Japan reaches for tea tonic to fight the flab
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-18 15:53

Scores of convenience shops in the business district of the Japanese capital Tokyo, start each workday with a morning ritual - serving the queue of suited office workers clutching small bottles of "healthy" green tea drinks in one hand and the money to pay for it in the other.

These exercise-starved office workers in their 30s and early 40s are turning to the benefits of a centuries-old Japanese tradition of tea drinking in the belief it cleanses the body - a much needed flush out after growing up on hamburgers and cola.

The label on many of the bottles reads "Healthya Green Tea," made by Kao Corp, which is leading a group of firms making diet supplements called "functional foods," representing a market estimated by the government to be worth around one trillion yen (US$9.1 billion) a year.

Those companies are mining an unexpected rich new vein of income from middle-aged men, rather than the more health- and appearance-conscience young women.

Kao has struck a chord with men in their middle years, worried about weight gains and diseases associated with obesity. Its sales in the foods and sanitary products division for the first quarter to June nearly doubled from a year earlier to 29.4 billion yen (US$267 million).

Together with food processor Nisshin Oillio, Kao has also produced vegetable oils that are believed to prevent fat found in food from being absorbed into the body.

Kao spokesman Satoshi Shiozawa said the products unexpectedly appealed to men, many of whom complain that because of long working hours they do not have time to cook healthy food, let alone find time for a regular workout.

"We didn't intend to specifically target middle-aged men, but Healthya turned out to be a big hit as a product sold in convenience stores, a place where the largest customer group is now middle-aged men," Shiozawa said.

"Healthya comes in handy for people like me, who are worried about health but have no time to exercise," said Keisuke Matsumura, 37, who said he often works past midnight and on weekends for a publishing company.

Fat-busting

Kao is estimated to have invested hundreds of millions of yen (millions of dollars) in research and development to obtain government permission to claim health benefits for its products.

"Healthya," launched in May 2003, is the only major "functional food" among a plethora of health-oriented soft-drinks that can officially claim it helps burn body fat.

It does so due to its main ingredient catechin, a type of polyphenol, which is a natural plant antioxidant, according to the company.

Industry representatives said targeting obesity is an ideal concept for food manufacturers as Japanese people are becoming more health-conscious in an aging society faced with rising medical costs.

"As the big hits among functional foods targeting obesity or blood sugar prove, there seems to be a huge demand in those products aiming to prevent chronic diseases," says Masao Imada, a spokesman for Yakult Honsha.

The major fermented dairy foods producer also has a variety of functional foods, one of which is a tea aimed at preventing diabetes by reducing blood sugar.

It is known that the risk of most lifestyle-related chronic diseases is higher for people who are diagnosed as obese.

Official data showed roughly one in three Japanese men were diagnosed as being obese in 2002, the latest year for which statistics are available. The number is sharply higher than the one in five found 20 years ago.

Kao's rivals - the nation's top drinks companies - are following suit with their own tea tonics.

Suntory Ltd has released "Flavan Tea," which includes a component claimed by the firm to have a type of polyphenol that is three times more concentrated than catechin.

Kirin Beverage Corp, is marketing a black oolong tea with a component that is believed to help burn body fats, teaming up with Japan's leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.

But consumer groups and doctors are sceptical about the functional food trend.

"Processed foods in general are different from natural foods because they extract specific ingredients from original foods," said Masae Wada, senior counsellor for housewives' consumer group Shufuren.

"We are worried that people are relying too much on functional foods, which could cause an unbalanced diet or malnutrition."

She added that functional beverages and foods are not drugs and may give consumers the false impression that they can cure ailments.

The Japan Medical Association, the largest academic organization for doctors in the country, has told the government that it "does not think functional foods are contributing to maintaining people's heath."

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