Functional foods: the case for closer evaluation

doi:10.1136/bmj.39196.666377.BE

BMJ 2007;334:1037-1039 (19 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39196.666377.BE

Analysis

Functional foods: the case for closer evaluation

Nynke de Jong, project director functional foods, postlaunch monitoring, risk-benefit analyses¹, Olaf H Klungel, associate professor², Hans Verhagen, head of centre for nutrition and health¹, Marion C J Wolfs, scientific coworker¹, Marga C Ocké, project director, food consumption surveys¹, Hubert G M Leufkens, professor of pharmacoepidemiology²

¹ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), PO Box 1, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, Netherlands, ² Utrecht University, Department of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands

Correspondence to: N de Jong Nynke.de.Jong@rivm.nl

Current regulations focus on the mandatory safety evaluationof functional foods before they come to market, but Nynke deJongand colleagues argue that the effects of such foods shouldalso be evaluated after they have been launched

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

Functional foods are modified foods that claim to improve health,quality of life, or wellbeing. These foods are intended foruse in the context of a healthy lifestyle or as a means to compensatefor an unhealthy one. From society's point of view, there areseveral potential problems—the medicalisation of our dailyfood intake, the long term safety and effectiveness of thesefoods, and the aggressive marketing and advertising of thesehighly profitable products.¹ However, functional foods needto be fully evaluated to make sure they meet current scientificand regulatory standards.

EU regulations

Several European Union regulations and directives on functionalfoods are currently being developed. Current rules focus mainlyon the mandatory safety evaluation of new foods before theycome to market; minimum and maximum safe upper values for micronutrientsused for fortification; lists of permitted substances for fortification;the registration of herbal products; and acceptable nutritionaland health claims.²

. . . [Full text of this article]

Market positioning of functional foods versus drugs

Possible food and drug interactions

Limited postlaunch scientific data

The case for postlaunch monitoring

Summary points

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