Type: Ingredient entity — regulatory & claim record
Topic: Magnesium (마그네슘) — health functional food nutrient
Evidence basis: MFDS Health Functional Food Code (「건강기능식품의 기준 및 규격」, 고시 제2026-43호) Section 3, article 1-16; Enforcement Rule of the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods, Annex 5; MFDS drug approval records (NEDRUG); PubChem chemical identity
Last Verified: 2026-08-02
This page records regulatory, identity, and claim-boundary information. It does not independently endorse treatment, disease-prevention, or efficacy claims. See the Evidence Boundaries section.
Magnesium (Korean: 마그네슘) is registered in Korea as a nutrient in the Health Functional Food Code, at Section 3, article 1-16. Unlike a functional ingredient article, a nutrient entry of this kind defines which raw-material forms may be used, what the finished product must test to, how much may be taken per day, and — importantly for anyone reading a label — which functional statements the nutrient may carry.
For magnesium, that last list is short. The Code provides two functional statements: required for energy utilization, and required for maintaining nerve and muscle function. That is the complete set. Korean marketing for magnesium supplements is considerably broader than those two sentences, which makes the gap between what is registered and what is advertised the most useful thing this record can document.
A second distinction runs through this page. Magnesium appears in three separate Korean regulatory frameworks at once: as a health functional food nutrient, as a nutrient reference value for food labeling, and as the active ingredient of over-the-counter drugs. The numbers attached to each are different, and they are not interchangeable — not merely because the amounts differ, but because they are measured against different things. The health functional food daily intake of 94.5–250 mg and the 315 mg labeling reference value are both expressed as elemental magnesium. The OTC drug dosages are expressed as the compound: “as magnesium hydroxide” or “as magnesium oxide”. Comparing a gram figure for a compound against a milligram figure for the element is a unit error, and it is the most common mistake in consumer-facing writing about magnesium.
Applying the conversion the drug label itself supplies — 250 mg of magnesium oxide corresponds to 150 mg of magnesium — the lowest OTC antacid dose of 0.5 g of magnesium oxide works out to roughly 300 mg of magnesium. That sits just above the top of the health functional food range rather than an order of magnitude away. The two frameworks are closer in quantity than the raw figures suggest; what separates them is the regulatory category, not the size of the dose.
Ingredient Snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Ingredient Name | Magnesium |
| Korean Name | 마그네슘 |
| INCI Name | Unknown — cosmetic naming not researched within this record’s scope |
| Synonyms | Mg (element symbol). Marketing names such as “sleep magnesium” (수면 마그네슘) describe a claim, not an ingredient identity — see Claim Safety Matrix. |
| CAS No. | 7439-95-4 (element) |
| Other Identifiers | PubChem CID 5462224; EC 231-104-6; DSSTox DTXSID0049658; FDA UNII I38ZP9992A; ChEBI 25107 |
| Ingredient Type | Nutrient (bulk mineral) — notified type (고시형), Health Functional Food Code Section 3, article 1-16 |
| Cosmetic Role | Unknown — not researched within this record’s scope |
| Supplement Function | Two functional statements provided in the Code — see Claim Safety Matrix |
| Daily Intake | 94.5–250 mg/day (health functional food, Code article 1-16) — but the two ends of this range do not carry the same force. The lower figure is a mandatory minimum; the upper is applied as a voluntary standard. See the note below the Regulatory Records table. |
| Content Specification | 80–150% of the labeled amount |
| Status | To Review |
Chemical identity is taken from PubChem. Raw-material forms, specifications, functional statements, and daily intake are taken from the MFDS Health Functional Food Code. The nutrient reference value is taken from the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods.
