3
on health when consumed as part of a varied diet on a regular basis at effective
levels” (Crowe and Francis 2013). We further characterize functional foods as those:
1. found in conventional food forms with inherent sensory characteristics;
2. containing physiologically functional components that are not consumed in
medicinal/therapeutic levels;
3. that confer scientifically-proven physiologic benefit/s when consumed as part of
the regular diet, but not in the pill or isolated forms;
4. scientifically-proven safe for long-term consumption of the intended
population;
5. containing functional components (whether nutrient or phytochemical) that are
naturally present, or are added to the food (Sion et al. 2018),
6. may be used to prevent and treat certain diseases.
Another confusing term often used interchangeably with functional food is
nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals is a term derived from ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceuticals’ (Kalra 2003). It was coined in 1989 by the founder of Foundation for
Innovation in Medicine, Dr. Stephen De Felice, and is defined as ‘any substance
that is a food or a part of a food and provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease’ (Cencic and Chingwaru 2010). Just
like functional foods, nutraceuticals is defined differently in many countries.
According to Trottier et al. (2010), when functional food aids in the prevention
and/or treatment of diseases and/or disorders other than anaemia, it is called a
nutraceutical. In Canada and US, nutraceuticals is defined as ‘a product produced
from foods but sold in pills, powders, and other medicinal forms not generally
associated with food (Bull et al. 2000; Nasri et al. 2014). Hence, the simplest
difference between functional foods and nutraceuticals is that a functional food
is essentially a food, but a nutraceutical is an isolated or concentrated form used
as medicine to improve health, impede aging, prevent chronic diseases, and
increase life expectancy (Nasri et al. 2014).
Despite the immense interest in health research, the design of functional
foods and nutraceuticals requires high development costs and produces critical
challenges, which are sometimes difficult to handle for food companies
(Villaño et al. 2016). Thus, introducing functional food to the market entails a
series of steps involving research, communication with government agencies,
and effective public marketing (IFT 2015). Currently, research efforts have
been intensified more to increase understanding of the mechanisms in functional foods. Nutrigenomics and biotechnology are two of the most popular
emerging discipline and technology that are known to affect the future of functional foods. According to Pavlidis et al. (2015), nutrigenomics is an emerging
science which look into a specific area of nutrition using molecular tools to
assess and understand different responses gathered through a certain diet
applied between individual and groups. Biotechnology, on the other hand, is a
technology that uses biological systems or living organisms to develop new
products (NUST 2019).
1 Functional Foods and Health Benefits
on health when consumed as part of a varied diet on a regular basis at effective
levels” (Crowe and Francis 2013). We further characterize functional foods as those:
1. found in conventional food forms with inherent sensory characteristics;
2. containing physiologically functional components that are not consumed in
medicinal/therapeutic levels;
3. that confer scientifically-proven physiologic benefit/s when consumed as part of
the regular diet, but not in the pill or isolated forms;
4. scientifically-proven safe for long-term consumption of the intended
population;
5. containing functional components (whether nutrient or phytochemical) that are
naturally present, or are added to the food (Sion et al. 2018),
6. may be used to prevent and treat certain diseases.
Another confusing term often used interchangeably with functional food is
nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals is a term derived from ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceuticals’ (Kalra 2003). It was coined in 1989 by the founder of Foundation for
Innovation in Medicine, Dr. Stephen De Felice, and is defined as ‘any substance
that is a food or a part of a food and provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease’ (Cencic and Chingwaru 2010). Just
like functional foods, nutraceuticals is defined differently in many countries.
According to Trottier et al. (2010), when functional food aids in the prevention
and/or treatment of diseases and/or disorders other than anaemia, it is called a
nutraceutical. In Canada and US, nutraceuticals is defined as ‘a product produced
from foods but sold in pills, powders, and other medicinal forms not generally
associated with food (Bull et al. 2000; Nasri et al. 2014). Hence, the simplest
difference between functional foods and nutraceuticals is that a functional food
is essentially a food, but a nutraceutical is an isolated or concentrated form used
as medicine to improve health, impede aging, prevent chronic diseases, and
increase life expectancy (Nasri et al. 2014).
Despite the immense interest in health research, the design of functional
foods and nutraceuticals requires high development costs and produces critical
challenges, which are sometimes difficult to handle for food companies
(Villaño et al. 2016). Thus, introducing functional food to the market entails a
series of steps involving research, communication with government agencies,
and effective public marketing (IFT 2015). Currently, research efforts have
been intensified more to increase understanding of the mechanisms in functional foods. Nutrigenomics and biotechnology are two of the most popular
emerging discipline and technology that are known to affect the future of functional foods. According to Pavlidis et al. (2015), nutrigenomics is an emerging
science which look into a specific area of nutrition using molecular tools to
assess and understand different responses gathered through a certain diet
applied between individual and groups. Biotechnology, on the other hand, is a
technology that uses biological systems or living organisms to develop new
products (NUST 2019).
1 Functional Foods and Health Benefits