The purpose of this study was to find efficient and customized tools for delivering the benefit of health functional foods (HFFs). Delivery tools which could influence the impact of advertising were images, explanations of ingredients, diagrams of health benefit, patents, and comments from authority. Six advertisements were developed using these tools: “A”: relevant image + explanation of ingredients + scientific diagram of efficacy; “B”: relevant image + explanation of ingredients; “C”: relevant image; “D”: irrelevant image; “E”: irrelevant image + explanation of ingredient + patent; “F”: irrelevant image + explanation of ingredient + comments from authority. To analyze the consumer perceptions on HFFs and advertisement effects, 300 respondents were requested to answer a questionnaire comprising of the following questions: 5 questions of attitudes (necessity of HFFs, trust in HFFs, gathering information, watching advertisements and trust in advertisement claims) and 6 questions on the 6 developed advertisements (attention, understanding, sufficiency of information, sympathy, trust, and purchase). Scoring was done as per the 5 Likert scale. There was a higher proportion of females and the elderly, as compared to males and youngsters. The overall consumer attitudes were positive. Explanation of ingredients, scientific diagram of health benefit, patents and expert comments were helpful factors in increasing the advertisement evaluation by consumer, but the images were not. Advertisement evaluation of consumer did not differ with gender and age. However, differences were observed between some of the consumer attitudes (necessity of HFFs, trust in HFFs, gathering information and trust in advertisements claim) and advertisement evaluations (attention, understanding, sympathy and purchase). Our results indicate that for consumers utilizing the HFFs, advertisements with concrete tools such as diagrams, patent, and expert comments are more helpful. However, for consumers who do not have interest in HFFs, the scientific information was irrelevant. We believe that to maximize the effect of health information in advertisements, consumers should be segmented, and customized tools for each segment needs to be developed.

건강기능식품 등 중 수용성 비타민 B군 (비타민 B1, 비타민 B2, 나이아신, 비타민 B6)의 동시분석 방법을 확립하기 위하여 본 연구를 실시하였다. HPLC에 의한 수용성 비타민 B군의 분석 방법은 기기분석조건을 확립하고, 국내외 시험법 및 논문을 참고하여 시험 데이터를 분석하였다. 수용성 비타민 B군의 HPLC 분석은 270 nm에서 Capcell Pak C18 UG 120 컬럼을 사용하여 진행되었다. 분석법 검증은 수용성 비타민 B군의 직선성, 정확성, 정량한계, 정밀성에 대해 수행되었다. 직선성은 비타민 B1, 비타민 B2,나이아신(nicotinic acid, nicotinamide), 비타민 B6 모두0.1~2 μm/mL의 농도범위에서 R2= 0.999 이상의 우수한 직선성을 확인할 수 있었다. 회수율을 검토한 결과, 비타민 B1 100~103%, 비타민 B2 104~112%, nicotinic acid 82~85%, nicotinamide 121~124%, 비타민 B6 95~104%의 양호한 회수율을 확인할 수 있었다. LOQ는 비타민 B1 0.04μm/mL, 비타민 B2 0.05 μm/mL, nicotinic acid 0.15 μm/ mL, nicotinamide 0.08 μm/mL, 비타민 B6 0.63 μm/mL 이었다. 정밀성을 검토한 결과, B1 0.4%, 비타민 B2 0.4%, nicotinic acid 0.5%, nicotinamide 0.7%, 비타민 B6 0.4% 로 1% 이내로 양호한 재현성을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 동시 분석법의 정확성을 검증하기 위하여 어린이 기호식품 및 건강기능식품의 표시함량 모니터링을 수행한 결과, 모두 표시기준에 적합함을 확인할 수 있었다.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of health functional foods and preference for desired onion peel products. Questionnaires were distributed to 582 adults (34.2% male, 65.8% female) living in Gyeongnam province. The major information sources on biological effects of onions cited by respondents were TV/radio (37.1%), followed by nearby people (32.8%) and Internet (11.0%), in that order. Reducing cholesterol effect was the most important factor in terms of perception and concerns relating to biological function of onions. Over 73% of subjects had experience of eating processed onion products, and among all types of onion products, onion juice (53.5%) was the most frequently eaten. The most considered factors for processing onion peel-derived functional foods were taste & odor (29.6%), convenience of eating (28.9%), and nutrition value (27.1%), in that order.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the consumption prevalence of vitamin and mineral supplements as health functional foods (VM-HFF) and to examine the factors associated with VM-HFF consumption behaviors in adolescents. A total of 1,407 adolescents attending middle or high schools from various cities and rural communities in Korea participated in this study. The prevalence of VM-HFF consumption was 41.7%, with boys showing a higher consumption than girls (p<0.01). VM-HFF consumption was higher in families with higher socioeconomic status and for families with parents that exhibited higher concerns about their child's health, growth, and nutritional intake (p<0.001). Most consumers of VM-HFF consumed HFFs 'when healthy' (50.1%), and acquired nutritional information from 'their families & relatives' (50.9%). Most consumers responded that VM-HFF was 'a little effective' (54.3%), followed by 'no obvious effects' (37.1%), and 'very effective' (7.4%). The effectiveness of consuming VM-HFF was mainly for 'fatigue recovery' (39.0%) and 'health improvement' (28.2%). Most consumers purchased HFFs at 'pharmacies & oriental medicine clinics' (53.8%) and at 'health functional food stores' (18.8%). Most consumers 'occasionally' (51.1%) or 'seldom' (27.3%) checked nutrition facts when purchasing, with 58.9% of consumers understanding the nutritional label for 'the most part', but only 8.7% of them understanding it 'very well'. Among the VM-HFF, consumers preferred calcium- and vitamin C-supplements. Consumers' mini-dietary assessment scores were higher than those of non-consumers. The results above showed that VM-HFF consumption was widely spread among adolescents, but few consumers checked and understood the nutrition label when they purchased VM-HFF, and were highly dependent on the advice and information from non-professional nutritionists, such as families & relatives. Therefore, it is necessary to educate adolescents to help them read nutrition labels and select the proper VM-HFF.