Regulatory Records
| Record Type | Jurisdiction | Issuing Body | Record Number | Scope | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notified-type HFF nutrient (고시형) | Korea (KR) | MFDS (식품의약품안전처, 식품기준과) | 식품의약품안전처고시 제2026-43호, 2026-06-11 | Section 3, article 1-16, part 1: permitted raw materials, listed as items 가 through 카 — magnesium gluconate, magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium chloride, magnesium carbonate, magnesium sulphate, magnesium phosphate (dibasic), magnesium phosphate (tribasic), magnesium L-lactate, magnesium stearate, and (카) material manufactured or processed from food raw materials so as to supplement magnesium. | To Review | MFDS Health Functional Food Code; 식품안전나라 ingredient record 1-16, board no. 1048697 |
| Notified-type HFF nutrient (고시형) | Korea (KR) | MFDS (식품의약품안전처, 식품기준과) | 식품의약품안전처고시 제2026-43호, 2026-06-11 | Section 3, article 1-16, parts 2–4: specifications (own colour and flavour with no off-taste or odour; magnesium content 80–150% of the labeled amount; coliform negative); finished-product requirements (two functional statements; daily intake stated as 94.5–250 mg, whose two ends carry different force — see the note below this table); and test methods (magnesium determined under Section 4, item 3-15, covering copper, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and chromium). | To Review | MFDS Health Functional Food Code; 식품안전나라 ingredient record 1-16 |
| Nutrient reference value for food labeling | Korea (KR) | Prime Minister’s Office (administered by MFDS) | 총리령 제2004호; Annex 5 as amended 2022-11-28; in force 2026-01-01 | Enforcement Rule of the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods, Annex 5, daily nutrient reference values: magnesium 315 mg. This value is used to calculate the percentage figures shown on food labels. It is a labeling reference, not a health functional food intake amount. | To Review | National Law Information Center (law.go.kr), Enforcement Rule Annex 5 |
| Registered functional categories — dated negative finding | Korea (KR) | MFDS (식품의약품안전처) | No record number — this is a register search result, not a regulatory determination | “Improvement of sleep quality”, “relief of tension”, and “muscle” exist as separate functional categories in the health functional food system, each with its own registered ingredients. Magnesium was not found listed among those ingredient groups on the date searched. The functional statements provided for magnesium in Code article 1-16 remain the two recorded on this page. | To Review | 식품안전나라 functional category index, searched 2026-05-27 |
| OTC drug approval — boundary record | Korea (KR) | MFDS (식품의약품안전처) | Item code 197400246 | Magmil Tablet (마그밀정), active ingredient magnesium hydroxide, is an approved over-the-counter drug. Its approved indications are antacid action and symptom improvement in gastric and duodenal ulcer, gastritis, and hyperacidity, and constipation. Dosage is set separately for each indication, and both figures are expressed as magnesium hydroxide, not as elemental magnesium: for the antacid indication, 1–2.5 g per day in several divided oral doses; for constipation, 1–2 g per day in 1–2 divided doses, adjusted according to age and symptoms. | To Review | NEDRUG drug product record, item code 197400246; mirrored at KPIC |
| OTC drug approval — boundary record | Korea (KR) | MFDS (식품의약품안전처) | Item code 199901457 | Mago Capsule 250 mg (마그오캡슐250mg), active ingredient magnesium oxide, is an approved over-the-counter drug with the same indication set. Dosage, again expressed as the compound: for the antacid indication, 0.5–1 g of magnesium oxide per day in several divided doses; for constipation, 2 g per day in 1–2 divided doses, with the label directing that the first dose be the smallest and be adjusted up or down according to stool form and condition. Each 250 mg of magnesium oxide corresponds to 150 mg of magnesium. Magnesium oxide is therefore simultaneously a raw-material form notified under Code article 1-16 and the active ingredient of an OTC drug. | To Review | NEDRUG drug product record, item code 199901457; mirrored at KPIC |
The Two Ends of the Daily Intake Range Are Not the Same Kind of Rule
Article 1-16 states a daily intake of 94.5–250 mg, and it is tempting to read that as a permitted band with a floor and a ceiling. The general provisions governing nutrients in the Code treat the two ends differently.
The lower figure is derived and mandatory. Section 3, part 1, provision 3 states that the minimum content of vitamins and minerals shall be at least 30% of the daily nutrient reference value in Annex 2. For magnesium, whose reference value is 315 mg, 30% is 94.5 mg — which is exactly the lower bound stated in article 1-16.
