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Funkcionális élelmiszerekkel kapcsolatos attitűdvizsgálatok – Szakirodalmi áttekintés (Examinations of attitudes towards functional foods – Literature review)

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Abstract

The current study of our two-part paper series dealing with psychological influences on functional food consumer behaviour focuses on attitudes towards functional foods, while the subsequent study will discuss other psychological influential factors. Several research studies have already examined attitudes towards functional foods but the wide range of available products, the significant international heterogeneity of attitudes and the diversity of the applied research methods make their comparison and generalization remarkably hard. This paper aims to organize these research studies according to specific standpoints, and based on this, to draw generalizable conclusions. Based on the literature review, we can state that attitudes towards functional foods are positive worldwide, and those attitudes have a positive effect on the purchase and consumption of functional foods. There are, of course, international differences in attitude factors that play a significant role in this positive effect, and also in the composition of those factors. These differences can be attributed primarily to the different development stages of markets. However, we can state that the most important attitude factor everywhere is the reward from using functional foods (health protection and promotion, well-being, good performance and mood) that has to be forwarded simply and obviously towards the consumers in marketing communication messages. Besides this, social necessity (including medicine-like effects) of and confidence in functional foods also influence the intention for consumption, thus, the healing effect can also be a useful buzzword in messages. In the less developed markets-such as Hungary-confidence includes the belief in the safety of the products indicating the fact that where consumers are not familiar with these products, perceived risks of functional foods can be a strong barrier to their consumption. Therefore, a key role of marketing communication messages in those markets is the reduction of perceived risks. It is worth noting, however, that functional foods cannot be seen as a homogeneous food category, thus the importance of different attitude factors may vary between the different types of food. Additionally, consumers cannot be seen as one, homogeneous group, either, therefore different marketing communication messages developed according to the attitude-based segments will be effective.
The Hungarian Journal of Nutrition Marketing
Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
21
A FUNKCIONÁLIS ÉLELMISZEREKKEL KAPCSOLATOS
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1Zoltán
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

A            
       
   
            
     

              
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
  

        

          
          




        
            

              
           
          







Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
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     
    
  
    

   
  

    
    
   


  




     

    
    
    
     




   



     
    
     
  
     


   
     
    


    


    
 

    
   
   

  
 


  

    
 
    

 
   
   
     

    
   
    
     



 
  

      
   

   

    
     
     
     
    
   
     
      
     
     

   
     
    
     


Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
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    
    
 








    


    

   
   
      
    
    

    



   
   
     
      
    
     
     

 
    
    


     
   
     
     
     
     
    
     
     
    
     
    

    
   
    






     
     
     




     
  
     



       







     
  
       
     
    
    
   
   
   
     
     



Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
24


    
    
   

       
   
   
    
   
   


     
    
 

    
    
    
  
    
   

1a. táblázat table 1a

(Primary Research Studies on Attitudes Towards Functional Foods)





(Author(s)) 
(Country) 
(Sample) 
(Product)


(Number of
statements)

(Scale) 
(Method) 
(Results)





 


  
















 



  

















 


 







 












 



 








 

    










  




  







Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
25
1b. táblázat table 1b

(Primary Research Studies on Attitudes Towards Functional Foods)

(Author(s)) 
(Country) 
(Sample) 
(Product)


(Number of
statements)

(Scale) 
(Method) 
(Results)






 


 













 


  














 


 




















 



 









 


 




  












 


 















 


 














 



  





















 


  








Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
26
1c. táblázat table 1c

(Primary Research Studies on Attitudes Towards Functional Foods)

(Author(s)) 
(Country) 
(Sample) 
(Product)


(Number of
statements)

(Scale) 
(Method) 
(Results)





 


 












 


 















 


 









 




  












 




  













 




  











 


 







      
    
    ³ 
     
  
      
   
   





    

     
   
     
 
   
     
    

    


    
         




Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
27










    
   
    
   
 

    
    

   
   
     
    


     
  

2. táblázat table 2


(Primary Research Studies Examining the Effect of Attitudes Towards Functional Foods on
the Consumption and/or Purchase of Such Products)

(Author(s)) (Factors/Principal components) (R2)

















 






(perceived reward from using FFs)
(confidence in FFs)
(necessity for FFs) 



(health effect vs. taste of FFs) 



(reward from using FFs)
(necessity for FFs)




(perceived reward from using FFs) 
(necessity for FFs)





      
        

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

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Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám



    


  




      
      
     
      
     
      
 
      
 
       

    
     


   
   
    



    

  
    
     
    
   
    
