Regulations, opportunities, and key trends of functional foods in Malaysia

This chapter is an overview of functional food with a specific focus on the regulations and development trends in Malaysia. The topics discussed are the Western versus Eastern perspective on functional food, the role of functional foods in unique cultures such as Malaysia, and an overview of recent functional food research in Malaysia from business and marketing perspectives. These are followed by other areas of discourse: an overview of the regulatory environment governing functional food in Malaysia, regulations concerning nutrition labels and health claims, functional food opportunities, the halal market, the Malaysian food retail sector, and finally the key trends and challenges for functional food in Malaysia.