Functional Food Case Study

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“Functional Foods: Future’s Food or Fad?” Caragh Moher, NHS3 Introduction: The main purpose of the human diet is to provide adequate nutrients to meet the requirements of the individual. In recent years there has been an increased interest in the term ‘Functional Food’, there has been an increase in the scientific evidence to prove the theory that some foods and particular components of food have beneficial physiological and psychological effects greater than just providing the basic nutritional requirements. The term ‘Functional Food’ was first used by the Japanese in the 1980’s. During this period of time, the Japanese Government decided that larger consumption of certain food categories could help to limit or cut the effects of a number of infection risk factors, and thus assist in controlling the rising health costs associated with an ageing population. Topic 1: EU Markets and Types of Functional Foods…show more content…
(Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2007) Functional foods have not as yet been defined by legislation in Europe. Generally, they are considered as those foods which are envisioned to be consumed as part of the normal diet and that contain biologically active components which offer the potential of enhanced health or reduced threat of disease. Examples of functional foods include foods that contain specific minerals, vitamins, fatty acids or dietary fibre, foods with additional biologically active materials such as phytochemicals or other antioxidants and probiotics that have live beneficial cultures. (European Food Information Council,

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