     

   
    
      
    
   
   
    
 


 


      

    

      
     

  
     
     
    
    
    
    
     
      
    
   


    


      
   

    
     
    



     
    



  




     
    

    

      

Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
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  
   


    
    
     
     
        
   
   
       
   
    
   
    



   




     
  
 
      
     

    
    
  



 

     
    
      



    
   
     
   
    
   
      



     




   
     




  

    

  
      
   

   

    

   


    
     
   

     
      
     
 
   
      
    
    



      
     
    



   


Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
30
     
     

   
    
    



     


   
   
     
    

     
   
      
     
     
      
 
   
      

      

  
     

   
    
    
   
 

   
 


  

   
  
     
   
       


   
  




     
  
     
    
  
      
     
     
  
    
   
    


   
   
     
     


   



    

       
    
    
  
    
   

   
     
     
     
     
    
     
     
     

Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
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     
   

    
    
  
 

  
     
    
   
       


     

    
   


     
   

    
   
     
    

   
  
   
     
   
      
       

  
     
    
      
     
     


    

      

   
      
    

     
   




      


   
    
   



    

  
   
     
   


    


   
    
    
109
  

   
    

3

    
    
   



Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
32
      
   

    
    40
  

    
    
   
    

    
   
   
   
    47
 

   

  
   

     
     
    

   
   

     

     
 

31

      
    
     
  
     
  36   

      
    
    

    


     
  
   
   
 50   



  
   
9
 

     
    
    

 57   

      
   
   



    

  
     
   62 
 

       
    

   2  

   
        
    

    
     

     
   
   
110   


Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
33

    

      
     
    
   
  10   

      
    
    
    
    
   
  51   


     
     
5

        
    
   
    
      
  121  

   
  
    
3 
       


112  


    
     
    
19


    
 27   


  
   
4
      
  
 
   
1 
     
     
   56  
 

      
    
     


21   

         
     
    
     
   
    
19
       
   
    

   
   

    

     

   

  10   



   
     
  

    

    
    
33   



Táplálkozásmarketing V. évfolyam, 2018/1. szám
34

   
  
9
      
     

   

    
6


    
     
   

  

   
  

6
      
     
  
     
        
     

       
  

1

       
    
    

   

     
      
    
    13 
 

     
    

    

     
   
    
 33   

     
    
    
15


   

   

         
    
    
   

    
  
   
    
16   

    
    
    
   
   
14
       
    
     
     

      
    
   
57  



Article
Full-text available
The current study of our two-part paper series is dealing with one of the most important attitude influences on functional food consumer behaviour. Namely, it focuses on “health effects vs. taste” attitude factor of functional food products, which describes the possible conflict between a pleasant taste and the health benefit of the product. This factor is analysed on the basis of two aspects of factors influencing food choice: internal (food) effects (e.g. sensory aspects) and external (non-food) effects (e.g. psychological, social, cultural factors). The most important internal (or intrinsic) characteristic is the taste of the food product. A remarkable finding of this study is that good taste is a crucial, self-relevant characteristic of any food product and bad taste would not be accepted in functional food products either. Consumers are hardly willing to compromise on the taste of functional food products for potential health benefits. Another aspect in the case of functional food products is that intrinsic product characteristics are given by the combination of the health-enhancing ingredient with the type of carrier product used. Studies have shown that functional ingredients that weaken the taste of such food products reduce their acceptance. There is a consensus in the literature that a natural match between added ingredient and carrier product increases the overall acceptance of functional food products. External (or extrinsic) characteristics, e.g. psychological and lifestyle factors, and socio-cultural differences provide further aspects of the potential conflict of “health effects vs. taste”. From a psychological point of view, one may assume that an individual who chooses a functional food is committed to the products’ benefits and may be willing to accept some unpleasant taste in order to achieve the desired health benefit. It has to be noted, however, that although the importance of a given health benefit may lead to the acceptance of an unpleasant taste, this acceptance is not necessarily supported by each of the health benefits. Lifestyle variables also influence the acceptance of functional foods, e.g. wellness-oriented consumers appear to be more willing to trade the taste for health benefits. However, the segment of consumers who are ready to sacrifice the taste for potential health benefits cannot be identified by using classical demographic characteristics as segmentation variables. The “health effects vs. taste” conflict is influenced by cultural differences, too. E.g. the priority of taste can be observed in whole Europe; in contrast, the preference for nutritional benefits is rather typical in the Asian countries. The final conclusion of our study is similar to that of the literature. Good taste and healthiness are not necessarily to be traded-off against each other. Hoping for consumer willingness to compromise on the taste for health is highly speculative and risky, so the functional food industry must develop good taste solutions. In addition to sensory perception of the food, the expectations have also been found to have an impact on the acceptance of functional food products. Consumers’ expectations are highly influenced by marketing communications. In case of functional food products marketing communication is strongly based on health-related information and this information influences not only the perception of healthiness but the liking of foods, too. Hence, additional values of functional food products (health+convenience+pleasure) have to be communicated as hedonic values, emphasizing especially the role of pleasure.
Article
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The dramatic spread of the so called diseases of civilization have occurred in the last decade worldwide. Deaths caused by them have long been of the highest rate among all causes of deaths. In parallel with the spread of the diseases of civilization, population of developed countries is increasingly ageing that increases the number of inactives and those who rely on health treatment. The outlined factors pose new challenges to the food industry: it requires the development new foods that slow down the spread of the diseases of civilization that hit the humankind through their health care effect, and at the same time provide longer life in health for the ageing societies. In the decade after decoding the human genome an extremely rapid development occurred in the techniques of genomics, and in the disciplines applying genomics methods. Researches in genomics focus on how the human genome interacts with the environmental factors for determining the gene expression. Nutrition as one of the most important environmental factors has an obvious impact on the health but we have not known yet exactly what this impact is and what its mechanism is. The so called nutrigenomics – that is a new discipline – aims to reveal the relationships that are not yet known. The personalized nutrition is a conception that adapts the diet, the foods, and the nutrients to the unique needs of the specific person. The authors examined the relationships between the functional foods, consumer attitudes and personalized nutrition in the framework of a nation-wide representative consumer survey of 500 people. According to the results majority of the consumers (73.8%) believes that her/him nutrition (diet) follows a normal structure and all that she/he needs enters her/his body automatically. Knowing the critical health state of the population it can be stated that the high agreement portion is based on misbelieves. This is also indicated by the fact that 57.4% of consumers only eats foods that tastes good, even when it is supposedly less healthy. In the next half year almost 50% of the Hungarian population do not intend to switch to a nutrition considered healthier by themselves. Further 22% of the respondents already feel some urge to change their behavior, they compare the costs and the potential benefits of change. Only 5.0% of the interviewees switched to a nutrition considered healthier by themselves in the last six months, and the rate of those who maintain the positive change is 17.4%. In the current situation there is no other option than raising awareness of the population for foods that provide excess nutrition benefits. These are the functional foods that hold important position in the education to healthy nutrition of the population. However, it is does matter in which strategy they are used by the enterprises. This