Functional of Food

These are foods that appear to have health benefits beyond the provision of nutrients and energy. A recent symposium on the topic gave the following definition ‘a food can be said to be functional if it contains a compound, which may or may not be a nutrient, that affects one or a limited number of functions in the body in a targeted way so as to have positive effects on health.

The health benefits may be physiological or may take the form of a positive psychological effect.Functional foods may be foods that contain the beneficial substance naturally, e.g. fruits and vegetables contain a variety of antioxidant substances that are not strictly nutrients but have beneficial effects: wholegrain cereals contain dietary fibre that may have beneficial effects on gut function and help prevent heart disease; soya beans contain phytoestrogens that may have beneficial effects as described above. However, increasingly food manufacturers are producing foodstuffs with ‘functional’ added ingredients that may be of benefit to health....

For example, spreads with plant sterols or plant stanols added may help lower cholesterol levels; addition of specific bacteria, called probiotics, to yoghurts and yoghurt drinks, may have beneficial effects within the gut and beyond; and chewing gum containing phosphatidylcholine is claimed to improve memory.

Legislative bodies in most countries are currently struggling to define the health claims that may be made for such foods, and to describe the evidence that is needed before such claims can be made.

In the UK a voluntary code, ‘The Joint Health Claims Initiative’, has been developed by manufacturers working with the scientific community and consumer groups, which describes the types of claims, that can be made. In the USA the Food and Drugs Administration adjudicates on claims, and in other countries specific bodies have also been set up to advise on the subject.

In this book functional foods are discussed where appropriate – whether as foods such as cholesterol-lowering spreads, fish oils, cereals, probiotic yoghurts, and many others, or as products containing herbal materials, such as drinks containing ginkgo or echinacea, which may also put them into the category of functional food.