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Article: Japan redefines functional foods. (includes related article on Japan's policy of labeling food products with health claims)
- Article from:
- Prepared Foods
- Article date:
- May 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Japan's innovative regulatory system allows branded nutraceuticals to make individual health claims.
In the Japanese Edo period 150 years ago, a wealthy merchant class arose. Their high standard of living permitted them to eat refined white rice.
With this diet, inhabitants from the cities of Edo and Osaka became ill with beriberi, a vitamin B deficiency. Their ill samurai went to the mountains in Hakone, where they ate unpolished (whole) rice and returned to health. The samurai incorrectly attributed the beriberi to the stress of living in a large city.
Since then, the Japanese have greatly improved their knowledge of nutrition, as have those in other ...