CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The primary role of diet
is to provide sufficient nutrient to meet the national requirement of an
individual. There is now increasing scientific evidence to support the
hypothesis that some food component have beneficial physiological and
psychological effect occur and above the provision if the basic nutritional
adequately to the concept of “positive” or optimal” nutrition, “potter
The research focus has
shifted move to the identification of biologically active component in food
that have the potential to optimal physical and mental well being and which
many also reduce the risk of disease. Many traditional food product including
fruit, vegetable, Soya all grains and milk have been found to contain component
with potential health benefit. In addition to these foods, now foods are being
developed to enhance or incorporate there beneficial component for their health
benefit or desrable physiological effect “Abertet .
The concept of functional
food was first introduced in Japan in the mild 1980s “Senders health authorized in
Japan recognized that an improved quality of it must accompany increasing life
expectancy for the expanding number of elderly people in the population if
health care cost wee to be controlled. The concept of food that was developed
specifically to promote health or reduce the risk of disease was introduced.
The term functional food
now refer to processed food containing ingredient that aid specific bodily
functions in addition to being nutrition. “Alman et al . To date, Japan is the
only country that has formulated a specific regulatory approval process for
functional foods.
“Foshu” i.e food for
specified health use, currently, 100 product are licensed as FOSHU foods in
Japan “Arai .
The roles of functional foods are disease prevention and health promotion. In
the united state, the functional foods categorist not recognized legally. In
respect of this, many organization have proposed definition for the new and
emerging area of the food and nutrition science. The institute of medicines
food and nutrition board “IOM/FND, , defined functional food as “any food or
food ingredient that man provide a health benefit beyond the traditional
nutrient it contains.
Health conscious baby consumers
have made functional food the leading trend in the US food industry “Meyer,
This food provide the
health benefit beyond basic nutrition due to certain physiological active
component, which may or may not have been manipulated or modified to enhance
their bioactivity. Many of these foods also help prevent disease, reduce the
risk of developing disease, or enhance health consumers interest in functional
food increased during the late twentieth century as people interest in
achieving and maintaining good health increased “Aderson et al
Health conscious
consumers have become aware of the health benefit associated with specific
foods and are incorporating element such as fiber calcium, and soya into thief
diets. Rapid advances in food science and technology have increase population.
The rapid rise in health care cost this population.
There is a difference
between the western and eastern perspective on functional foods.
In the west functional
food are considered revolutionary and present a raiding growing segment of food
industry. Food and pharmaceutical companies alike competing to bring functional
foods into the mass market on the other hand, functional foods have been a part
of Eastern culture for centuries. Food were used for medical purpose in
traditional Chinese medicine as early as 100B C.E form ancient time, the five
and the Chinese have used foods for both preventive and therapeutic health
effect, a view that is now being increasingly recognized around the world.
Clearly, most food are functional
in some way. What make a functional food however, is it potential ability to
positively affect health. Functional foods mugged from fruits, vegetable and
whole grains which are naturally high in ploytochemical to product in which a
specific ingredient is added, removed or increased or decreased example of
functional foods include, soy, oats, flaxseed, grape juice, broccoli and other
cruciferous vegetable, phytosterol, enriched margarine, eggs enhanced with
omega 3 facty acids, food fortified with herbal preparation and phylum.
1.1 REGULATION RELATED TO
FUNCTIONAL FOODS
Functional foods are
regulated by the united state food and drug administration (FDA) under the
authority of two laws. The federal, drug and cosmetic act (FD & C) of 1938
provide for the regulation of all foods and food additive. The dietary
supplement health and education act (DSHEA) of 1994 amended the FD and C act to
covers dietary supplement and ingredient of dietary supplement. Functional food
may be categorized as whole foods, enriched foods, fortified foods or enhanced
foods. Labeling claims that are used on functional foods are of two types these
are:
Structure and functional
claims which described affect on normal functioning of the body, but not claims
that the foods can treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure a disease (claims such as
“promotes regularity” helps maintain cardiovascular heath and support the
immune system fit in to this category) Bierenbaum et al 1973)
Disease risk reduction
claims which imply a relationship between dietary component and disease or
health condition.
Structure and function
claim do not require the approval by the FDA and they require much less
stringent scientific consensus than disease risk reduction claims. Under the FD
and C act, structure and function claims can not be false or misleading.
However, the law does not define the nature or extent of evidence necessary to
support these claims to complicate matters, the evidence available to support
structure and function on claims varies widely (Unmare et al 1993).
1.2 CLASSIFICATIONS OF FUNCTIONAL
FOODS
These functional foods
can be derived from two main source e.g plant and animals.
1.3 FUNCTIONAL FOOD FROM PLANT: Are oats, soy, flaxseed, tomatoes, garlic,
broccolis and others cruciferous vegetable, citrus fruits, cranberry, wine and
grape
1.4 FUNCTIONAL FOOD FROM ANIMAL
SOURCE: There are,
fish, daioy product and beet crwonell (1997)