and young children. During the live-streaming, the hosts claimed that a certain seaweed oil product contains no “flavoring”, but the ingredients list of the product clearly indicates the presence of “strawberry flavoring” ingredient.

It is understood that the current GB 2760-2024 National Food Safety Standard Standard for the Uses of Food Additives in China clearly stipulates that flavorings shall not be added to "infant and young children formula food, complementary foods for infants and young children", etc.

In addition, in many live-streaming rooms, there are also foods claimed to have "magic ingredients". A certain live-streaming room claims that the products it sells contain "space-bred ganoderma lucidum" ingredient. Experts said that in the absence of scientific evidence, in order to increase sales, live-streaming hosts still claim its magic effects, which is suspected of misleading consumers.

The Shanghai Consumers Council has fed back the problems found in the investigation to each live streaming platform.

Source: CCTV News

Note: This article is compiled by Antion. Please indicate the source for reprint.