Antioxidants In Japan

An update of what is going on in the antioxidant market.

By Ron Bailey

This article focuses primarily on the developments since the last survey of the Japanese antioxidant market one year ago. It is clear in reviewing the previous two annual surveys that the ongoing economic malaise in Japan is seriously affecting the development of new nutraceutical technologies. The continued “hollowing out” of Japanese industry has resulted in very real deflation conditions, making it more difficult to locate truly new technologies, not just in the area of anti­oxidants but in the broader nutraceutical and functional foods arena.

Regulatory Update

There have been few regulatory-related developments impacting the antioxidant ingredient market in Japan in the last year. Two important examples, however, in­clude CoQ10 and guava leaf polyphenol.

CoQ10: The biggest single development impacting the antioxidant ingredient market in Japan has been the industry response to the approval of CoQ10 as a food ingredient at the end of March, 2001. Until that time, CoQ10 was only sold as a prescription drug. The al­lowance of CoQ10 to be sold in the food and dietary supplement markets in Japan by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) was probably related, in part, to the success of CoQ10 sales in the U.S. The growth of the CoQ10 market in Japan has also been supported by the recent publication of positive small-scale clinical study results for the use of CoQ10 in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, as well as other clinical findings. Furthermore, the market development in Japan has been sufficiently successful to support the formation of a new Japan CoEnzyme Q10 Association, a common industry approach for promising new ingredients in Japan.

Guava Leaf Polyphenol: This is the functional ingredient in the FOSHU (Food for Specified Health Use) “Bansoreicha” soft drink from Yakult Honsha, which was granted FOSHU regulatory status in March of 2000. Although guava leaf polyphenol has been shown to be a strong antioxidant, the FOSHU claim for the product (“…suitable for individuals concerned about their blood glucose level, since it moderates absorption of sugars through the action of guava leaf polyphenol”) is focused on a diabetes-related connection and not the antioxidant properties of the ingredient. This is typical for FOSHU functional ingredients, even for those with very strong antioxidant properties, since an antioxidant claim is not (yet) a health claim suitable for potential FOSHU applications. The Japanese consumers continue to equate antioxidant properties with positive health benefits, usually related to anti-aging, but they expect the functional ingredient to provide a more specific health benefit. Bansoreicha is now considered a “hit product” in Japan, with annual retail sales of well over $100 million in a growing FOSHU category with total retail sales of over $3.5 billion per year.

It is important to note that the term “antioxidant” is still not allowed by MHLW to be used in Japan in product brand names (even in English) or on product labels. This restriction is part of the reason for the focus on specific health-related conditions rather than the antioxidant activity of the ingredient. Japan is not participating in the “ORAC race” popular with many U.S. marketers, since, in general, antioxidant performance alone is not an important selling point for the ingredients.

Japanese Nutraceutical & Functional Food Trade Show Activity

It is useful to review the antioxidant-related activity from recent trade shows in Japan to provide additional perspective on market developments.

ifia 2002 (International Food Ingredients and Additives show, May 2002): This annual show in Tokyo is an excellent opportunity to determine year to year trends in the Japanese marketplace, particularly for functional food ingredients. Using the English-language Guidebook from the show, the following observations can be made:
• The use of the term “antioxidant” in describing the ingredients was more common for overseas exhibitors. Examples include: Canandaigua grape seed extracts as “functional antioxidants,” Tarac grape-sourced ingredients to “inhibit oxidation,” several “natural antioxidants” from Nihon Siber Hegner and “antioxidant-rich wild blueberries” from the Wild Blueberry Association of North America. Only domestic manufacturer Asama exhibiting “natural antioxidants” and a more specific “antioxidant …effect of broccoli sprout extract” from Oryza Oil & Fat used the term in their abstract information.
• Ingredients with known antioxidant performance were very common, as they have been in past years, confirming the interest in the ingredients. Overseas antioxidant ingredients being exhibited included vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols), grape skin extract, algae-derived beta-carotene, lutein esters, mixed carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and blueberry extract. Japanese exhibitors were displaying CoQ10, guava leaf polyphenol, algae-derived astaxanthin, grape seed extract, lutein, lycopene, palm carotene, red wine polyphenols and cacao polyphenols. None of these ingredients were new in Japan in the last year, however.

HIJ 2002 (Health Ingredients Japan show, October 2002): This annual show, also in Tokyo, has, in general, a smaller company focus than the ifia show. It is growing, however, both in terms of attendance and numbers of exhibitors, including more larger domestic and overseas ingredient suppliers each year. Again, using the English-language HIJ Directory the following observations can be made:
• The “usual” ingredients being exhibited not listed previously included “gamma-rich tocotrienols,” “astaxanthin and tocotrienols with antioxidant activity,” bilberry extract, licorice extract, green tea catechins and “rice-based antioxidants.”
• New ingredients not seen previously at trade shows in Japan included “antioxidant polyphenol” buckwheat polyphenol from Amino Up and krill oil astaxanthin from Neptune Technologies in Canada. Astaxanthin in particular from a variety of sources seems to be growing in popularity in Japan, both as a natural color source in fish (salmon, sea bream) feed and as a dietary supplement ingredient.

Japanscan Food Industry Bulletin Ingredient News: An excellent source of ingredient announcements from Japan can be found in the “Ingredient News” section of the monthly Japanscan newsletter published in the U.K. from translated public Japanese trade sources. A review of the past three issues of the publication revealed the following information related to antioxidant ingredient activities:
• Fujicco black soybeans with “black soy anthocyanins, strong antioxidants that eliminate free radicals”…
• Toyo Koso Kagaku is marketing “astaxanthin….a powerful antioxidant…imported from Hawaii”…
• Japan Tobacco and Tokyo Marine Products University have jointly developed “an ocean yeast extract….shown to have good antioxidant properties.”

It is important to note, however, that most of the focus of the Ingredient News announcements was related not to antioxidant activity, but rather to other health-related benefits. Examples from the same three Japanscan issues include ingredients for blood sugar control, blood pressure lowering, allergies, skin problems, regularity, weight loss and bone formation. Research results were also reported from studies on various cancers and cardiac/cerebral conditions, the top three causes of death in Japan.

Conclusion

This focus on actual health-related conditions rather than antioxidant performance is consistent with the current interests of both the government and consumers in Japan. Antioxidant performance continues to be used as a broad indicator of ingredient bioactivity, but is not often the primary focus of ingredient marketing efforts in Japan. This seems reasonable given the alternative provided by the formal FOSHU regulatory category in allowing actual on-label health claims for foods in traditional as well as dietary supplement (tablets, capsules) product form.NW