Finnish functional foods approved by Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Japan

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Jun 2004 - 18:00 PDT

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Among products currently on sale as Foods for Specified Health Use (FOSHU), LGG yogurt, a product manufactured using Finnish biotechnology, was the first one approved by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

LGG is a bacterium proven to survive in and colonize the human gastrointestinal tract, thereby protecting the body against infections and imbalances. A Finnish firm, Valio, acquired the license to produce LGG in 1987 and launched the world's first LGG products in 1990. Currently Valio grants LGG rights to other companies under sub-licensing agreements, and LGG products are now manufactured in more than 30 countries.

In Japan, Takanashi Milk Products Co. manufactures LGG yogurt products under such an agreement.

Finland is still in the vanguard when it comes to functional foods. The best-known Finnish-originated functional food worldwide might well be Xylitol, a sweetener extracted from white birches that is used in chewing gum, pastilles and other products.

LGG yogurt, Xylitol and Benecol, the world's first plant sterol margarine to lower serum cholesterol, are considered three major Finnish functional products, according to Tadaaki Toyoshima, technology consultant at the Finnish National Technology Agency in Tokyo. Their effectiveness has been verified in a number of studies, he said.

"Finnish people are very conscientious about proving the functionality of the foods scientifically," Toyoshima said.

About 150 research papers have examined the effectiveness of stanol ester, the cholesterol-lowering ingredient in Benecol.

But scientific data is not the only requirement for successful functional foods in Finland. Consumers there also look for products made with natural ingredients that are delicious, according to Toyoshima.

Though Finland has no system comparable to Japan's FOSHU, the Finnish National Food Agency has prepared guidelines on health claims. Functional foods in the country are labeled based on the agency's guidelines regarding their health claims.

A small country with a population of about 5 million, Finland exports many of its products to the rest of Europe. At present, however, there is no common legal standard regulating functional foods in Europe.

The European Commission currently is in the process of drafting legislation in this area.

Finland, following its success in information technology as represented by Nokia, has been focusing on functional foods as a promising industry.

In the Innovation in Foods project, which started in 2001 and is planned to complete its first phase this year, Finland has been working to further promote its functional food industry, allotting it a budget of more than 40 million euro (48.9 million dollars).

Mikiko Miyakawa / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer

Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun