Functional Foods

This report reviews functional foods from a multidisciplinary perspective focusing on safety, legal/policy aspects, economy, public perceptions and ethics. It attempts to clarify the main issues and provides comprehensive recommendations for policymaking, especially since functional foods are being introduced into society at a particularly sensitive moment when food has become a main issue in public debates and a focal point of political activity in Europe. Diet-related diseases have assumed epidemic proportions significantly affecting the quality of life while obesity is spreading to the majority of the adult population but also to young people. These foods assume a highly targeted solution to diet-related diseases with effective reduction of risk and improved physical and mental well-being, but are still faced with a host of unresolved issues.

Koreans believe the adage of food as medicine. Therefore, herbs or fruit ingredients such as ginger, cinnamon, adlay, mugwort, pomegranate, and ginseng are used for their therapeutic effects as much as cooking. This book provide information related to Korean functional food. It first describes the history and culture of Korean foods, and then compares Korean diet tables with other Asian countries and Western countries. Also, the book will cover detailed information of Korean functional foods such as kimchi, soybean products, ginseng, salt, oil and seeds. It also deals with its health benefits and processing methods, followed by rules and regulations related to its manufacture and sales.

In the last three decades, revolutionary achievements have taken place in nutraceutical and functional food research including the introduction of a number of cutting-edge dietary supplements supported by human clinical trials and strong patents. Novel manufacturing technologies including unique extraction processes, bioavailability improvements through delivery technologies such as nanotechnology, and innovative packaging have been critical steps for their successful positioning in the marketplace and consumer acceptance worldwide. Nonetheless, mixed messages have emerged from both the scientific community and the media concerning the potential benefits of foods and nutrients in the treatment and prevention of disease. This confusion, in addition to existing marketed products making questionable health claims, have led health practitioners and consumers to become skeptical about nutritional claims of new and emerging food products. Clinical Aspects of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals provides an extensive overview of the clinical aspects of functional foods and nutraceuticals. It contains information on both nutritional challenges and potential health benefits of functional foods and nutraceuticals. In addition to exploring the underpinning science, the book also focuses on food innovation, functional foods in human health, food–drug interactions, functional foods in medicine, the seed-to-clinic approach, global regulatory frameworks, challenges, and future directions. The book provides an essential overview of the clinical aspects surrounding functional foods and nutraceuticals for key stakeholders, drawing links between areas of knowledge that are often isolated from each other. This form of knowledge integration will be essential for practice, especially for policy makers and administrators.

Functional foods and nutraceuticals are food products that naturally offer or have been modified to offer additional health benefits beyond basic nutrition. As such products have surged in popularity in recent years, it is crucial that researchers and manufacturers understand the concepts underpinning functional foods and the opportunity they represent to improve human health, reduce healthcare costs, and support economic development worldwide. Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: Bioactive Components, Formulations and Innovations presents a guide to functional foods from experienced professionals in key institutions around the world. The text provides background information on the health benefits, bioavailability, and safety measurements of functional foods and nutraceuticals. Subsequent chapters detail the bioactive components in functional foods responsible for these health benefits, as well as the different formulations of these products and recent innovations spurred by consumer demands. Authors emphasize product development for increased marketability, taking into account safety issues associated with functional food adulteration and solutions to be found in GMP adherence. Various food preservation methods aimed at enhancing the quality and shelf life of functional food are also highlighted. Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: Bioactive Components, Formulations and Innovations is the first of its kind, designed to be useful to students, teachers, nutritionists, food scientists, food technologists and public health regulators alike.

Regulation of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: A Global Perspective offers a comprehensive resource for information on regulatory aspects of the growing and economically important functional food industry. Regulatory systems and definitions of key terms-food, supplement, drug, etc-vary from country to country. A thorough understanding of laws and regulation within and among key countries with regard to functional foods, herbal extracts or drugs, and nutritional supplements is critical to the direction of food companies that are developing products for these markets. International experts with legal and/or scientific expertise address relevant topics from quality issues, to organic foods to labeling. Innovative product development within the framework of existing regulations will be addressed in individual chapters. Overview chapters will discuss global principles, inter-country trading issues, and present a comparison of the laws and regulations within different countries graphically. A "must-have" handbook for research professionals, management, and marketing strategists in the worldwide functional foods/nutritional supplements business. Food technicians and engineers responsible for manufacturing quality in this industry should add it to their library to ensure that they have a thorough knowledge of the applicable legal requirements. The book will also serve as an indispensable shelf reference for lawyers in the food industry and government health professionals with regulatory responsibilities.

The field of functional foods along with their bioactive food components has grown tremendously over the past decades. Often guided by hypothesis-generating epidemiological observations, discoveries from basic science studies and controlled trials in humans have provided critical evidence to help establish an optimal diet that alleviates chronic disease risk. These advances have also driven efforts by the food and nutraceutical industries to establish and market health claims, formulate extra-value foods, and even generate new health foods for human benefit. Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Third Edition, compiles the data from experts in the field that potentiates the already established credibility of the earlier editions. In its three-section format, it provides an authoritative summary of the prophylactic and/or medicinal benefits of natural foods and their constituents that are linked to favorable health outcomes. Beginning with an overview of the field and associated regulations, each chapter describes the chemical properties, bioactivities, dietary sources, and evidence of these health-promoting dietary constituents. Features: • Summarizes plant- and animal-based functional foods and their bioactive components • New chapters on cannabidiol and scientific, legal, and regulatory considerations; green tea and nutraceutical applications; and herbal nutraceuticals and insulin resistance • Includes information on functional food beverages including coffee, green tea, and dairy milk • Discusses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of vitamin E, anthocyanins and other (poly)phenolic compounds, and carotenoids • Provides an update on the health benefits and requirements of protein and performance and therapeutic application and safety of creatine.

As a result of their unique physical properties, biological membrane mimetics such as biopolymers are used in a broad range of scientific and technological applications. This comprehensive book covers new applications of biopolymers in the research and development of industrial scale nutraceutical and functional food grade products. All the major food biopolymers are included, from plant, animal and marine sources. Coverage also includes biopolymer-based drug delivery mechanisms intended for biological applications such as bio-detection of pathogens, fluorescent biological labels, and drug and gene delivery. This is the first interdisciplinary book to address this area specifically and is essential reading for those who produce the functional biopolymer materials as well as those who seek to incorporate them into appropriate nutraceutical, food and drug delivery products.

* The first book to examine the revolution sweeping across the global food industry: foods that promote human health, such as Olestra * Penetrating analysis which shows that, to succeed, the 'functional foods' revolution requires a radical restructuring of the entire industry * A critical crossover issue for business interests, scientific probity and public health - like GM foods * An indispensable book for all involved in the industry, the science and in public health Foods that promote human health—“functional foods" or nutraceuticals—have caught the imagination of the global food industry. Already the public are familiar with the cholesterol-lowering margarine Benecol, the probiotic drink Yakult and the "fat-free fat" Olestra. All the household-name companies are developing functional foods as a key driver in their global strategies—chasing new markets and bigger margins. But the issues presented are complex and difficult. Distinguishing hype from real hope, the authors explain the dilemmas and contradictions the industry faces. They present a wealth of detailed marketing, food policy and regulatory material and show how the hopes of the industry, and the consumer, may be dashed. The solution they offer is radical: nothing less than a new business model of what they term a "Healthful Company".