One in 10 Functional Health Food Online Sales Cases Involves False Advertising... Different from Dietary Supplements

Since the introduction of the functional labeling food system in 2020, it has been found that 1 out of 10 online posts selling these foods mislead consumers into thinking they are health functional foods or have not undergone voluntary pre-advertisement review.

Health Functional Food

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 3rd that it inspected a total of 240 online posts of functional labeling foods frequently purchased by consumers on open markets and other platforms from May to June, and detected 11.3% (27 cases) violating the 'Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods,' requesting access blocking by the Korea Communications Standards Commission and administrative actions by the relevant authorities.

Functional labeling foods refer to general foods containing ingredients known to have certain functions. In contrast, health functional foods are products approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, manufactured with nutrients that are easily deficient in daily meals or ingredients with beneficial functions for the human body, helping to maintain health.

The main violations found in the detected products were ▲advertisements that did not undergo voluntary pre-review despite being functional labeling foods (22 cases, 81.5%) and ▲advertisements that caused confusion or misunderstanding by presenting general foods as health functional foods (5 cases, 18.5%).

To advertise functional labeling foods, prior review by a voluntary review organization (Korea Food Industry Association) is required. Also, advertisements must not cause confusion or misunderstanding by implying effects on body fat reduction, such as using terms like “dietary supplement” or “diet.”

While health functional foods bear a health functional food mark, functional labeling foods have phrases such as ‘contains ~ known to help with certain functions’ and ‘this product is not a health functional food’ engraved on them.

Additionally, a Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official stated, “To prevent damage from unfair advertising, it is necessary for consumers to clearly understand the difference between functional labeling foods and health functional foods and purchase products according to their intended purpose.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.