【Toyo Shinyaku】Japan's First! (※1) Notification of a Food with Functional Claims for "Immunity" with "Barley Young Leaf Powder" as a Functional Ingredient – Expanding "Gut Health" Ingredients into the Immune Sector –
Toyo Shinyaku has submitted Japan's first notification for a food with functional claims, "Barley Young Leaf Fiber Aojiru I (Eye)," which uses "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" as a functional ingredient and claims to maintain immune function. This expands their existing gut health, sleep, and skin health benefits into the immune sector, offering multifaceted health support.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 12, 2026 at 21:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 12, 2026 at 12:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 12, 2026 at 12:53 (21 min after Collected)
Toyo Shinyaku Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; Head Office: Tosu City, Saga Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Toshimitsu Hattori) has submitted a notification for "Barley Young Leaf Fiber Aojiru I (Eye)," a food with functional claims, using "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" as a functional ingredient, with the claim "helps maintain immune function in healthy people by acting on cDC (conventional dendritic cells)." This notification was made public on May 8, 2026.
This notification newly enables product development with "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" as a functional ingredient, and "maintenance of immune function" as a health claim, with the mechanism of action being "activation of cDC."
Barley Young Leaf
■ Newly Possible to Claim "Immune Function"
Our company has previously had notification achievements for foods with functional claims using "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber," contained in our proprietary ingredient "barley young leaf powder," with the following health claims:
* Improves bowel movements
* Improves intestinal environment (increases beneficial bacteria such as butyrate-producing bacteria and lactic acid bacteria)
* Helps improve sleep quality (drowsiness upon waking)
* Helps maintain skin moisture and protect skin health
This time, we created a systematic review (SR) targeting literature, including new human study data, and submitted a notification with the claim "helps maintain immune function in healthy people by acting on cDC (conventional dendritic cells)."
Dendritic cells, a type of immune cell, are broadly classified into cDC (conventional dendritic cells) and pDC (plasmacytoid dendritic cells). Among them, cDC recognize various antigens and play a central role in diverse immune responses, making them the "multiplayers of immunity."
With this notification, "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" has become a functional ingredient that can now claim "maintenance of immune function" through the mechanism of "cDC activation," in addition to its traditional health claims related to bowel movements, intestinal environment, sleep, and skin.
※1: According to Toyo Shinyaku's own research, as of May 2026, May 8, in the Consumer Affairs Agency's "Search for Notification Information on Foods with Functional Claims," for foods with functional claims that use "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" as a functional ingredient and display "maintenance of immune function" as the intended functionality.
■ "Gut Health" Ingredient with Multifaceted Functions
It is widely known that the intestinal environment affects not only bowel movements but also overall health. Since many immune cells reside in the gut, the "gut is also called the largest immune organ" (※2). It is known that maintaining a good balance in the intestinal environment helps immune function work properly.
Regarding sleep, the concept of the "gut-brain axis," which suggests a close relationship between the intestinal environment and the brain, has been gaining traction in recent years. It is suggested that the gut microbiota influences sleep via neurotransmitters (※3).
Furthermore, the gut and skin are known to influence each other through the concept of the "gut-skin axis." It has been reported that putrefactive products generated by disturbances in the intestinal environment travel through blood vessels and disrupt skin homeostasis (※4).
Until now, our company has proposed "barley young leaf powder" as a "gut health" ingredient focusing on improving intestinal environment and bowel movements. With the newly possible health claim including "maintenance of immune function," it has become a "gut health" ingredient capable of more multifaceted development.
Moreover, it is now possible to propose it as a functional food ingredient that comprehensively covers five health claims of high consumer interest with a single ingredient: "bowel movement improvement," "intestinal environment improvement," "sleep quality improvement," "skin moisture maintenance," and "immune maintenance."
【References】
※2: Suzuki & Abe, J Jpn Soc Nephrol, 2021; 63(3): 244‒249.
※3: Ogawa Y, et al. Sci Rep, 2020; 10(1): 19554.
※4: Iizuka R, et al. Microb Ecol Health Dis, 2009; 21, 50-56.
■ Notification Details
Product Name
Barley Young Leaf Fiber Aojiru I (Eye)
Notification Number
K989
Content of Functional Ingredient per Daily Intake
【Functional Ingredient Name】Barley Young Leaf-Derived Dietary Fiber
【Content】0.7g/day
Functional Claim
This product contains barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber. It has been reported that barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber acts on cDC (conventional dendritic cells) and helps maintain immune function in healthy people.
■ What is Barley Young Leaf Powder?
