Investigation of Legal Regulation and Market Circumstances for Functional Dairy Products in Korea and Japan

Abstract

Changing health awareness has had an important effect on the functional food industry and is creating greater market opportunities. Unfortunately, there is no statement on functional dairy products in the Processing of Livestock Products Act. As a result, there is confusion in the market and legal difficulties with regard to the advertising of functional dairy products. This study was carried out to improve the current standardization of functional dairy products by comparing the domestic Health/Functional Food Act with the Japanese Health Promotion Law, and by investigating scientific data and articles from various literature and the Internet. In Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) officially presented the Food with Health Claims (FHC) system that consists of Food with Nutrient Function Claims (FNFC), and innovated Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU). In 2005, the FOSHU system was changed to include several new subsystems: Current, Standardized, Reduction of disease risk, and Qualified FOSHU. Finally, to manufacture FOSHU, scientific evidence pertaining to such products must be examined by MHLW. Since FNFC was allowed, only 12 vitamins, β-carotene, and five minerals were approved, though without scientific evidence of efficacy. The Korean Health/Functional Food Act requires that health/functional foods (HFFs) be marketed in measured doses. There are two types of HFFs: generic and product-specific. There are 67 ingredients listed in the act for generic HFFs, and if an HFF has a new active ingredient, it is considered a product-specific HFF. Product-specific HFFs must be approved by the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). With the present standards, it is impossible to label and advertise functional dairy products with health/functional claims. Government agencies must cooperate to solve this problem, and standardization should be carried out by considering existing health/functional products and claims/indications from other countries.