Table 1.

Differences between pharmaceutical and functional food clinical trials.

Feature	Pharmaceutical Trials	Functional Food Trials	References
Primary goal	Efficacy and safety	Health promotion and prevention	[16]
Study design complexity	High (controlled, standardized)	High (dietary habits vary)	[15]
Regulatory oversight	Strict (FDA, EMA)	Emerging, diverse globally	[17]
Confounding variables	Minimally present	Highly present (diet, lifestyle)	[17]