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The trillion functional food market is booming, what inspiration can Japanese functional food bring us?
The trillion functional food market is booming, what inspiration can Japanese functional food bring us?
foodmate
2023-01-28
Known for their long lives, the aging population aged 65 and over is increasing, and studies show that by 2025, the number of people over 65 in Japan will reach more than 30% of the total Japanese population. Japanese people are also health-conscious and aware of the importance of a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle that includes healthy eating habits. However, in Japan, the mortality rate from cardiovascular disease is still high, almost the same as cancer mortality, because the Westernized diet carries a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Therefore, in 1991, the Ministry of Health and Welfare established "food for specific health purposes (or FOSHU) for specific health purposes" as a regulatory system for "functional food".
Development of specific health foods in Japan
After the introduction of Japan's specific health food regulations, the number of functional foods has increased according to consumer demand, as shown in the figure below, as of 2020, the actual number of licensed products for Japan-specific health foods (FOSHU) is 1,071, held by 150 companies. Looking at sales data from 1997 to 2017, net sales of certain health food products were the highest in 2007, reaching $6 billion (110 yen/USD). Half of the health claims are related to improving gut health with probiotic lactic acid bacteria, oligosaccharides and dietary fiber, about 20% of the products are related to lowering triglycerides in the blood, and another 20% are related to high blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, high blood sugar, tooth decay and mineral absorption.
After 2007, the growth rate of the specific health food market in Japan gradually slowed down, and the market for specific health food products was almost saturated. The reasons for the decline in the specific health food market may be:
1. It is difficult to show obvious effects in healthy volunteers in clinical research;
2. The time from approval to registration is too long, and there are too many additional requirements;
3. Limited functions, difficult to cope with more and more functional demands, unable to meet innovation needs;
4. It is difficult to balance research costs and profits.
Japan launches food products with functional claims
In order to overcome the shrinkage of the functional food market, Japan introduced nutritional functional food (FNHC) in 2001, the ingredients and dosage of such products need to use scientifically certified nutrients, and the products can be directly marketed, similar to domestic registered health foods. Subsequently, Japan established a new functional regulatory system based on the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA Act) already established in the United States, and DSHEA was passed in the United States in 1994 and implemented by the US FDA. The bill lists hundreds of "exceptional" substances that are functionally dietary supplements but are not regulated by the law because of their "high safety", and substances included in the list have either undergone safety reviews by "experts with sufficient scientific background" or "have been used for a long time and deemed to have no safety concerns", as a regulatory system for supplements with health benefits, Japan established "foods with functional claims" in 2015 on the basis of DSHEA (Functional Labelling Food, FFC) new system, after the introduction of the system, many new functional foods have been developed.
Compared with Japan-specific health foods, Japanese functional labeled foods have the following advantages:
1. The government does not need to review the product before the product is listed (the enterprise needs to publish the FFC application file on the official website of the Consumer Affairs Bureau), the enterprise is responsible for the content, and the unqualified product will be revoked after the product is listed. Consumers can obtain FFC efficacy and safety information with scientific evidence, which lowers the entry threshold of the market, standardizes the development of the market, and promotes more small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the market.
2. The health claims of functional labeled foods are more extensive, and the functional claims are expanded from seven categories of specific health foods to twenty categories, which greatly increases the coverage of people and functions, and the product forms are more diversified, increasing the possibility of more product innovation of functional labeled foods.
3. The health claims of functional label foods are more flexible, similar to the declaration of "calcium absorption" in specific health food foods can be more attractive to consumers in FFC foods like "bone health" or "knee health", in addition, FFC food functions not only involve health claims in specific health food foods, but also design other health claims, such as skin health, eye health, mental stress, memory, sleep, bone health, fatigue and other functional claims. In this way, the function claim that is easier for consumers to understand makes it easier for companies to communicate with consumers and make it easier for consumers to actively understand the purchase of products.
4. Functional labeled food products do not need administrative approval and compulsory clinical trials, can use the published papers in the database as a scientific basis, and the product launch cycle is short, which accelerates the development progress of new products, reduces the risk of enterprises launching products, reduces the entry threshold of enterprises, and is conducive to stimulating the enthusiasm of enterprises to enter and innovate.
Functional labelling food (FFC) was introduced in the context of the saturation of the specific health food food market, and the introduction of this system has stimulated the enthusiasm of enterprises to develop new products and stimulated economic growth. The liberalization of the policy has enriched the variety of functional labeling food products, and the market scale has grown rapidly, with the total market of functional labeling food products reaching 8 billion US dollars in 2018.
However, also in the light supervision model, there are many problems with functional labeling of food. Since the product does not need to be reviewed by the government before it is launched, the entry threshold is low, resulting in a fast market cycle of functional label food, serious product homogenization, fierce competition, and weak product premium ability. And because published papers in the database can be used as a scientific basis, there is a conflict of interest scientific basis or a conflicting scientific basis is used as the product basis. The lack of active ingredient quantity and research has led to the functional labeling of different functions of the same ingredient in food, and there is no comprehensive information management system in Japan to manage the scientific evidence for each functional ingredient. In addition, the current functional labeling of food into the food industry? Systematic reviews are generally of poor methodological and reporting quality and need to be further addressed.
According to iResearch's "China Health Food and Functional Food Industry Research Report", in 2019, 60% of functional labeled food products in Japan were still on sale, 8% had been discontinued, and 30% had not even successfully entered the market; As of March 2020, only 1,374 of all certified functional labeled foods, accounting for about 46.5%, were on the market; 253 functionally labelled food products have been withdrawn, accounting for about 8.5% of the functional labelled food products notified to the Consumer Affairs Department during the same period.
Despite the problems with functional labelling foods under the light-regulated model, for most Japanese consumers, they still want to maintain their health through a balanced lifestyle, including balanced food intake and continuous exercise, rather than through medication. Therefore, the many advantages of functional label foods in Japan will become the mainstream of the Japanese functional food market.
Although China has no definition of functional food, according to the definition of food "Food Safety Law", domestic special food only health food, but the development of China's functional food market has begun to take shape, the concept of domestic functional food basically comes from Japan and other countries, Japan's management model is more detailed while strengthening the responsibility of enterprises to independently regulate production, in the absence of China's domestic functional food standards, regulations, etc., it is more necessary to learn from foreign experience. Provide effective methods for the development of functional foods in China. Promote the development of rigorous, scientific, evidence-based functional foods with Chinese characteristics.
Disclaimer: ECHEMI reserves the right of final explanation and revision for all the information.
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