Functional food regulation system in Japan

The aim of this work is to describe the existing system of regulation of “specialized food”. This term is often used in Japan, although it does not have a clear definition. To date, the Japanese food regulatory system called “Products with Health Applications” is divided into two categories. One of them is “Products with functional nutrients”, this product can be freely used if it meets the standards. Another - “Nutrition for certain health groups”, it contains dietary ingredients that have a beneficial effect on the physiological functions of the human body to maintain and strengthen health. In this article, the functions of the approved nutrients of the first category and the scheme "transition from application for a new product to approval" of the second category were considered. Thus, we analyzed the system of state regulation of specialized products in Japan.