Bio-chemistry Of Functional Food, Dietary, Importance And Health Effect

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)