What is beneficial for health? The concept of functional food

• Published in: Food and chemical toxicology Vol. 37; no. 9; pp. 1039 - 1041
• Main Author: Roberfroid, M.B
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-09-1999; New York, NY Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Antioxidants; Biological and medical sciences; Diet; Food; foods; General pharmacology; Health; Health and Pathology; health promoting properties; Humans; Medical sciences; medicinal properties; Nutritive Value; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Preventive Medicine - trends; Risk Assessment; Europe; Human; Definition; Health food; Research and development; General study
• ISSN: 0278-6915; 1873-6351
• DOI: 10.1016/S0278-6915(99)00080-0

‘Functional Food’ is now a very popular term. The conceptual approach developed in the EU-founded FUFOSE (Functional Food Science in Europe) project is rather restrictive, making functional food a food product to be part of the usual dietary pattern. Functional food science that supports the develoment of functional foods is and must remain part of the science of nutrition. Finally, all that exercise, that extended over the last 3 years, was function-driven because the functions and their modulation are universal, as opposed to a food or food component-driven approach,which is likely to be very much influenced by local, traditional or cultural characteristics.