By Yuri Elkaim

I like to keep most of my writing pretty positive and inspiring but this information on functional foods is just itching to come out. So here goes!

Wonder bread with DHA.

Yogurts with “patented” strains of probiotic bacteria.

Orange juice with omega-3s.

The list goes on and on.

These are example of functional foods.

According to Wikipedia…

“Functional food is any healthy or fictional food claimed to have a health-promoting or disease-preventing property beyond the basic function of supplying nutrients. The general category of functional foods includes processed food or foods fortified with health-promoting additives, like “vitamin-enriched” products. Fermented foods with live cultures are considered as functional foods with probiotic benefits.”

The irony is that functional foods are not really functional.

Unlike functional exercise, which trains your body according to everyday (or sporting) demands placed upon it – a good thing – functional food, more than anything, plays on the naivete of most consumers.

You would think that the addition of a healthy additive would enhance the quality of a particular food but the reality is that anytime you play “chemist” with a whole food, you inherently make it less than it already was.

But most people, even the big food conglomerates, know that you can’t really make a natural food better than it already is. Plus, there’s no money in produce.

However, manufactured foods like white bread and other man-made foods, which are bad enough to begin with, have greater profit potential…if only more people would eat them.

And that’s where food manufacturers have jumped on the health bandwagon making believe that adding ONE healthy element to such foods will wipe the slate clean.

Nice try!

The tricky part is that functional food products typically include health claims on their label touting their benefits. For example:

“Cereal is a significant source of fiber. Studies have shown that an increased amount of fiber in one’s diet can decrease the risk of certain types of cancer in individuals.”

Such a statement can make you associate the “product” with the desired benefit.

Very clever indeed.

Some countries, such as Canada, Sweden, and the United States, have specific laws concerning the labeling of such products. In the United States, the kinds of claims that are allowed are overseen and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

However, some claims will fall outside of the purview of the FDA and be accompanied by the disclaimer:

“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”

Such a disclaimer typically accompanies supplements rather than foods, but since the definition of functional food is still evolving and somewhat amorphous, a functional food may find itself bearing the warning.

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Check out Yuri Elkaim’s Eating for Energy ebook here.