applies for the development of both new technologies and new functional foods where involvement of consumers is inevitable today. The so called perception screening theory answers the solution of the anomalies between the scientific objectivity and the consumer perception. We tried to apply the perception screening theory in a new discipline, entirely unknown to the consumers. The nutrition genomics and its major application area, the personalized nutrition are novel concepts to the population to such an extent that preferences and attitudes related to them have not occurred yet. This is why it could be interesting which most important psychological processes are the ones that can lead to the adoption of the new technology, and the development of the positive consumer attitudes. According to the results Hungarian consumers are mistrustful against the new technology and they are uncertain – despite its obvious advantages. The not so positive attitude is likely caused by more factors together. Traditional thinking, reluctance to the new play a role in it as well as the lack of information and misbelieves related to the genetic tests. The technology is novel to the consumers to such an extent that we found significant differences between the consumer segments only in some cases, i.e. consumer preferences cannot be classified, they are highly scattered. Finally, the authors developed an optimized practical model by which the successful launch of a new functional food and its hindering factors can be securely forecasted. Az elmúlt évtizedekben világviszonylatban az ún. civilizációs betegségek rohamos terjedése következett be. Az általuk okozott halálozások már jó ideje a legnagyobb arányúak. A civilizációs betegségek terjedésével párhuzamosan a fejlett országok lakossága egyre inkább elöregedik, ami növeli az inaktívak és az egészségügyi kezelésre szorulók létszámát. A vázoltak új kihívások elé állítják az élelmiszeripart: olyan új élelmiszerek fejlesztését teszi szükségessé, amelyek egészségvédő hatásuk révén lassítják az emberiséget sújtó civilizációs betegségek terjedését, és egyúttal az idősödő társadalmaknak is hosszabb egészségben eltöltött élettartamot biztosítanak. Az emberi genom megfejtése óta eltelt évtizedben rendkívül gyors fejlődés ment végbe a genomikai technikákban, illetve a genomikai módszereket alkalmazó tudományterületeken. A genomikai kutatások arra fókuszálnak, hogy a humán genom hogyan lép kölcsönhatásba a környezeti faktorokkal a génexpresszió meghatározása érdekében. A táplálkozásnak, mint az egyik legfontosabb környezeti faktornak nyilvánvaló hatása van az egészségre, azonban még nem tudjuk pontosan, mi ez a hatás, és mi a mechanizmusa. A még nem ismert összefüggések feltárására törekszik az ún. nutrigenomika, amely egy új tudományterület. A személyre szabott táplálkozás egy olyan koncepció, amely az étrendet, az élelmiszereket, illetve a tápanyagokat az adott személy egyéni szükségleteire adaptálja. A szerzők egy 500 fős országos reprezentatív fogyasztói felmérés keretében vizsgálták a funkcionális élelmiszerek, a fogyasztói attitűdök és a személyre szabott táplálkozás összefüggéseit. Az eredmények szerint a fogyasztók többsége (73,8%-a) úgy véli, hogy táplálkozása (étrendje) normális arányokat követ, így szervezetébe automatikusan bekerül mindaz, amire szüksége van. Ismerve a lakosság kritikus egészségi állapotát kijelenthető, hogy a magas egyetértési arány tévhiteken alapul. Erre utal az is, hogy a fogyasztók 57,4%-a csak olyasmit eszik, ami ízlik neki, még akkor is, ha az állítólag kevésbé egészséges. A magyar lakosság majdnem 50%-a a következő fél évben nem szándékozik áttérni egy általa egészségesebbnek vélt táplálkozásra. A válaszadók további 22,6%-a már érez némi késztetést magatartásának megváltoztatására, összevetik a változtatás költségeit és potenciális előnyeit. Az interjúalanyok mindössze 5,0%-a tért át az elmúlt hat hónap során egy általa egészségesebbnek vélt táplálkozásra, a pozitív változást már fenntartók arány pedig 17,4%. A jelenlegi helyzetben nincs más lehetőség, mint a lakosság figyelmének felhívása olyan élelmiszerekre, amelyek többlet-táplálkozási előnnyel rendelkeznek. Ezek a funkcionális élelmiszerek, melyek fontos pozíciót tölthetnek be a lakosság egészséges táplálkozásra nevelésében, ugyanakkor nem mindegy, hogy ezt milyen stratégia mentén teszik a vállalatok. Ez az új technológiák és az új funkcionális élelmiszerek fejlesztésére egyaránt vonatkozik, ahol a fogyasztók bevonása ma már elkerülhetetlen. Az ún. érzékelési szűrő elmélet választ ad a tudományos objektivitás és a fogyasztói észlelés közötti anomáliák feloldására. Az érzékelési szűrő elméletet megpróbáltuk alkalmazni egy új, a fogyasztók számára még teljesen ismeretlen tudományterületen. A táplálkozás genomika, és annak fő alkalmazási területe, a személyre szabott táplálkozás a lakosság számára még olyan mértékben újszerű fogalmak, hogy velük kapcsolatban még nem alakulhattak ki preferenciák és attitűdök. Éppen emiatt lehet érdekes, hogy melyek azok a legfontosabb pszichológiai folyamatok, amelyek elvezetnek az új technológia elfogadásához, a pozitív fogyasztói hozzáállás kialakulásához. Az eredmények szerint a magyar fogyasztók az új technológiával szemben – annak nyilvánvaló előnyei ellenére – bizalmatlanok és bizonytalanok. A nem túl pozitív hozzáállás valószínűleg több tényezőnek együttesen köszönhető. Szerepet játszik a tradicionális gondolkodásmód, az újtól való idegenkedés, akárcsak az információhiány és a genetikai vizsgálatokkal kapcsolatos tévhitek. A technológia annyira újszerű a fogyasztók körében, hogy csak néhány esetben találtunk szignifikáns eltérést a fogyasztói szegmensek között, vagyis a fogyasztói preferenciák nem rendezhetők csoportokba, azok erősen szóródnak. Végül a szerzők egy olyan optimalizált gyakorlati modellt hoztak létre, amellyel biztonságosan előrejelezhető egy új funkcionális élelmiszer sikeres piaci bevezetése, illetve az azt gátló tényezők.
