Definition
In Korea, health functional food is a food made from ingredients with functions useful to the human body, and one that has gone through the procedure set by law. The Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) approves the function claims that may be printed on the package. Unlike medicine, it is not meant to treat disease.
Where does it sit between food and medicine?
When your phone battery runs low, you grab a power bank. In the same way, many people reach for red ginseng or supplements when they feel low on energy. Walk into a supermarket or pharmacy and you'll see countless foods said to be good for your body.
But commonly used terms like 'health food' or 'dietary supplement food' are not names set by Korean law. They're everyday words stretched over all kinds of foods known to be good for you.
Health functional food, on the other hand, is a name set by law. It sits between ordinary food that fills your stomach and medicine that treats disease. Unlike medicine, it isn't made to fix an illness. It's a food made from ingredients the MFDS has approved, following set standards. You can tell it apart by looking for the words 'health functional food' and its mark on the package.
What the MFDS-approved wording really means
You've probably seen wording like 'may help with ○○' on the side of a box. It's easy to assume that the words mean everyone will see the same change.
But that wording isn't a promise of results. The MFDS reviews the data submitted by the maker or researchers, and then gives permission to use that expression. The wording also follows a fixed template, so a company can't swap in stronger claims on its own. When an ingredient is approved, the daily intake amount and precautions are set along with it.
So it's more accurate to read the wording as a line drawn: 'there is this much evidence, so you may say this much.' Bodies and lifestyles differ from person to person, so what people actually feel differs too. And claiming to cure disease the way medicine does is not allowed for health functional food.
A little more precisely: notified vs. individually approved ingredients
Look a little closer and functional ingredients fall into two main groups: 'notified ingredients' and 'individually approved ingredients.'
Notified ingredients are ones whose standards and specifications are already listed in an MFDS public notice. Red ginseng, probiotics, and vitamin C are examples. Any company that meets the content levels and manufacturing standards in the notice can make a product with that ingredient and use the set claim.
Individually approved ingredients are new ingredients not in the notice, which one company researched itself and got approved. It has to submit separate safety and function data and pass a review. The approval goes to that ingredient as made by the applicant, so another company that wants to make and use the same ingredient must get its own approval. An ingredient that started out as individually approved can later move over to the notified list.
Either way, the function is approved for the ingredient, so other ingredients in the same product don't share that claim.
Common misconceptions
Health functional food is the same as medicine that heals the sore spots in your body.
Health functional food is not made to fix a body that is ill. It is a food that may carry function claims approved by the MFDS, and it cannot replace medicine.
Every 'health food' sold in stores has been officially certified by the MFDS.
'Health food' is not a name set by law. Only products that went through the procedure set by law and carry the 'health functional food' words and mark are health functional food.
Where you meet it
A product with the 'health functional food' words and mark on the package, versus an ordinary food that uses the same ingredient but has no such mark. Since the end of 2020, ordinary foods that meet certain conditions can also show function claims, but they must add the words 'not a health functional food' to tell them apart.
With the same ingredient, a notified one can be made by several companies that meet the standards, while an individually approved one can carry the claim only if you use the ingredient made by the approved company.
Function claims often end with phrasing like 'may help with ...'. That isn't a promise of results. It's the template of an approved expression.
In one sentence
Health functional food is food made from MFDS-approved ingredients that may carry approved function claims. It doesn't mean it cures disease, and it isn't a promise that it works for everyone.