Functional food

Functional food is any fresh or processed food claimed to have a health-promoting and/or disease-preventing property beyond the basic nutritional function of supplying nutrients, although there is no consensus on an exact definition of the term.

This is an emerging field in food science, in which such foods are usually accompanied with health claims for marketing purposes, such as, "Kellogg cereal is a significant source of fiber. Studies have shown that an increased amount of fiber in one's diet can decrease the risk of certain types of cancer in individuals."

Functional foods are sometimes called nutraceuticals, a contraction of nutrition and pharmaceutical, and can include food that has been genetically modified. The general category includes processed food made from functional food ingredients, or fortified with health-promoting additives, like "vitamin-enriched" products, and also, fresh foods (e g vegetables) that have specific claims attached.

The term was first used in Japan in the 1980s, where there is a government approval process for functional foods, called Foods for Specified Health Use (FOSHU). Some countries, like Canada, have specific laws concerning the labeling of such products.

External links

• Functional Foods: Public Health Boon or 21st Century Quackery? – Summary report by International Association of Consumer Food Organizations reviews regulatory and market situation in Japan, the US and the UK (March 1999)
• UK Joint Health Claims Initiative