The upper figure is applied differently. Provision 4 states that the maximum content standard, set to secure safety against excessive intake of vitamins and minerals, is applied as a voluntary standard (임의기준) against the labeled amount of the finished product. On the face of the Code, the 250 mg figure is therefore not a binding ceiling in the way the 94.5 mg figure is a binding floor.
This is visible in the register. A notified product from a domestic manufacturer supplies 315 mg of magnesium per daily serving — exactly 100% of the reference value — alongside selenium, vitamin B6, vitamin B1, and vitamin B2 each also at exactly 100% of their respective reference values. A product designed that way is not an outlier against the register; it reflects the asymmetry the general provisions establish.
This page therefore does not cite 94.5–250 mg as though both ends bound a product equally. Note also that this provision applies to vitamins and minerals under Section 3, part 1. It does not extend to the functional ingredient articles in Section 3, part 2, whose daily intake ranges are stated within each article.
Notification-Number Note
The article text on this page was checked against the consolidated notification text itself. The full text of notification 제2026-43호 was obtained from the MFDS notification board as the published attachment archive and read directly, and Section 3, item 1-16 was compared clause by clause with what is recorded here. The permitted raw-material list 가 through 카, the content specification of 80–150% of the labeled amount, the two functional statements, the daily intake of 94.5–250 mg, and the test method reference to Section 4, item 3-15 all match the notification text.
For context on how that text arrived at its current form: the two amendments since 제2025-11호 — 제2026-32호 dated 2026-04-13 and 제2026-43호 dated 2026-06-11 — do not list article 1-16 among the amended provisions. The nutrient raw-material additions in 제2026-43호 concern iron and zinc, and the test-method revisions in 제2026-32호 concern vitamin B1, niacin, vitamin B12, biotin, fatty acids, and lactic acid bacteria counts; the magnesium test method at Section 4, item 3-15 is not among them.
What this establishes is that the article text recorded here matches the current consolidated notification as of the verification date. It is not a redline history of how each clause reached its present wording.
Claim Safety Matrix
The classifications below are the claim-handling categories recorded in this database — Allowed, Caution, Avoid, and Prohibited. They describe how wording is treated in this record and require human review; they are not legal determinations issued by MFDS, and they do not by themselves settle the lawfulness of a particular label, advertisement, news report, or academic discussion.
The two notified functional statements are recorded as Caution rather than Allowed. This reflects that their use depends on the product being a qualifying health functional food and supplying the specified daily intake of magnesium. It does not indicate that the notified wording lacks a basis in the Code.
Two categories are used below for wording that falls outside the notified statements, and the difference between them is the kind of evidence behind each. Prohibited is used where a positive regulatory instrument located in this record occupies the wording — specifically, an approved drug indication. Avoid is used where the basis is a negative finding: the function was not found registered for magnesium. An absence in a register is weaker evidence than an approval document, and this record does not present the two as equivalent.
| Claim Text | Claim Type | Why It Matters | Safer or Source-Bound Wording | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required for energy utilization (에너지 이용에 필요) | Caution | One of only two functional statements provided in the Code for magnesium. Its basis is limited to qualifying health functional food labeling at a daily intake of 94.5–250 mg, with magnesium content at 80–150% of the labeled amount. It does not transfer to general food or cosmetic labeling. Expanding it into “recovery from fatigue” or “vitality” moves beyond the notified wording. | “Required for energy utilization” — reflecting the Code wording, 에너지 이용에 필요 | MFDS Health Functional Food Code, Section 3, article 1-16, part 3 |
| Required for maintaining nerve and muscle function (신경과 근육 기능 유지에 필요) | Caution | The second and final notified functional statement, under the same intake condition. The precise wording matters more here than almost anywhere else in this record: it says maintaining function, not acting on muscles or nerves. The three most common marketing variants below all begin by rewriting this sentence. | “Required for maintaining nerve and muscle function” — reflecting the Code wording, 신경과 근육 기능 유지에 필요 | MFDS Health Functional Food Code, Section 3, article 1-16, part 3 |
