Ministry of Food and Drug Safety permits dual-form vitamins

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it had revised standards for over-the-counter medicines, allowing vitamin products that package liquids and tablets together in one container to broaden consumer choice and stimulate product development. The ministry said it prepared the revision after gathering industry requests to improve the standards and reviewing domestic use and overseas examples.

Products meeting requirements for ingredients, amounts, approved uses and directions can be processed through notification rather than separate safety and efficacy reviews, with a 10-day handling period. The draft, including the dual-form allowance and new combination ingredients, was put out for administrative notice from July 3 through 23.

The updated rules add new active ingredients to standards for medicine categories including cold remedies and raise the maximum daily amount of vitamin C to 2,000 milligrams from 1,500 milligrams. They also clarify mixing rules for probiotic ingredients in digestive medicines and update medicine-use warnings with the latest information.

The ministry said it would "continue to pursue regulatory innovation" reflecting feedback from the field.