A livestream sold ordinary food as a cure for joint pain and stomach bacteria

Xuzhou Duoyingji Culture Media ran livestreams promoting movefree glucosamine chondroitin capsules and Purmeo probiotic capsules — both registered and sold as ordinary food, not medicine or health supplements. Its host told viewers the products would 'improve joint health' and could 'kill H. pylori bacteria', framing an everyday food product as treatment for a specific, named illness.

China's Advertisement Law draws a hard line between ordinary food and the health-function or medical claims reserved for licensed health-supplement and drug products; an everyday food is not permitted to claim it treats or prevents a disease. Livestream claims like these are read literally by an audience buying on the host's word, with no separate label to correct the exaggeration.

In January 2026, Pizhou's market regulator ruled the broadcasts constituted false advertising and fined the company 629,100 yuan. Because the claims were delivered directly by the livestream host acting as the paid endorser rather than embedded in pre-written copy, the regulator separately fined the presenter, surnamed Wang, 109,900 yuan — holding the person on camera responsible alongside the company that hired them.