| Muscle relaxation (근육 이완) | Avoid | No primary labeling or advertising source maps to this wording. It reads as a rewrite of the notified statement about maintaining nerve and muscle function, but it describes an action on muscle rather than maintenance of function, which invites confusion with muscle relaxant drugs. “Muscle” exists as a separate functional category in the health functional food system with its own registered ingredients, and magnesium was not found among them. Recorded as Avoid rather than Prohibited because the basis is the absence of a registration, not a positive regulatory instrument occupying the wording. | “Required for maintaining nerve and muscle function” — the notified wording | 식품안전나라 functional category index; MFDS Health Functional Food Code, article 1-16 |
| Nerve calming (신경 안정) | Avoid | No primary health functional food labeling or advertising source maps to this wording either. It appeared once in an MFDS general-food channel, but a general-food context is not a basis under the health functional food labeling standard. Recorded as Avoid rather than Prohibited because the distance from the notified wording is smaller than for the muscle-relaxation variant, while the mapping is still absent. | “Required for maintaining nerve and muscle function” — the notified wording | 식품안전나라 functional category index; MFDS Health Functional Food Code, article 1-16 |
| Sleep improvement, “sleep magnesium” (수면 개선 / 수면 마그네슘 / 꿀잠) | Avoid | This is the most heavily marketed magnesium claim in Korea and it has no registration behind it. “Improvement of sleep quality” exists as a distinct functional category with its own registered ingredients; magnesium was not found among them on the date searched, and sleep does not appear among the two functional statements in article 1-16. A product marketed on this wording is presenting an unregistered function. Recorded as Avoid rather than Prohibited for a precise reason: what this record establishes is that no sleep function is registered for magnesium, which is a statement about the register. No regulatory instrument located here forbids the wording outright, and this page does not manufacture one. | No substitute sleep-related wording is supported by article 1-16 | 식품안전나라 functional category index; MFDS Health Functional Food Code, article 1-16 |
| Antacid action — improvement of gastric or duodenal ulcer, gastritis, hyperacidity (제산작용) | Prohibited | This is the approved indication of over-the-counter drugs whose active ingredients are magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide. It belongs to pharmaceutical law and is not among the functional statements notified for magnesium as a health functional food nutrient. The overlap is easy to miss because magnesium oxide is simultaneously a notified raw-material form under article 1-16 — the same substance sits in two frameworks with different permitted wording. | No substitute wording — this is a drug indication | NEDRUG item codes 197400246 and 199901457 |
| Constipation treatment, laxative action (변비증 / 변비 치료 / 완하 작용) | Prohibited | Also an approved OTC drug indication. The laxative dosages — 1–2 g of magnesium hydroxide or 2 g of magnesium oxide per day — are expressed as the compound, while the health functional food daily intake of 94.5–250 mg is expressed as elemental magnesium, so the two sets of figures cannot be read side by side without conversion. Once converted, they are nearer than the raw numbers suggest, which is precisely why the wording matters: the boundary between a supplement and a laxative drug here is the approved indication, not an obvious difference in dose. | No substitute wording — this is a drug indication | NEDRUG item codes 197400246 and 199901457 |
Evidence Boundaries: What This Page Does Not Claim
Treatment or prevention of disease
This page does not claim that magnesium treats or prevents any disease. Article 1-16 places magnesium within Korea’s health functional food framework as a nutrient; it does not establish it as a drug. Antacid action, treatment of gastric or duodenal ulcer, gastritis, hyperacidity, and constipation are approved indications of specific over-the-counter drug products under pharmaceutical law, and they do not transfer to magnesium as a health functional food nutrient.
Sleep, calming, or muscle-relaxant effects
The Code provides two functional statements for magnesium, and neither concerns sleep, tension relief, calming, or muscle relaxation. “Improvement of sleep quality”, “relief of tension”, and “muscle” exist as separate functional categories with their own registered ingredients, and magnesium was not found among those groups on the date searched. This page does not assert that magnesium has no relationship to sleep or muscle physiology as a scientific matter — it records that no such function is registered for magnesium in this framework, which is a statement about the register, not about biology.
