Functional foods

doi:10.1136/bmj.39212.592477.BE

BMJ 2007;334:1015-1016 (19 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39212.592477.BE

Editorials

Functional foods

Their long term impact and marketing need to be monitored

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Functional foods, also known as "nutraceuticals" or "designerfoods" are foods containing supplements that are intended toimprove health, and they are slowly emerging on supermarketshelves worldwide. The market is divided into two main categories.Firstly, breakfast cereals fortified with fibre and sometimesvitamins and, secondly, dairy or yoghurt drinks and yoghurtswith probiotic bacteria. Manufacturers of foods, soft drinks,and drugs have invested heavily in this sector to create a marketthat aims to cover 5% of the value of food sales worldwide.¹By 2005, global sales were an estimated $73.5bn (£36.9bn; ${euro}$ 54.3bn) and, although slowing, still on target to reach $167bnafter 2010.² In this week's BMJ, de Jong and colleagues³ discussvarious aspects of functional foods—their effectiveness,long term safety and marketing.

There are two broad positions on functional foods. Proponentsargue that they are a consumer friendly way to improve dietsand fulfil the . . . [Full text of this article]

Tim Lang, professor of food policy

Centre for Food Policy, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB

t.lang@city.ac.uk

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Functional foods: the case for closer evaluation: Nynke de Jong, Olaf H Klungel, Hans Verhagen, Marion C J Wolfs, Marga C Ocké, and Hubert G M Leufkens
BMJ 2007 334: 1037-1039. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Health claims for functional foods: Martijn B Katan
BMJ 2004 328: 180-181. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Yogurt and Probiotics: Hugh Mann
bmj.com, 19 May 2007 [Full text]
Functional foods are not super-foods: M Justin S Zaman
bmj.com, 22 May 2007 [Full text]