The Japanese Nutritional Health Beverage Market

The beverage market in postwar Japan started with carbonated and fruit-flavored drinks, following the trend of Western countries. More recently, several innovative beverage products have been developed, including fermented milk-flavored drinks, canned coffee, and teas. Today, Japan is recognized as leading the market in these categories. Nutritional/health beverages started with drinks that offered nourishment and tonic properties and/or nutrient supplements. In 1991, legislation was passed, Foods for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU), that approves labels that make health claims. As a result, many products have appeared and the market is continuing to develop rapidly and uniquely. The latest trends in the nutritional/health beverage market and the present situation of regulation on health claims are summarized in this chapter, with a focus on the Foods with Health Claims system, which started in 2001.