The claim game: how functional are functional foods? What makes a food functional depends on its added ingredients

Better Nutrition, May, 2003 by Michael Downey

Nutraceuticals: Fiber, antioxidants and herbs added to foods and beverages that ordinarily don't contain them--such as soda--thereby turning them into functional foods? Huh? Consumers are confused. And who can blame them?

Functional or designer foods comprise one of the fastest-growing sectors of the food industry. Nutrition Business Journal, which monitors functional foods, reports that designer foods have gone from virtual non-existence a decade ago to a $50 billion market worldwide today. Their success is clear. What they are is not.

health claims

The term "functional food" was coined in the mid-1980s in Japan when an aging population prompted focus on the role of food in preventing age-related disease. The outcome was that there are specific foods that can help stave off heart disease, guard against cancer and so on. But, the functional-food focus remained primarily on whole foods such as garlic and fish.

For years, Japanese and American companies yearned to market processed foods with the same health claims associated with whole, functional foods. The hurdle was the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which rarely approves health claims for use on product labels.

But in 1994, the federal regulations changed, and manufacturers were allowed to make "structure or function" claims--that is, to describe how a product affects the body--while still being forbidden from making "health claims" that mention specific diseases. The FDA doesn't pre-approve these statements, and they appear on many supplements and foods.

herbal additives

Some food manufacturers add small amounts of nutraceuticals--fiber, herbs, vitamins, oils, extracts, friendly bacteria or phytochemicals--to their products, and then make the same body-function claim for the processed food that's associated with the added ingredient. For example, most consumers don't notice the difference between the health claim "reduces osteoporosis risk" and the function statement "promotes healthy bones." Both phrases imply the same benefit.

In the same vein, the FDA prohibits the claim that a processed food "helps prevent heart disease" except in a handful of cases such as with soy-based foods. But companies can claim that their food product "promotes a healthy heart" if it contains substances--such as fish oil--found in heart-healthy supplements.

Adding ginkgo to a product implies health-food status. But do onion rings with added herbs really become health food? Functional foods don't have to be clinically tested to make or imply these claims. They just have to contain added vitamins, minerals or herbs.

Also, while functional foods were originally recommended for specific risk groups--such as garlic for people at risk for heart disease--today's processed functional foods are marketed to the population at large.

So if you're thinking about purchasing any of the wide variety of functional foods available on the market today, you may want to ask your natural products retailer the following questions before you reach for your wallet.

does it really work?

Studies leave little doubt about calcium's benefits, so your calcium-fortified orange juice may help maintain bone strength and stave off osteoporosis. But what about other nutraceuticals? Even when research results are fairly strong, specific health benefits may not apply to everyone.

For instance, while there has been some evidence to show that ginkgo may have a temporary effect on memory in Alzheimer's patients, the herb hasn't been shown to be effective in the population at large. Yet some ginkgo-laced food products claim to strengthen the mind.

In the same vein, products containing added echinacea claim to defend health, implying that they help prevent colds. But this common echinacea claim hasn't been substantiated by most studies.

how much is in there?

Even if the actual substances found in these products do promote health, are they present in sufficient quantities to be effective? According to the label, a cup of one ginkgo-infused cereal, for example, contains two milligrams (mg) of ginkgo extract. That's about 3 percent of the extract found in a solitary ginkgo supplement capsule.

Some product packaging doesn't state the quantity of herbal extract present in the food, yet still makes structure and function claims. It could be that the added nutraceutical amount is so minute, the extract has no effect. On the other hand, maybe it does. There's no way of knowing unless the amount is listed on the label.

is it safe?

Most echinacea supplement labels caution users not to take the herb for extended periods of time. They also outline safe dosages and warn those with compromised immune systems not to take echinacea. But you probably won't find these cautions on the labels of functional foods containing echinacea.

Some kava kava-laced foods claim to promote relaxation. But do the labels warn consumers that on March 25, 2002, the FDA advised that kava kava is associated with liver damage? Also, labels seldom mention that nutraceuticals can react with drugs, increasing or blocking their effects. So it's best to do a little research to be sure that a product is safe before you buy it.