Pharmaceutical dosing
The health functional food daily intake recorded here is 94.5–250 mg, expressed as elemental magnesium. The OTC drug dosages recorded here are expressed as the compound — magnesium hydroxide at 1–2.5 g/day for the antacid indication and 1–2 g/day for constipation, magnesium oxide at 0.5–1 g/day for the antacid indication and 2 g/day for constipation. Those figures belong to the drug products and are documented solely to mark the boundary. This page does not present them as intake recommendations, thresholds, or maximums for a health functional food, and it does not treat compound-basis and element-basis figures as directly comparable. Drug-label warnings for those products, including cautions relevant to patients with renal impairment or diarrhoea, likewise belong to the drug labeling and are not reproduced here as supplement precautions.
Equivalence of the two magnesium numbers
This page does not treat 94.5–250 mg and 315 mg as the same kind of figure. The first is the health functional food daily intake set in Code article 1-16. The second is the daily nutrient reference value in Annex 5 of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods, used to calculate the percentage shown on a food label. They come from different instruments and serve different purposes.
Raw-material forms not listed in the Code
Article 1-16 lists eleven permitted items, 가 through 카. Magnesium citrate and magnesium glycinate — both widely marketed — are not among the named entries. Item 카 covers material manufactured or processed from food raw materials so as to supplement magnesium, and whether a particular citrate or glycinate product falls within that item is a determination for its manufacturer and the competent authority. This page does not decide that question in either direction, and does not assert that such products are either permitted or excluded.
Guaranteed results for an individual or a product
A notified functional statement identifies wording that a qualifying product may use when the applicable conditions are satisfied. It is not a guarantee that every product will share the same composition, absorption, or quality, and it does not predict an outcome for a particular person. This page records regulatory and chemical-identity information; it does not compare brands, evaluate individual products, recommend dosages, or independently assess clinical evidence.
Currency beyond the verification date
The Health Functional Food Code is amended periodically — twice between March 2025 and June 2026 for this Code alone. The notification number and article information on this page reflect verification as of 2026-08-02. Later amendments, drug-label changes, register additions, and cancellations may change the applicable record.
Related Entities
Related Ingredients
- Magnesium Oxide — notified raw-material form under article 1-16, and simultaneously an OTC drug active ingredient
- Magnesium Hydroxide — OTC drug active ingredient; also a notified raw-material form under article 1-16
- Magnesium Citrate and Magnesium Glycinate — widely marketed forms not named among the eleven listed items
- EPA and DHA-Containing Oil — notified functional ingredient article in the same Code
- Niacin — notified nutrient in the same Code
Related Product Types
- Health functional food — magnesium tablets and capsules
- Health functional food — multi-nutrient products supplying magnesium
- Over-the-counter drug — magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide antacid and laxative products
Related Claims
- Required for energy utilization — notified functional statement, 94.5–250 mg/day
- Required for maintaining nerve and muscle function — notified functional statement, 94.5–250 mg/day
- Sleep improvement — not a registered function for magnesium
- Antacid action and constipation treatment — OTC drug indications, not transferable to health functional food claims
Related Regulatory Concepts
- Nutrient articles and functional ingredient articles in the Health Functional Food Code
- Permitted raw-material lists as claim boundaries
- Daily intake (일일섭취량) and nutrient reference value (1일 영양성분 기준치)
- Labeled-amount tolerance (80–150%)
- Health functional food and over-the-counter drug boundaries
- Functional category registers and dated negative findings
Source Transparency Note
This page uses the following source classification:
| Source | Role | Authority Scope | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFDS Health Functional Food Code, via the current consolidated notification and 식품안전나라 ingredient record 1-16 | Regulatory | Permitted raw materials, specifications, notified functional statements, daily intake, and test methods | Applies within the health functional food framework and does not transfer automatically to general food, cosmetic, or drug claims |
| National Law Information Center (law.go.kr) — Enforcement Rule Annex 5 | Regulatory | Daily nutrient reference value used for label percentage calculation | A labeling reference value only; not a health functional food intake amount or an intake recommendation |
| 식품안전나라 functional category index | Regulatory search source | Which functional categories exist and which ingredients were found registered under them, on the search date | A dated register finding; the register changes, and absence on one date is not permanent absence |
| NEDRUG (MFDS drug product database), mirrored at KPIC | Pharmaceutical boundary | OTC drug status, active ingredient, approved indications, dosage, and precautions | Pharmaceutical indications, doses, and warnings do not transfer to health functional food products |
| PubChem | Chemical identity | Chemical identity and identifiers for magnesium and its salt forms | Does not determine Korean regulatory status or permitted health functional food claims |
Naming-layer and identity-layer sources are not used as functional-claim evidence. Chemical identity from PubChem establishes what magnesium and its salts are; it does not establish what may be stated about their health effects or how they may be labeled in Korea. KCIA (Korea Cosmetic Industry Institute) is not cited on this page, because cosmetic ingredient naming does not determine the status or functional wording of a health functional food nutrient. All functional wording recorded here traces to the Health Functional Food Code text.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is magnesium a regulated ingredient in Korea?
