An Overview of Functional Ingredients on the Japanese Market in 2021 H1

Since the introduction of the "foods with functional claims (FFC)” system, Japan's functional food market has witnessed rapid development, reaping a 248-billion-yen market value with an 11.8% growth in 2020.¹ The functional ingredients, which support functional claims and can be proved by scientific evidence, are the essence of FFC. As the birthplace of the functional ingredients industry, Japan has a long tradition of enhancing food products' function to promote health. For FFC stakeholders, finding functional ingredients and valuable ways of their applications is always at the top.