Since the regulation of health food management in China in 1996， a series of changes have taken place in the functions of health food which were allowed to apply for and approve/register in the past 26 years. The expression and interpretation of function terms/claims have been gradually improved and been more reasonable， which laid a solid foundation for further supervision and market regulation， and reserved space and possibility for the development of new health functions. This paper briefly introduced and reviewd the development and change process of the functions of health food in China， and made some suggestions for the development of new health functions.