Functional Health Food and Milk Product Industry

건강기능식품과 유가공 산업

During the past decade, functional foods and nutraceuticals have emerged as a major consumer-driven trend, serving the desire of aging populations to exercise greater control over health, delaying aging, prevent disease and enhance well-being and performance. On a global basis, retail sales of functional food were worth an estimated USD 1,501 billion in 2001. The market for functional food in Korea has increased in the last three years above 10%. Especially value sales rose by over 30% between 1999 and 2001, and are worth around 12,000 billion won in 2001. To regulate functional food represented a rapidly growing market in Korea a new act 'Functional Health Food Act' was announced officially in 2002. The type of functional milk product in Korea market is conventional food containing various functional ingredient. To promote functional food market in milk product sector the introduction of functional and health claim should be taken into account in the future in Korea.