世論 What Japan Thinks

At the start of this month MyVoice conducted a survey into functional sweets and other confectionaries. 13,384 people from their monitor group successfully completed a private online survey. 54% of the sample was female, 3% in their teens, 21% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 24% in their forties, and 13% in their fifties.

I chew xylitol-based gum every night after dinner, but was surprised to see how few others were daily consumers. My wife did try the chocolate diet with no success, however. The argument is that cacao-rich chocolate (75% or more) has very little sugar but lots of fibre, plus the caffine boost might have something to do with raising your metabolic rate. However, you are only supposed to eat 20 grams or so after each meal, and the high levels of caffine and other constituents can seriously adversely affect a significant percentage of the population, so I cannot recommend it to anyone.

Q1: Which of the following are you eating, aware of the health or beauty, etc, functionality of the product? (Sample size=13,384, multiple answer)

Product	Manufacturer	Type of product	Percentage
Xylitol Gum	Lotte	Chewing gum with xylitol in it	41.5%
Xylish	Meiji	Chewing gum with xylitol in it	30.2%
VC-3000 throat sweets	Nobel	Boiled sweets with added vitamin C	25.4%
C1000 Takeda Vitamin Lemon	Takeda	Vitamin C-rich lemon drink	23.6%
Recaldent	Cadbury Japan	Chewing gum with xylitol in it	18.7%
High Lemon	Meiji	Vitamin C-loaded sweet	17.6
Yorglet	Meji	Lactobacillus bifidus-loaded sweet	15.6%
Chocolate Kouka	Meiji	High cacao dark chocolate	14.4%
Bisco	Glico	Lactic acid bacilli-rich biscuits	13.3%
Kamukamu Lemon	Liberty Japan	Vitamin C-rich cewable sweet	12.4%
Cacao no Megumi	Lotte	High cacao (high fibre) dark chocolate	12.3%
Whiteen	Cadbury Japan	Chewing gum with teeth whitening properties	7.0%
C’s Case	Asahi Food and Health Care	Vitamin-C-rich (and others) range of sweets	5.9%
Mental Balance Chocolate GABA	Glico	GABA-rich chocolate	5.7%
Puregumi	Kanro	Chewable sweets with added vitamin C	5.4%
Pupurun	Meiji	Not sure on this one at all!	4.1%
Fuwarinka Gum	Kanebo Foods	Hyaluronan and vitamin C-rich chewing gum, also makes body smell nice	2.7%
Plus X	Lotte	Chewing gum with xylitol in it	2.4%
Otoko Kaori	Kanebo Foods	Chewing gum that makes body smell nice	2.0%
Fuwarinka Soft Candy	Kanebo Foods	Hyaluronan and vitamin C-rich chewable sweets, also makes body smell nice	1.9%
TE-A-TE	Lotte	Collagen and Vitamin-C rich sweets	0.7%
None of the above			20.1%
No answer			0.4%

Note that some of the effects noted above are what the manufacturer claims, not proven facts.

Q2: About how often do you eat functional sweets? (Sample size=13,384)

Five or more times a week	8.8%
Three of four times a week	8.8%
One or two times a week	17.5%
Two or three times a month	15.2%
Once a month	12.1%
Once every few months	12.4%
Less than that	9.9%
Never	15.3%

Q3: Where do you most often buy your functional sweets? (Sample size=those who eat them)

Supermarket	41.7%
Convenience store	37.5%
Drug store, pharmacy	10.4%
Discount store	4.1%
Railway station kiosk	1.7%
100 yen shop	1.6%
Online shop	0.1%
Television shopping	0.0%
Other	1.7%

Q4: What effect do you expect from eating functional sweets? (Sample size=those who eat them, multiple answer)

Good health	46.3%
Reduction in stress or relaxation	36.0%
Beauty	21.0%
Get rid of odours	13.8%
Aiding dieting	10.2%
Other	6.8%
Don’t expect any particular effect	20.6%
No answer	1.8%

Q5: At that times do you eat (or, if non eater, what times would it be good to eat) functional sweets? (Sample size=13,384, up to three answers)

When I just need something in my mouth	43.0%
When working, studying, housework, etc	30.2%
Snack time	27.3%
When tired	22.8%
When commuting	20.8%
When I want something sweet	19.1%
When driving	18.8%
After meals	11.7%
When playing	9.5%
As a midnight snack	2.9%
When I have no appetite	2.4%
When exercising	2.2%
Instead of meals	1.5%
Other	6.7%
No answer	1.7%

Q6: What do you think about functional sweets? (Sample size=13,384)

Like to see more functional sweets	38.3%
Functional sweets are not needed	7.5%
Don’t care whether they exist or not	45.4%
Other	7.4%
No answer	1.3%