건강기능식품 산업변화에 따른 법령개선방안에 관한 연구

Korea enacted Health Functional Food Act in 2002 for the purpose of contributing to the improvement of national health and the consumer protection by ensuring safety, improving quality, and seeking sound distribution and sales of health functional food. This act was amended in 2008 for changing the definition of the health functional food. Now the functional food means food manufactured or processed that possesses the functionality useful for human body. Before the amendment, the functional food could be manufactured in a form of tablet, capsule, powder, granule, liquid or pill. Under the amendment, the health functional food industry can manufacture a health functional food in a form of ordinary food, such as tea, coffee, cookie or candy. There is great concern over consumer protection. This article argues that Korea has to make an appropriate regulatory system for the consumer protection. The health functional food in the form of ordinary food should be regulated based on the final product rather that current functional ingredient or component based system. In order to develop the health functional food industry, Korea needs to improve its business report system for the health functional food sales business, the standards for labeling and advertising of functionality, and the prohibition system for sales, labeling and advertising analogous products as a health functional food. This article argues that the individual seller does not have to report for the sale of health functional food because he is not a business person who carries on the business. The advertisement standard should be separated from the labeling standard. The advertisement standard should be deregulated for increasing the autonomy of industry and permitting the industry use various expression. However, the labeling standard should be strengthened for giving correct information to the consumers. Moreover, the sales prohibition of products which is analogous to the health functional food should be strengthened.