Yes. Magnesium (마그네슘) is registered as a nutrient in Korea’s Health Functional Food Code, Section 3, article 1-16. The article lists eleven permitted raw-material forms, sets a content specification of 80–150% of the labeled amount, provides two functional statements, and sets a daily intake of 94.5–250 mg. The consolidated Code verified for this page reflects MFDS notification 제2026-43호 dated 2026-06-11.
What functional statements does the Code provide for magnesium?
Two: required for energy utilization, and required for maintaining nerve and muscle function. That is the complete set for magnesium in article 1-16. Both are recorded here as Caution rather than Allowed, reflecting that their use depends on the product qualifying as a health functional food and supplying the specified daily intake. That classification does not mean the statements lack a basis in the Code.
Can a magnesium supplement be marketed for sleep in Korea?
Sleep is not among the two functional statements provided for magnesium in article 1-16. “Improvement of sleep quality” exists as a separate functional category in the health functional food system with its own registered ingredients, and magnesium was not found among them on the date searched. On that evidence, “sleep magnesium” wording describes a function that is not registered for magnesium, however widely the phrase is used in marketing.
Why is magnesium sold both as a supplement and as a pharmacy medicine in Korea?
Because magnesium compounds sit in two frameworks at once. Magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide are named raw-material forms under Code article 1-16, and they are also active ingredients of approved over-the-counter antacid and laxative drugs. The frameworks permit different wording, and their dose figures are not stated on the same basis: the drug dosages are expressed as the compound — magnesium hydroxide at 1–2.5 g/day for the antacid indication, magnesium oxide at 0.5–1 g/day — while the health functional food daily intake of 94.5–250 mg is expressed as elemental magnesium. Using the conversion the drug label itself gives, 250 mg of magnesium oxide corresponding to 150 mg of magnesium, the lowest antacid dose is nearer the health functional food range than the raw figures suggest. What separates the two is the approved indication, not the size of the dose, and a drug indication such as antacid action or constipation treatment does not transfer to a magnesium health functional food.
What is the difference between 94.5–250 mg and 315 mg for magnesium?
They come from different instruments, and they are also connected. The 94.5–250 mg range is the health functional food daily intake stated in Code article 1-16. The 315 mg figure is the daily nutrient reference value used to calculate the percentage figures printed on food labels. The connection is that the Code sets the minimum content for a mineral at 30% of that reference value, and 30% of 315 mg is 94.5 mg — the lower bound is derived from the labeling figure. The upper bound works differently: the Code applies the maximum content standard as a voluntary standard against the finished product’s labeled amount, not as a binding ceiling. Neither figure is a personal intake recommendation, and neither should be substituted for the other.
Are magnesium citrate and magnesium glycinate registered forms in Korea?
Neither is named among the eleven items listed in article 1-16, which covers magnesium gluconate, oxide, hydroxide, chloride, carbonate, sulphate, phosphate (dibasic and tribasic), L-lactate, stearate, and (item 카) material manufactured or processed from food raw materials so as to supplement magnesium. Whether a particular citrate or glycinate product falls within item 카 is a determination for its manufacturer and the competent authority, and this page does not resolve it in either direction.