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Overview of Asian functional food and natural health food products |
Y. W. HUANG, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, Univ. of Georgia, 204 Food Science Bldg., Athens, GA 30602-7610 and C. Y. Huang, Dept. of Food Science, National I-lan Institute of Technology, I-Lan, Taiwan. The functional food sales in global markets have been reaching $50 billion US dollars. Among them, the United States is the largest market segment, followed by Europe and Japan. However, China and Taiwan markets have been growing rapidly in the recent years. Asian people have been using food as medicine for centuries. A huge myriad of products are now available in the health food or nutrition stores. Only Japan, China and Taiwan have laws to define and regulate the functional foods. The Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan defines the functional food as “a food, not a capsule, tablet, or powder, derived from naturally occurring ingredients; it has a particular function when digested, serving to regulate a particular body process.” The law set eight categories of official functions. The Ministry of Health in China defines the “Health (Functional) Food” as “any food possessing the general nature of food, being able to regulate functions of human body and suitable for specific consumer groups, but without any intention for therapeutic purpose.” The Department of Health in Taiwan defines the “Health Food” as “food with specific nutrient or specific health care effects as specially labeled or advertised, no food aimed at treating or remedying human disease.” Governments in China and Taiwan established 22 and 10 functions, respectively. Although no definition is officially established for functional food or nutraceutical in U.S., the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 defines herbals, vitamins, minerals and amino acids as dietary supplements. To helping American food industry develop functional food products for Asian market, this presentation will discuss consumer’s need, dietary practices, market channel, and R&D trend on functional food in Asia.
Session 81, Development of functional food and natural health food products for Asian markets
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