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1. The Functional Food Science in Europe (FUFOSE) project was introduced, evaluated and accepted by the EU DG XII FAIR Programme as a Concerted Action. Its aim was to develop and establish a science-based approach for the emerging concepts in functional food development. Over the last three years of this EU Concerted Action co-ordinated by ILSI Europe, scientific data have been evaluated and new concepts have been elaborated. This Consensus Document is the culmination of the EU Concerted Action and its key points and recommendations are summarized here. It is by no means the end of the process, but, rather, an important starting point and the stimulus for functional food development. 2. Considerable progress has been made in scientific knowledge leading to the identification of functional food components which might eventually lead to an improved state of health and well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease. Consumers are becoming more aware of this development as they seek a better-quality, as well as a longer, life. The food industry has an opportunity to provide products that are not only safe and tasty, but also functional. The originality of the approach in this EU Concerted Action is that it is function-based, rather than product-based. The latter approach would have to be influenced by local considerations of different cultural as well as dietary traditions, whereas the function-based approach starts from the biologically based science that is universal. Furthermore, and most importantly, the function-based approach in this EU Concerted Action has allowed the development of ideas that suggest a unique way in which to link this scientific basis of functional foods with the communication about their possible benefits to consumers. 3. This EU Concerted Action has adopted the following working definition, rather than a firm definition, for functional foods: A food can be regarded as 'functional' if it is satisfactorily demonstrated to affect beneficially one or more target functions in the body, beyond adequate nutritional effects in a way that is relevant to either an improved state of health and well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease. 4. Functional foods must remain foods and they must demonstrate their effects in amounts that can normally be expected to be consumed in the diet. They are not pills or capsules, but part of a normal food pattern. A functional food can be a natural food, a food to which a component has been added, or a food from which a component has been removed by technological or biotechnological means. It can also be a food where the nature of one or more components has been modified, or a food in which the bioavailability of one or more components has been modified; or any combination of these possibilities. A functional food might be functional for all members of a population or for particular groups of the population, which might be defined, for example, by age or by genetic constitution. 5. The development of functional foods must rely on basic scientific knowledge of target functions in the body that are relevant to an improved state of health and well-being and/or the reduction of risk of diseases, the identification of validated markers for these target functions and the evaluation of sound scientific data from human studies for their possible modulation by foods and food components. This EU Concerted Action has proposed that markers can be classified according to whether they are markers of exposure to the functional food component whether they are markers that relate to target function or biological response or whether they are intermediate markers of the actual disease endpoint or health outcome. 6. Consumers must be made aware of the scientific benefits of functional foods and this requires clear and informative communication through messages (claims) on products and in accompanying materials. This EU Concerted Action has identified two types of claims that are vital to functional food development and has provided a scientific basis for them to help those who have to formulate and regulate the claims. Claims for 'Enhanced Function Claims' (Type A) should require that evidence for the effects of the functional food is based on establishment and acceptance of validated markers of Improved Target Function or Biological Response, while claims for the Reduced Risk Of A Disease (Type B) should require that evidence is based on the establishment and acceptance of Markers of Intermediate Endpoints of Disease. These markers must be shown to be significantly and consistently modulated by the functional food or the functional food component for either type of claim to be made. This EU Concerted Action has therefore proposed a scheme whereby the scientific basis of functional food development can be linked to the communication of their benefits to the public. If the principles of such a scheme can be universally adopted then this should ultimately improve communication to consumers and minimize their confusion. 7. Functional foods must be safe according to all standards of assessing food risk and new approaches to safety might need to be established. This EU Concerted Action proposes that the development of validated markers as described above should, if possible, be used and integrated in the safety assessment with particular attention being paid to long-term consequences and interactions between components. 8. The development of functional foods, with their accompanying claims, will proceed hand in hand with progress in food regulation, which is the means to guarantee the validity of the claims as well as the safety of the food. Science in itself cannot be regulated and functional food science provides only the scientific basis for these regulations. 9. The Individual Theme Group papers, which are the science base for this Concerted Action, represent the critical assessment of the literature by European experts.
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The food industry is one of the most important branches of the national economy in Italy and in the European Union in general, playing a central role for the processing of agricultural raw materials and food supply. This industry is traditionally regarded as a sector with low research intensity; notwithstanding, innovations are recognized as an important instrument for companies belonging to the food industry in order to stand out from competitors and to satisfy consumer expectations. In this regard, functional foods play an outstanding role, as demonstrated by their increasing demand derived from the increasing cost of healthcare, the steady increase of life expectancy, and the desire of older people for improved quality of their later years. The main target of this paper is to analyze the state of the art on functional foods. For this purpose, a review of extant literature is presented. Specific emphasis is laid on the definition and the main examples of functional food. The paper concludes with comments on future trends.