Functional foods trends

Surai R F. and Sparks N. H. C. (2001). Designer eggs from improvement of egg composition to functional food. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 12 7-16. 

The demand for healthy foods has led to the development of several entirely new healthy ingredient and additive categories (Heasman and Mellentin 2001 Sloan 2004). An entirely new sector of functional food ingredients has developed, including products such as omega-3 fatty acids and phytosterols for cardiovascular health, prebiotics and probiotics for gut health, antioxidants, polyphenols and phytochemicals, and bioactive peptides. The established vitamins and minerals sector has also benefited from this functional food trend, with more and more products being fortified with beneficial vitamins and minerals. 

Knorr, D. Technology aspects related to microorganisms in functional foods. Trends Food Sci. TechnoL, 9, 295,1998. 

Gilbert L (2000) The functional food trend what s next and what Americans think about eggs. J Am CoU Nutr 19(5) 507S-512S... 

Sloane A E (2006) Top 10 functional food trends. In Food Technology, Apr 2006 Institute of Food Technology... 

Van Trijp, J.C.M. and Steenkamp, J.E.B.M., Consumer-oriented new product development principles and practice, in Innovation of Food Production Systems, Jongen, W.M.E. and Meulenberg, M.T.G., Eds., Wageningen Pers, Wageningen, 1998, 37. Luning, P.A. and Marcehs, W. 1., A food quality management functions model. Trends Food Sci. Technol., 18, 159, 2007. 

Bruijnzeel AW, Markou A (2003) Characterization of the effects of bupropion on the reinforcing properties of nicotine and food in rats. Synapse 50 20-28 Buisson B, Bertrand D (2001) Chronic exposure to nicotine upregulates the human (alpha)4(beta)2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor function. J Neurosci 21 1819-1829 Buisson B, Bertrand D (2002) Nicotine addiction the possible role of functional upregulation. Trends Pharmacol Sd 23 130-136... 

Shahidi, F. (2009). Nutraceuticals and functional foods Whole versus processed foods. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 20, 376-387. 

Foodomics, Functional Foods, and Nutraceuticals There is a clear trend in medicine and biosciences toward prevention of future diseases through adequate food intakes and the development of new functional foods and nutraceuticals. Although there is no officially accepted definition of functional foods, the definition proposed by Diplock et al. (73) is commonly used in the European Union and considers that a food is functional when it beneficially affects one or more target functions in the body beyond adequate nutrition in a way that is relevant to an improved state of health and well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease. Functional foods may include both natural (unmodified) foods and foods in which a component has been added, removed, or modified (including the bioavailability) by... 

Apart from the challenges to be faced in the near future in food science and nutrition already described above (e.g., the production of new functional foods with scientifically proved claims the improvement of food safety, quality, and traceability the development, production, and monitoring of new transgenic foods, including the so-called second-generation GM crops environmental sustainability, etc.), there are other interesting trends and opportunities that can be anticipated for Foodomics that are described below. 

Lindsay, M.P., Skerritt, J.H. 1999. The glutenin macropolymer of wheat flour doughs Structure-function perspectives. Trends Food Sci Technol 10 247-253. 

C. Reilly, Selenium a new entrant into the functional food arena, Trends Food Set Technol., 9 (1998), 114-118. 

Larsson, K., Tailoring Lipid Functionality in Foods, Trends Food Sci. Technol. 5 311-315... 

The strong tendency towards phytotherapy and self-medication is further supported by health insurance companies which exclude medication for minor diseases from the list of reimbursed products. So-called lifestyle drugs cmd functional food are the industry s reaction towards such trends. Patients take care of their heedth in a more responsible manner and try to prevent severe and chronic diseases by changing their lifestyle and controlling their food intake. Dietary measures instead of medicine represent the new approach toward a healthier life. A profound distrust of genetically engineered food has paved the way to a back to nature trend with a preference for products with the bio label. 

There is worldwide confusion about the regulations on natural products and dialogue between countries for harmonization is needed. This is important for both the consumers and the developers and producers of new products. Some general regulations exist in the United States, Canada and Europe, where health claims permitted are generic and not product-specific. Products that claim benefits in the prevention or treatment of disease or illness are considered drugs or medicinal products and not foods (Stephen, 1998). This trend may, however, change with the renewed interest in functional foods and alternative medicine. 

All these attributes and a number of others continue to characterise the current food trends. Additionally, health, wellness, variety and anti-aging are the major driving forces of today s functional foods. Never before has the consumer been so sensitive to the correlation between health consciousness, diet and long life, nutrition and fortification with a simultaneous acceptance and growing consumption of better tasting, ready-to-use convenience foods [12, 13]. 

The functional food concept constitutes a worldwide trend. That it is viewed very differently in the USA, Europe and Asia is clearly evident from the fact that there is no universally accepted definition of the term functional food . The following are some examples of the international definitions of functional food . 

Voragen, A.G.J., Technological aspects of functional food-related carbohydrates, Trends Food Sci. Technol., 9, 328, 1998. 

Plaza, M., Cifuentes, A., and Ibmez, E. (2008). In the search of new functional food ingredients from algae. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 19, 31-39. 

Butt, M.S., A. Nazir, M.T. Sultan, and K. Schroen. 2008. Morus alba L. Nature s functional tonic. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 19(10) 505-512. 

Pophaly, S.D., Singh, P., Kumar, H., Tomar, S.K. et al. (2014) Selenium enrichment of lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria a functional food perspective. Trends Food Sci. Technol, 39, 135-145. 

The generation of bioactive peptides during microbial fermentation of milk and soybean is now well documented. Such peptides have been shown to exert several bioactivities that have been demonstrated in animal and human studies. Potential health benefits associated with bioactive peptides have been subject of growing commercial interest, especially in the context of functional foods. Milk proteins are the best-known source of bioactive peptides, but peptides with similar properties have also been identified in soybean. Anti-hypertensive peptides derived from milk proteins have already found commercial applications both in Japan and in Europe. This trend is likely to continue, although controversial results in cUnical trials and global differences in health claim regulations call for further scientific and clinical research. 

Functional foods and nutraceuticals are reported as one of the top trends of the food industry, but because of the different definitions of the terms, it is uneasy to calculate their global market size. With a broad definition, this value is weU over... 

In fact, one of the main leastais of the success of functional foods has been the role of consumers undertaking new trends to a healthier lifestyle. Many objective data show this tendency. For example, between 2006 and 2007, vegetables and fruits were the top 2 products whose use increased in North America, Western Europe, and Nordic Europe, while processed foods, salty snacks, and sugars were some of the products with the biggest decrease in use. In the last 25 years, butter has decreased from around 70 % of the yellow fat market to 25 %, while low fat spreads have captured half this market In the cooking fat sector, vegetable oils have taken over the animal fats. Skimmed and semi-skimmed milks have copped 2/3 of milk sales, while low calorie soft drinks have increased to 20 % of the soft drink market [31]. 

Bech-Larsen T, Scholderer J (2007) Functional foods in Einope consumer research, market experiences and regulatory aspects. Trends Food Sci Technol 18 231-234... 

Jones PJ, Jew S (2007) Functional food development concept to reality. Trends Food Sci Technol 18(7) 387-390... 

---