Qualitative Study on the Field Difficulties in Developing and Applying Combined Health Functional Foods; [융복합 건강기능식품 개발 및 제도 적용상의 현장 애로사항에 대한 질적 연구]

Abstract

This study conducted focus group interviews on 12 industry professionals across various fields, including manufacturing, analysis, quality control, and regulations, to identify the practical challenges faced by practitioners in the development of converged health functional foods. Converged health functional foods combine general foods with health functional foods, and this structural characteristic can lead to conflicts with existing regulatory frameworks and technological foundations. The findings were categorized into nine main areas: limitations in tablet and packaging structures, insufficient testing and analytical standards, regulatory constraints on functional design, dual legal and management systems, and limitations in applying ingredient labeling standards. Specifically, the restrictions on tablet size and packaging specifications, along with testing methods focused on single formulations, hindered functional diversification. The dual regulatory regime created confusion by separating the applicable standards. Furthermore, applying differing legal standards to a single product caused practitioners difficulties in product design and marketing decisions. Consumer perception, often influenced by the product form, repeatedly led to the misidentification of general foods as health functional foods. This confusion widened the gap between the intended identity of the system and actual consumer experience, potentially causing companies to prioritize cost efficiency and consumer response over product identity. This study empirically shows that establishing a comprehensive framework for convergent health functional foods requires refining technical and labeling standards and developing an analytical system that reflects consumption patterns, providing consumer information and education. This study provides foundational data for future policy design and institutional improvements. © 2026 The Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/lice nses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.