The purpose of this study is to predict the economic size of foods-for-elderly market, which will be valuable information for establishing related policy and backup system. After setting the scope of related industry, detailed information for current market situation was investigated and a systematic forecast for market changes in the future was performed. Economic growth, changes in consumer expenditure and economic status of the elderly, current subscription of medical insurance and saving for pension were reflected. In addition, a survey toward related firms was completed and changes in aged population and incidence of chronic disease in the elderly were taken into account. Results show that the annual growth rate of the market was predicted to be the minimum 4.54% through the maximum 8.32% from 2010 to 2025 and its market size was forecasted to be the minimum 7,073 ten million won through the maximum 10,976 ten million won. It is expected that the market of foods-for-elderly will grow rapidly with development of foods technology and fast increase of aged population. Especially, growth of health functional foods and foods for special dietary uses for elderly will be distinguished. However, it seems that related firms are on the hedge, watching current trend of the related industry. This may results in insufficient supply against the demand. Therefore, policy for foods-for-elderly should be introduced and systematically administered, including R&D support, standardization and authentication for foods-for-elderly, construction of related database system.

One of the most important objectives of post-marketing monitoring of dietary supplements is the early detection of unknown and unexpected adverse events (AEs). Several causality algorithms, such as the Naranjo scale, the RUCAM scale, and the M&V scale are available for the estimation of the likelihood of causation between a product and an AE. Based on the existing algorithms, the Korea Food & Drug Administration has developed a new algorithm tool to reflect the characteristics of dietary supplements in the causality analysis. However, additional work will be required to confirm if the newly developed algorithm tool has reasonable sensitivity and not to generate an unacceptable number of false positives signals.

The elderly is a target group for health functional foods (HFFs). We surveyed 825 Korean elderly (71.4- years-of-age) for HFF use and significant variables for HFF use including demographic characteristics, health related variables, and nutritional beliefs. The prevalence of HFF use was 48.7%, and among all types of HFF, red ginseng products were eaten most frequently, followed by ginseng products, nutritional supplements, and mushroom products. The mean age of users of HFFs was lower than nonusers (p<.01). HFFs were eaten more frequently by subjects from families living with a spouse or unmarried children (p<.01) and those with higher levels of monthly pocket money (p<.001). HFFs were also eaten more frequently by subjects or their spouses with a higher education level (p<.001). The social activity participation ratio (p<.01) of subjects and the HFF usage ratio by the spouse (p<.001) were higher in users of HFF than in nonusers. Dietary assessment scores were not different between the two groups, and users had a more positive view concerning the potential health benefits of HFFs than did nonusers (p<.001). Most users of HFF ate HFFs "when they were healthy" (52.2%) and experienced some effect through HFF use (45.8%). Most users of HFFs received information on HFFs through their families or relatives (38.1%) and most purchased HFFs at the pharmacy or oriental medicine clinic (44.8%). HFF users preferred multivitamin- and Ca-supplements most among the vitamin and mineral supplements belonged to HFFs. The above results show that HFF use is widely spread among subjects, and that use of HFF is influenced by various factors. Thus, practical guidelines for HFF use should be provided for the elderly through elderly focused-nutrition education based upon significant variables and consumption behaviors for their HFF use of present study.

