A Consumers Affairs Agency panel has proposed that reporting of health problems caused by "functional foods" should be mandatory and that quality control should be tightened for such products.
The panel discussed reforms in response to health problems caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical supplement products containing beni kо̄ji red fermented rice.
The panel of experts on Thursday called for the introduction of these legal rules governing functional foods — those that advertise health-enhancing ingredients but which haven't been reviewed by the government — replacing the current guidelines. It also backed the establishment of similar regulations for foods with specified health uses, or those for which the government has determined there's enough scientific evidence on their benefits and safety.
The proposals will be reflected in a plan that the agency will soon draft to revise the functional foods system.
The panel proposed that all health problems confirmed with a doctor's diagnosis be subject to the envisaged mandatory reporting rule, given that Kobayashi Pharmaceutical made public the health problems two months after it had learned of them. Those breaking the rule would be banned from claiming that their products are functional foods.
Meanwhile, the agency said Thursday that its emergency survey on functional foods found 82 instances of health problems in relation to 31 products based on health problem reports by doctors, out of which 75 cases were related to supplements.
The survey, carried out in response to the Kobayashi Pharmaceutical scandal, which is linked to at least five deaths in Japan, covered 6,795 products made by 1,693 companies registered as of March 22.
The agency initially announced in April that 147 instances of health problems concerning 35 products were reported, but revised the figures downward after excluding products that were not registered as functional foods and reports made by people other than medical professionals.