Seoul City Finds All 245 Health Functional Foods Compliant in Standards and Safety

Vitamin, Probiotics, and Other Health Functional Foods Meet Nutrient Content and Functional Ingredient Standards
All 132 Tests for Coliform Bacteria, Lead, Cadmium, and Other Harmful Heavy Metals Showed No Detection

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that all 245 health functional food products distributed in Seoul met the standards for functional ingredients and safety inspection results.

The inspection targets included 142 nutritional ingredient products such as vitamins and minerals certified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and 103 functional ingredient products such as probiotics, red ginseng-containing products, and oils containing EPA and DHA like Omega 3.

For nutritional ingredient products containing vitamins and minerals, 126 items were tested for six types including vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, vitamin D, and vitamin E. The content ranged from 81.3% to 164.9% of the labeled amount, meeting the product labeling standards. For minerals, 90 items were tested for calcium, magnesium, and zinc, with contents ranging from 84.5% to 148.4%, all meeting the labeling standards.

Meanwhile, safety tests for coliform bacteria on 121 nutritional ingredient products and for harmful heavy metals such as lead and cadmium on 11 items showed no detection. Functional ingredient products including probiotics, red ginseng-containing products, and oils containing EPA and DHA were tested, and the functional ingredient contents all met the product labeling standards.

Shin Yong-seung, Director of the Seoul Institute of Health and Environment, said, “As the COVID-19 pandemic prolongs, purchases of health functional foods for immune enhancement are increasing,” adding, “We will put more effort into the safety management of health functional foods distributed in Seoul in line with this trend.”