Functional foods or health protection foods – Are they the same?

The terms “functional foods” and “health protection foods” are no longer strange to us. This is a product line that helps supplement nutrition and nutrients, helps prevent and support the treatment of certain diseases, bringing a better quality of life. Are functional foods or health protection foods the same? Read the article below to find out the answer!

I. Are functional foods or health protection foods the same thing?

To better understand functional foods (FF) and health protection foods (HP), first, let's clearly understand their concepts.

1. What are functional foods?

According to the provisions of the Food Safety Law (2010), functional foods are understood as: A food line used to support the functions of the human body, create a comfortable state for the body, increase resistance, reduce the risk of disease, including food supplements, health protection foods, and medical nutritional foods.

Also from the above concept, product lines classified into the "group" of functional foods include:

• Product line helps supplement
• Health food
• Medical nutrition food

The above product lines help support human body functions, increase resistance, and reduce the risk of disease.

2. Are functional foods or health protection foods the same?

With the above concept, we can affirm that: If it is a functional food, it is definitely a functional food, but a functional food is not necessarily a functional food.

NanoFrance will give you some more information about this line of Health Food products! This is a type of functional food that is given in a dose form (to be controlled) with small doses such as capsules, tablets, powders, liquids and other forms for oral use, containing one or a mixture of substances:

→ Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, enzymes, probiotics and other bioactive substances.

→ Substances of natural origin, including substances of animal origin, minerals and plants in forms such as extracts, isolates, concentrates and metabolites.

In fact, depending on origin or use, health protection foods also have other names: Foods for special purposes (FOSU), health foods (Health Supplements), Dietary Supplements, and medical functional foods.

II. State regulations on dietary supplement product lines

According to Circular 43/2014/TT-BYT dated November 24, 2014 regulating the management of functional foods, requirements for health protection foods include:

Article 10: Requirements on published content

1. Content declaration:

a) The main ingredient that creates the product's function must be listed first with its full name and content. Other ingredients are listed next in decreasing order of mass;

b) The content of vitamins and minerals in food calculated according to the manufacturer's recommended daily dose must reach at least 15% of RNI specified in Appendix No. 01 issued with this Circular;

c) The maximum content of vitamins and minerals in food calculated according to the manufacturer's recommended daily dose must not exceed the maximum tolerance threshold of vitamins and minerals specified in Appendix No. 02 issued with this Circular;

d) The vitamin and mineral content of the product must be stated on the label in numbers and must be declared as a percentage (%) of the RNI, based on the recommended daily intake of the product or on a serving size.

In case Vietnam does not have RNI level and maximum tolerance threshold, it shall be applied according to the regulations of CODEX or relevant international organizations.

2. Health claims:

a) Health recommendations must be true to the nature of the product, only declare the effects of the main active ingredient or declare the combined effects of the active ingredients when there is scientific evidence to prove it and not declare the effects by listing the effects of the ingredients;

b) The announcement of health recommendations, dosage, users and appropriate usage must be consistent and consistent with the documents in the file;

c) When the content of vitamins, minerals, and biological active ingredients is lower than the level proven in scientific documents, the product's uses cannot be declared;

d) When the content of vitamins, minerals, and biological active ingredients reaches the recommended level in scientific documents, the effects can be announced but the appropriate subjects and dosage must be indicated;

d) When the content of the constituent ingredients does not have an RNI level, scientific documents proving the uses of that ingredient and recommended dosage must be provided when making the announcement.

3. Target users:

a) The object must be consistent with the declared uses and accepted by the competent state agency through the Confirmation of declaration of compliance with food safety regulations;

b) Must warn the user not to use the object (if any)

Article 11: Requirements for Vietnamese labeling

In addition to meeting the requirements in Article 6 of this Circular, health food labels must meet the following regulations:

1. Write the phrase showing the name of the food group: "Health protection food" on the main part of the label to distinguish it from regular food and medicine.

2. When using the main ingredient that creates the product's function as the product name, the following content must be clearly stated next to or below the product name on the main label and in the product label's ingredients:

a) The active ingredient content in that ingredient, if quantifiable; or

b) The content of that ingredient if the active ingredient in the ingredient cannot be quantified.

3. The mechanism of action is not stated on the product label.

4. The phrase “Attention: This product is not a medicine and is not intended to replace medicine” must be written right after the label stating the product's uses or in the same place as other recommendations, if any.

This phrase must have a contrasting color to the background color of the label and the height of the letters must not be less than 1.2 mm. In cases where one side of the package used for labeling is less than 80 cm ² , the height of the letters must not be less than 0.9 mm.

Hopefully with the above information, you have known whether functional foods or health protection foods are the same or not! Don't forget to regularly follow NanoFrance's Website to update more latest information about other Medicines!