Various functional foods, marketing health and functional effects, have been distributed in the market. These products, being in forms of foods, tablets, and capsules, are likely to be mistaken as drugs. In addition,non-experts may sell these as foods, or use these for therapy. Efforts for creating health food regulations or building regulatory system for improving the current status of functional foods have been made, but these have not been communicated to consumers yet. As a result, problems of circulating functional foods for therapy or adding illegal medical to such products have persisted, which has become worse by internet media. The cause of this problem can be categorized into (1) product itself and (2) its use, but in either case, one possible cause is lack of communications with consumers. Potential problems that can be caused by functional foods include illegal substances, hazardous substances,allergic reactions, considerations when administered to patients, drug interactions, ingredients with purity or concentrations too low to be detected, products with metabolic activations, health risks from over- or under-dose of vitamin and minerals, and products with alkaloids. (Journal of Health Science, 56, Supplement (2010)). The reason why side effects related to functional foods have been increasing is that under-qualified functional food companies are exaggerating the functionality for marketing purposes. KFDA has been informing consumers, through its web pages, to address the above mentioned issues related to functional foods, but there still is room for improvement, to promote proper use of functional foods and avoid drug interactions. Specifically, to address these issues, institutionalizing to collect information on approved products and their side effects, settling reevaluation systems, and standardizing preclinical tests and clinical tests are becoming urgent. Also to provide crucial information, unified database systems,seamlessly aggregating heterogeneous data in different domains, with user interfaces enabling effective one-stop search, are crucial.

We surveyed 848 university students, 21.4±2.5 years of age, attending university in Seoul, Kongju, Chongyang-Gun in the Chungnam province of Korea, for their use of health functional foods (HFF) and for significant variables in this use, namely demographic characteristics, health related variables, dietary variables and nutritional beliefs. The prevalence of the use of HFF was 33.6%. Among all types of HFF, nutritional supplements were taken most frequently, followed by (in order) red ginseng products, apricot extract products and ginseng products. HFF use was higher in females (p<.05), in subjects living in a dormitory (p<.05) and those from families with a relative high socioeconomic status (p<.001). Self-health concern (p<.05) and usage ratio of HFF by family (p<.001) was higher in users than in nonusers of HFF. The total score of dietary assessment was higher in users than in nonusers of HFF (p<.001), and users had a more positive point of view concerning the potential health benefits of HFF than did nonusers (p<.001). Most users took HFF when they were healthy (37.2%) or when they were sick (27.4%). They did not feel special effects through the HFF use (49.8%). Most users got the information about the specifics of HFF from family and/or relatives (55.8%). Most of users confirmed nutrition facts when they purchased the HFF (70.9%), but a considerable number of users could not understand these nutrition facts (48.1%). Users preferred vitamin C- and Ca-supplements most among vitamin · mineral supplements belonged to HFF. These results show that the use of HFF is common among university students. As well, the use of HFF by students is affected by various variables. Supplementary nutritional education should be undertaken among university students, in order to give them a reasonable guideline for the use of HFF, based upon influencing factors and usage behaviors that we learned from this survey.

This study investigated consumers’ recognition on shelf life of health functional foods to set up their rational expiration date. For this study 107 male and female adults aged 20 to 59 years were randomly selected as major consumers of health functional foods. And their data were analyzed with SPSS 17.0. The questionnaire included questions asking a consumer's recognition on the shelf life of health functional foods and how to treat health function food passing its shelf life. In this study, the consumers were found to pay attentions considerably to the shelf life. But most of them did not know an accurate meaning of the shelf life of health functional food and mistook it for expiry date. In addition, the consumers doubted safety of health functional foods passing the shelf life. Therefore, education for consumers about an accurate meaning of the shelf life was needed. The results of this study were considered to be helpful to set up a reasonable expiration date for health functional food.