Barley young leaf powder is a functional food ingredient rich in dietary fiber, made by drying and finely pulverizing the stems and leaves of barley before heading. Our company has conducted extensive research on the functionality of barley young leaf powder and has obtained approval for Foods for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) that claim "bowel movement improvement" and "suppression of post-meal blood glucose elevation" with barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber as the active ingredient. Furthermore, we have confirmed various effects such as "improvement of intestinal environment," "increase in skin moisture content," "improvement of sleep quality," and "increase in regulatory T cells (※5)," which gained attention with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2025.
This notification newly enables product development with "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" as a functional ingredient, and "maintenance of immune function" as a health claim, with the mechanism of action being "activation of cDC."
Barley Young Leaf
■ Newly Possible to Claim "Immune Function"
Our company has previously had notification achievements for foods with functional claims using "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber," contained in our proprietary ingredient "barley young leaf powder," with the following health claims:
* Improves bowel movements
* Improves intestinal environment (increases beneficial bacteria such as butyrate-producing bacteria and lactic acid bacteria)
* Helps improve sleep quality (drowsiness upon waking)
* Helps maintain skin moisture and protect skin health
This time, we created a systematic review (SR) targeting literature, including new human study data, and submitted a notification with the claim "helps maintain immune function in healthy people by acting on cDC (conventional dendritic cells)."
Dendritic cells, a type of immune cell, are broadly classified into cDC (conventional dendritic cells) and pDC (plasmacytoid dendritic cells). Among them, cDC recognize various antigens and play a central role in diverse immune responses, making them the "multiplayers of immunity."
With this notification, "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" has become a functional ingredient that can now claim "maintenance of immune function" through the mechanism of "cDC activation," in addition to its traditional health claims related to bowel movements, intestinal environment, sleep, and skin.
※1: According to Toyo Shinyaku's own research, as of May 2026, May 8, in the Consumer Affairs Agency's "Search for Notification Information on Foods with Functional Claims," for foods with functional claims that use "barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber" as a functional ingredient and display "maintenance of immune function" as the intended functionality.
■ "Gut Health" Ingredient with Multifaceted Functions
It is widely known that the intestinal environment affects not only bowel movements but also overall health. Since many immune cells reside in the gut, the "gut is also called the largest immune organ" (※2). It is known that maintaining a good balance in the intestinal environment helps immune function work properly.
Regarding sleep, the concept of the "gut-brain axis," which suggests a close relationship between the intestinal environment and the brain, has been gaining traction in recent years. It is suggested that the gut microbiota influences sleep via neurotransmitters (※3).
Furthermore, the gut and skin are known to influence each other through the concept of the "gut-skin axis." It has been reported that putrefactive products generated by disturbances in the intestinal environment travel through blood vessels and disrupt skin homeostasis (※4).
Until now, our company has proposed "barley young leaf powder" as a "gut health" ingredient focusing on improving intestinal environment and bowel movements. With the newly possible health claim including "maintenance of immune function," it has become a "gut health" ingredient capable of more multifaceted development.
Moreover, it is now possible to propose it as a functional food ingredient that comprehensively covers five health claims of high consumer interest with a single ingredient: "bowel movement improvement," "intestinal environment improvement," "sleep quality improvement," "skin moisture maintenance," and "immune maintenance."
【References】
※2: Suzuki & Abe, J Jpn Soc Nephrol, 2021; 63(3): 244‒249.
※3: Ogawa Y, et al. Sci Rep, 2020; 10(1): 19554.
※4: Iizuka R, et al. Microb Ecol Health Dis, 2009; 21, 50-56.
■ Notification Details
Product Name
Barley Young Leaf Fiber Aojiru I (Eye)
Notification Number
K989
Content of Functional Ingredient per Daily Intake
【Functional Ingredient Name】Barley Young Leaf-Derived Dietary Fiber
【Content】0.7g/day
Functional Claim
This product contains barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber. It has been reported that barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber acts on cDC (conventional dendritic cells) and helps maintain immune function in healthy people.
■ What is Barley Young Leaf Powder?
Barley young leaf powder is a functional food ingredient rich in dietary fiber, made by drying and finely pulverizing the stems and leaves of barley before heading. Our company has conducted extensive research on the functionality of barley young leaf powder and has obtained approval for Foods for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) that claim "bowel movement improvement" and "suppression of post-meal blood glucose elevation" with barley young leaf-derived dietary fiber as the active ingredient. Furthermore, we have confirmed various effects such as "improvement of intestinal environment," "increase in skin moisture content," "improvement of sleep quality," and "increase in regulatory T cells (※5)," which gained attention with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2025.