Research on the Positioning of Precision Nutrition Foods and the Current Status of Relevant Regulations and Standards

Abstract

As a new concept, ''Precision Nutrition'' has no unified definition at present. In this paper, ''Precision Nutrition'' refers to ''the field of formulating dynamic nutritional recommendations, products or services based on the characteristics of individuals or sub-populations to optimize health''. It is a new direction for the development of nutrition science and health industry. The American Nutrition Association has proposed that the process of precision nutrition can be divided into four parts, including assessment, interpretation, intervention, and monitoring and evaluation. Different from traditional nutrition products and services, precision nutrition products and services can be realized in a customized way, and more and more enterprises have laid out for precision nutrition. The positioning of ''Precision Nutrition Foods'' is not clear at present. This study classifies "foods customized for sub-populations or individuals in precision nutrition solutions" as precision nutrition foods, and focuses on non-diseased sub-populations and individuals. Precision nutrition foods include customized dietary supplements, foods for special dietary uses which aim for specific physical or physiological conditions (excluding diseases and disorders), and customized meals. Firstly, the domestic and foreign laws and regulations related to the customized dietary supplements and foods for special dietary uses are reviewed and compared, and regulatory suggestions for precision nutrition foods are put forward. Further, the existing domestic national standards, industry standards, provincial standards, group standards and group guidelines related to precision nutrition foods are comprehensively reviewed. Regarding foreign standards, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards, World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) standards and guidelines of other associations/groups abroad related to precision nutrition foods are also reviewed. By comparing and analyzing the standardization situations of precision nutrition foods at home and abroad, we suggest accelerating the development of standards on testing method, product quality, and product use for precision nutrition foods, and focusing on group standards to promote future development of the precision nutrition industry.

Keywords

• precision nutrition
• dietary supplement
• foods for special dietary uses
• regulation
• standard