Chapter 18 – Health foods and foods with health claims in the Asian subcontinent: countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The term “health foods” has various meanings in different South-East Asian (SEA) countries. These include functional foods, functional health foods, foods that are fortified with minerals and vitamins, dietary supplements, and traditional medicine. The common link between these products is their health function/benefits as their defining attribute. Health food law and regulations in SEA are also different. Some countries chose to either utilize existing food and drug regulations or to develop their own systems. Others followed Codex Alimentarius guidelines or chose to adopt already established global regulations. This chapter reviews regulatory frameworks for functional/health foods in countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The definition and categories of functional/health foods, health and nutrition function claims, and disease risk reduction claims in 10 countries of ASEAN are also discussed.