Functional drinks

A functional drink can be defined as one that offers the consumer additional perceived benefits besides its primary function, which is hydration - the maintenance of body fluid at a suitable level. The benefits are usually directed towards some aspect of maintaining good health or coping with the pressures of modern lifestyles. A range of functional ingredients, including herbal extracts, is available to the formulator of functional drinks. 

Herbal drinks form part of die functional drinks sector. Some idea of the growing importance of diis sector can be gained from the International Functional Soft Drinks Report 2003 (Zenith, 2003), which covers the United States, Japan and 16 Western European countries. The market has become so sophisticated that the report can define four subsegments ... 

Using the resulting basic crude infusion directly or further concentrating it under reduced pressure to make a soft extract, which in turn can be dried to a powdered extract. For the majority of functional drinks the infusion is the preferred form of extract as it is the easiest to dispense and mix into the end product. Figure 12.3 shows a typical infusion vessel. 

Functional drinks continue to be very successful in Japan and the major ingredients exploited there are fibre, calcium, iron and oligosaccharides. Label text refers to beneficial effects on the digestive system, bones, teeth and other parts of the body as appropriate. In Europe these drinks are only beginning to be developed. Examples that are available in the UK include ... 

In beverages, carrot pomace, or citrus waste will stabilize the natural color, improve the vitamin and fiber content, enhance the viscosity (mouthfeel) (Laufenberg et al., 1996), and enrich or adjust the cloudy appearance (Sreenath et al., 1995). The organoleptic and chemical properties offer a widespread use in healthy and functional drinks and selected fruit juices. 

The Japanese market is the most established by far. It consists largely of health and functional drinks in small bottles, although more recently lines are starting to appear in standard soft drinks packaging. Many of the brands on the market target gut health through the use of prebiotics and dietary fibre. Bone health is also a major focus, using various calcium sources in combination with promoters of calcium absorption such as calcium citrate malate. 

Germany is the most developed functional drinks market in Europe, due to the success of drinks fortified with vitamins A, C and E, otherwise known as ACE drinks . Sales of ACE lines, including newer products such as those fortified with vitamins B, C and E and DHA, are worth in excess of 100 million/year. 

Polyphenols are commonly present in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and flowers. Moreover, polyphenols can be found in such products as cocoa, tea, coffee, wine, jam, and chocolate. Polyphenolic compounds are also often applied in cosmetics, medicines, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, and in recent years, for the production of functional foods. The food industry offers a variety of new functional products in which the polyphenol content is usually higher than in products of natural origin. Milk enriched with soy isoflavones, chocolate enriched in procyanidins, drinks with higher amounts of anthocyanins, functional drinks enriched with extracts of tea—these are just a few products that are the result of functional foods revolution. On the other hand, the use of synthetic antioxidants in the food industry is of great concern among consumers who seek to limit their intake. Toxicological and nutritional research indicates adverse effect of some synthetic antioxidants used in food. The use of additives in food products, mainly in edible fats, means that more attention should be paid to antioxidants that are derived from natural plant extracts and used as food additives. 

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