Notified vs Individually-Approved Functional Ingredients — Differences, Approved Scope, and How to Choose

The first fork you meet when choosing a functional ingredient is notified (listed) versus individually-approved. The two differ in the approving body, the process, the claims you may display, and the barrier to entry. This guide sorts out the difference and the selection criteria from the standpoint of MFDS-approved scope.

Two families of functional ingredients

• Notified (code-listed) ingredients: Ingredients MFDS has already listed in the "Standards and Specifications for Health Functional Foods." Widely used ingredients such as vitamins and minerals, probiotics and red ginseng belong here.
• Individually-approved ingredients: Approved at the ingredient level by MFDS after a company submits safety and functionality data. Only the approved company (or a licensed party) may use that claim.

Notified ingredients

• Fast to enter: If it meets the code specification, it can be used without a separate ingredient-approval step.
• Fixed claim wording: Displayed within the listed functional content range.
• Crowded: Anyone can use it, so differentiation must come from formula, dosage form and branding.

Individually-approved ingredients

• Strong differentiation: Only the approved party may use it — the entry barrier itself is a moat.
• Higher cost and time: Safety and functionality evidence is required, so development is longer and the ingredient price is higher.
• Claims bound to the approval: You cannot use expressions beyond the functional content and daily intake stated on the approval.

At a glance

| Item | Notified | Individually approved | | --- | --- | --- | | Approving body | MFDS code listing | MFDS per-ingredient approval | | Who can use | Anyone meeting the spec | Approved company / licensee | | Development time & cost | Relatively low | Relatively high | | Differentiation | Via formula & branding | The ingredient itself | | Claim scope | Listed content range | Approval content range |

When each wins

• Notified wins: When fast launch matters, or with an already-large mainstream ingredient (vitamins, probiotics) where you differentiate by formula and branding. Upfront development is light.
• Individually-approved wins: When you want to build and hold an entry barrier with an ingredient others can't use, and you can bear the development time and cost. The ingredient itself becomes the marketing story.
• Many brands mix them — one core individually-approved ingredient, the rest notified — to get differentiation and speed at once.

Three criteria for choosing

1. The direction you want to claim: Decide the functional category first, then check whether an ingredient in that direction exists among notified ones.
2. Differentiation vs speed: If fast launch is the priority, notified; if you want a lasting entry barrier, review individually-approved.
3. Documentary basis: Either way, choose ingredients for which you can secure the COA and functionality evidence.

Documents to check before formulation

• Ingredient spec sheet and COA: Confirm content, purity and heavy-metal specs in writing.
• Functional content and daily intake: Confirm the listed or approved range.
• Formulation fit: Review ingredient compatibility, excipients and stability in the dosage form.

Confirm with the ingredient supplier and manufacturer

Once you've narrowed the ingredient, confirming the following in documents before contracting reduces rework at filing and testing.

• Usage rights: For an individually-approved ingredient, whether your brand has the right to display it (approved company or securable license).
• Spec consistency: Whether content and purity match the spec sheet per lot, and whether a COA is available per lot.
• Supply stability: Ingredient lead time and alternatives. Individually-approved ingredients have limited suppliers, so a supply plan matters.
• Claim basis: Whether the functional content and daily intake you want to display sit within the listed or approved range.

Ingredient choice is a marketing story

Choosing an ingredient is not only a formulation matter — it's deciding what the brand will say.

• Individually-approved carries a strong story. The fact that others can't use it becomes the core message of your product page and content — but the wording is limited to the approved functional content range.
• Notified has wider search reach. Being well-known means high search volume, and framing formula, content and dosage-form differentiation as content builds organic traffic well.
• Documents become trust material. Showing evidence such as COAs and approval status as content helps purchase decisions (via documents and ranges, not efficacy assertions).

For monetization, it's common to build traffic with wide-reach notified ingredients and place a differentiating (individually-approved) ingredient in the top line. Starting with a mainstream ingredient to test response, then widening the line with a differentiating ingredient once reviews and repurchases accumulate, is the lower-burden order.

Note: Whatever the ingredient, the wording you may display is limited to the functional content range MFDS has approved. Expressions beyond the approved range risk violating labeling and advertising rules, so it is safer to review the claim copy together at the formulation-design stage.