The principal objective of the present study was to survey the demands of an education program for evaluations of the efficacy of health functional foods. A questionnaire was developed and sent to 2,225 members of the Biofood Network Center. A total of 101 (4.6%) individuals responded, 54.5% of the respondents were male and 45.5% were female; the respondents' occupations (in order of prevalence) were as follows: company worker (48.5%)〉researcher (27.7%)〉student (13.9%)〉professor (5.0%)〉pharmacist (2%), and dietitian (2%). The businesses in which the respondents worked were (again in order of prevalence) as follows: research & development (64.4%)〉marketing (11.9%)〉consultation and education (5.9%)〉manufacturing and others (17.9%). 41.6% of the respondents reported experience in businesses relevant to KFDA approval for functional ingredients and health functional foods. The results showed that 63.4% of the respondents had previously been educated about functional foods; the types of education program reported were (in order of prevalence): 'overview and acts of health functional food' (n=49)〉'standards and specification for health functional food' (n=41)〉'efficacy evaluation-human study' (n=24)〉'safety evaluation' (n=21)〉'efficacy evaluation-in vivo study' (n=13)〉and 'others' (n=10). Respondents preferred off-line education programs (62.4%) to on-line programs (22.8%). The preferred duration of an educational program was '2~3 days: total 14~24 hours' (30.7%); thus, short-term programs were favored. The primary requirements of a program, from the perspective of the learner, were as follows (scored on a 7-point scale); 'efficacy evaluation and case study-human study' (5.80 points)〉'standards and specification for health functional food' (5.72 points)〉safety evaluation' (5.7 points)〉'overview and acts of health functional food' (5.67 points) and 'efficacy evaluation methods of health functional food by efficacy (intensive)' (5.67 points). Preference for functionality was as follows; 'body weight & body fat' (21.8%), 'immune function' (18.8%) 〉 'blood glucose' (10.9%). In summary, the educational demand for 'efficacy evaluation and case study' was highest among the curriculum options provided, and with regard to functionality, 'body weight & body fat', 'immune function' and 'skin care' were considered most important by respondents. These results differed among respondents with different jobs and duties, and this suggests that customized education programs for health functional food should be developed.

3The goal of this study was to develop high value mushroom foods possessing functionality. The effect of the Pholiota adiposa on the alcohol fermentation and its antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting(ACE) inhibitory activity of Korean traditional rice wine, Yakju was investigated. The ACE inhibitory activity of traditional rice wine was increased about 8% by the addition of 0.1% of the edible mushroom Pholiota adiposa ASI 24012 fruiting bodies into the mash containing 1% Lycii fructus, cooked rice, koji and antihypertensive S. cerevisiae and its Pholiota adiposa PAD-022 which showed anticholesteromia HMGCoA reductase inhibitory activity. Its quality characteristics and stability were investigated during the storage of room temperature and 40℃ for 3 months. It showed very high acceptability and also was very stable at 40℃ for 3 months[This study was supported by a grant from ARPC, 2005-2007].

3The goal of this study was to develop high value mushroom foods possessing functionality. The effect of the Pholiota adiposa on the alcohol fermentation and its antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting(ACE) inhibitory activity of Korean traditional rice wine, Yakju was investigated. The ACE inhibitory activity of traditional rice wine was increased about 8% by the addition of 0.1% of the edible mushroom Pholiota adiposa ASI 24012 fruiting bodies into the mash containing 1% Lycii fructus, cooked rice, koji and antihypertensive S. cerevisiae and its Pholiota adiposa PAD-022 which showed anticholesteromia HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory activity. Its quality characteristics and stability were investigated during the storage of room temperature and 40℃ for 3 months. It showed very high acceptability and also was very stable at 40℃ for 3 months[This study was supported by a grant from ARPC, 2005-2007].

This study was performed to make new products rising Pimpinella brachycarpa N., one of the Korean aromatic medicinal plant called chamnamul, which is a perennial plant of the Umbelliferae family. New products were natural chamnamul spice, chamnamul soup, chamnamul tea, and chamnamul mook as functional foods. The masking effect of Pimpinella brachvcarpa N., on fishy and meaty odor were investigated to test the usefulness of chamnamul as a natural spice. It could be concluded that the effect of added amounts of chamnamul on the cream soup increases the taste and appearance, and improves the flavor and color by the sensory evaluation. The chamnamul tea prepared by a filtration method is better than that by a leaching method on the preference test. In the texture properties of chamnamul mooks by a texture analyzer (XT-RA, Texturometer), the cohessiveness of them was higher than that of the white one.