Foods that promote human health - 'functional foods' or nutraceuticals - have caught the imagination of the global food industry. All the household-name companies are developing them as a key driver in their global strategies. They see the prospect of new markets and bigger margins, but the issues presented are fraught with complexity and difficulties. Distinguishing hype from real hope, the authors of this handbook explain the dilemmas and contradictions the industry faces. They present a wealth of detailed marketing, food policy and regulatory material from the leading markets world-wide 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.

This major reference provides a comprehensive treatment of the physiological effects of foods and food components capable of promoting good health and preventing or alleviating diseases. It assembles, in one volume, extensive recent information on the nature and physiological effects of biologically-active components of major plant foods-cereals, oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables-and dairy and fish products. For the first time in any reference work, internationally renowned specialists discuss how to manufacture and evaluate food products with health enhancing effects, using both traditional and novel processing methods. Entire chapters are devoted to functional food products from oats, wheat, rice, flaxseed, mustard, fruits, vegetables, fish, and dairy products. The chapter on designer vegetable oils covers all the recent developments in vegetable oils, including genetically modified oils and engineering and production of structured lipids. Functional products from quinoa, amaranth, beans, ginseng, echinacea, and other botanicals are covered in separate chapters. An authoritative final chapter discusses the present regulatory status of functional foods in the U. S., Japan, Canada, and the European Union. This chapter also discusses the assessment of natural products for use in promoting human health and as medicinal agents, considers where the burden of proof lies for showing the effect of a food product on a physiological or biochemical process, and explores the costs of making health claim. This comprehensive volume serves the information needs of food scientists and technologists, food process engineers, biochemists, nutritionists, public health professionals, and entrepreneurs involved in the design, processing, and marketing of new functional food products. Anyone who believes in the need for real foods that combine nutritional and medical benefits and who believes that such foods can be produced, will find this book invaluable.

Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, Second Edition is a thorough revision and 20% expansion of the 1998 release, reflecting the continuing scientific advances in the field of human nutrition. Now a four-volume set, nearly 300 articles with concise, up-to-date information are complemented by an award-winning indexing system. Included is expanded coverage of epidemiology of diet-related diseases, functional foods, food safety, clinical nutrition and gastrointestinal disorders. Virtually everyone will find the Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition an easy-to-use resource making it an ideal reference choice for both the professional and the non-professional alike. Also available online via ScienceDirect – featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit www.info.sciencedirect.com. FEATURES OF SECOND PRINT EDITION Now a four-volume set with over 250 articles Expanded coverage of epidemiology of diet-related diseases, functional foods, food safety, and gastrointestinal disorders, among other topics ONLINE FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITIES Browse the whole work by volume, authors or article titles Full and extensive subject index can be searched or browsed online, and takes you directly to the indexed paragraph, section, figure or table Basic and advanced search functionality across the entire work or by specific volume Users can build, save and re-run seraches, as well as combine saved searches Extensive internal cross-referencing and dynamic linking from biliographic references to primary-source material, increasing the scope of your research rapidly and effectively All articles available as full-text HTML files, or as PDF files that can be viewed, downloaded or printed in their original format