薬理作用から見た健康食品

The several biologically active substances in foods were isolated as chemical compounds and each isolated chemical compound has been used as a drug in clinic. It is very difficult to make as harp distinction between drug and a chemical compound in functional food. At present, many functional food products with health claims are available in the local market. Since there is no distinct regulatory framework for functional foods, they are regulated as foods.However, some of these may have potentially disastrous side-effects and evaluation system of so-called health food is not established. We proposed that an isolated chemical compound in functional food, which has a pharmacological active effects, must handle as a drug and should be evaluated carefully in terms of its effectiveness and toxicity.