The Tokuho mark is one of the most recognised food symbols in Japan — a small logo on drinks, yoghurts and oils that tells a Japanese shopper the government has reviewed that specific product’s health claim. Brands abroad sometimes assume they need it for a Japan-made supplement. Almost none of them do.
This guide explains what Foods for Specified Health Uses (Tokuho, also written FOSHU) is, how its individual government approval and logo differ from the newer Foods with Function Claims system, and why an overseas brand’s Japan-made product almost never goes this route.
Health supplements are foods, not medicines, and are not a substitute for medical treatment.
💬 Not sure whether your product needs Tokuho, Foods with Function Claims, or neither? We check the right route before you spend on evidence or packaging. See Japan-made supplement OEM.
What Tokuho is
Tokuho is a category of food that carries a government-approved statement of a specific health use, granted product by product by the Consumer Affairs Agency.
Formally “Foods for Specified Health Uses” (特定保健用食品), Tokuho lets a product state that, eaten as part of the diet for a specific health purpose, it can be expected to help achieve that purpose. To sell a product under that claim, the business needs the CAA Commissioner’s permission for that exact product, granted after the government reviews the submitted safety and efficacy data itself — not the self-assessed review used under Foods with Function Claims.
The Tokuho logo and what it signals
Only a product that has individually cleared this government review may carry the official Tokuho approval mark on its packaging.
An approved Tokuho product must display the wording approved for its specific claim, along with required use information — the daily intake guideline, how to consume it, and precautions — and the Tokuho approval logo itself. Because the mark can only appear on a product the CAA has individually reviewed and approved, it functions in the market as a stronger, government-backed signal than the notification-based Foods with Function Claims label, even though both sit under Japan’s wider “foods with health claims” umbrella.
A system that started in 1991
Tokuho predates Foods with Function Claims by more than two decades and was Japan’s first government-approval route for a health-claim food.
The Tokuho system was created in 1991 (Heisei 3), decades before Foods with Function Claims launched in 2015. For most of that time it was the main legitimate way for a Japanese food product to state a specific health use on its package, alongside the later, narrower Nutrient Function Foods category for a fixed list of vitamins and minerals.
💬 Curious how a specific health claim you have in mind would be treated in Japan? Tell us the claim and ingredient and we will explain which route, if any, applies.
How Tokuho differs from Foods with Function Claims
The two systems differ on exactly the point that matters most for a brand’s time and evidence budget: who reviews the claim before the product can be sold.
| Tokuho (FOSHU) | Foods with Function Claims | |
|---|---|---|
| Who approves the claim | CAA Commissioner, individually, per product | No individual approval; the business notifies and takes responsibility |
| What is reviewed | Product-specific safety and efficacy data, judged by the government | Evidence the business selects and submits; not judged by the government before sale |
| Logo | Official Tokuho mark, only on approved products | No equivalent mark |
| Established | 1991 | 2015 |
| Typical timeline and burden | Government review of a specific product is a substantial undertaking | Notification-based, without that government review step |
Both belong to the same broader Japanese family of “foods with health claims”, alongside Nutrient Function Foods, but they sit at opposite ends of how much the government itself vets the individual product.
Why overseas brands rarely need it
Tokuho’s individual government review is built around long-established, evidence-heavy claims and a Japan-domestic sales structure, which is a poor fit for a brand launching a new product for its own home market.
Most brands outside Japan approaching a Japan-made supplement want to state a health function on their own label, in their own market, using their own brand’s ingredient story — which is exactly what Foods with Function Claims is built for: no individual government review to wait on, and the evidence route (systematic review or a clinical trial on the final product) is one the brand itself controls. Tokuho’s individual per-product government review, by contrast, exists mainly for large, often long-running Japanese food and beverage products with an established claim and a primarily Japanese retail presence. A brand whose product will be labelled, marketed and sold outside Japan has no need for a Japan-specific approval mark that Japanese shoppers alone recognise.
Before you ask for a quotation
Fixing which health-claim route applies, if any, before formulation avoids reworking the specification later.
- Whether you intend to state a health function on the product at all
- Whether the product will be sold in Japan, and if so, whether Foods with Function Claims fits better than Tokuho
- The evidence you already hold or can compile for any claim you want to make
- Your own market’s health-claim framework, since Tokuho approval does not transfer there
💬 Ready to plan a Japan-made product with the right claim route from the start? Tell us your product concept and target markets.
Frequently asked questions
1. Do I need Tokuho approval to sell a supplement made in Japan?
Almost never, if your product is sold outside Japan. Tokuho is a Japan-specific government approval built for products sold under that Japanese mark; brands selling elsewhere follow their own market’s claim rules instead.
2. What is the difference between Tokuho and the Tokuho logo?
Tokuho is the approval category itself; the logo is the mark a product may display once the CAA has individually approved that specific product’s claim. A product cannot carry the logo without the underlying approval.
3. Is Tokuho older than Foods with Function Claims?
Yes. Tokuho was created in 1991; Foods with Function Claims launched in 2015 as a lower-friction, notification-based alternative.
4. Can a product be both Tokuho and Foods with Function Claims?
The two are separate systems with separate processes; a product is placed under one health-claim category, and each has its own compliance path.
5. Which system does Sunsho typically work with for an overseas brand?
For most overseas brands, Foods with Function Claims (if a Japan health claim is wanted at all) fits better than Tokuho, because it does not require an individual government approval cycle. We help you weigh both against your actual sales markets.
Sources: Consumer Affairs Agency, “保健機能食品について” (caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/foods_with_health_claims); Consumer Affairs Agency, “特定保健用食品について” and related notice pages (caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/foods_for_specified_health_uses/); Japan Health and Nutrition Food Association, “＜トクホ＞許可マーク” (jhnfa.org/tokuho1.html); Consumer Affairs Agency, “機能性表示食品について” (caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/foods_with_function_claims). Checked on 25 September 2026.