Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

Review

Innovation trends in
the food industry:
The case of
functional foods
Barbara Bigliardia,* and
Francesco Galatib
a

Department of Industrial Engineering, University of

Parma, Viale G.P. Usberti 181/A, Parma I-43124, Italy
(Tel.: D39 0521 905860; fax: D39 0521 905853;
e-mail: barbara.bigliardi@unipr.it)
b
Department of Economy and Technology,
University of San Marino, Strada della Bandirola 44,
Montegiardino 47898, San Marino (e-mail: francesco.
galati@unirsm.sm)
The food industry is one of the most important branches of the
national economy in Italy and in the European Union in general, playing a central role for the processing of agricultural
raw materials and food supply. This industry is traditionally
regarded as a sector with low research intensity; notwithstanding, innovations are recognized as an important instrument for companies belonging to the food industry in order
to stand out from competitors and to satisfy consumer expectations. In this regard, functional foods play an outstanding
role, as demonstrated by their increasing demand derived
from the increasing cost of healthcare, the steady increase of
life expectancy, and the desire of older people for improved
quality of their later years. The main target of this paper is to
analyze the state of the art on functional foods. For this purpose, a review of extant literature is presented. Specific
emphasis is laid on the definition and the main examples of
functional food. The paper concludes with comments on
future trends.

* Corresponding author.
0924-2244/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2013.03.006

Introduction
The food industry is one of the most important branches of
the national economy in Italy and in the European Union in
general, playing a central role for the processing of agricultural raw materials and food supply. As a consequence,
many authors stressed its relevance for employment and
economic output (Menrad, 2004). In innovation literature,
the food industry is traditionally regarded as a sector
with low research intensity (Christensen, Rama, & Von
Tunzelmann, 1996; Garcia Martinez & Briz, 2000).
Notwithstanding, innovations understood as new products,
processes or services are recognized as an important instrument for companies belonging to the food industry to stand
out from competitors and to satisfy consumer expectations
(Menrad, 2004). In particular during the last decade, consumer requirements in the field of food production have
changed considerably: in fact, consumers increasingly
believe that food contribute directly to their health
(Mollet & Rowland, 2002; Young, 2000). Thus, foods are
no more intended to only satisfy hunger and to provide
the necessary nutrients, but also and especially to prevent
nutrition-related diseases and to improve physical and
mental well-being (Menrad, 2003; Robertfroid, 2000b).
Moreover, the food industry has been facing technical
and economic changes both in society and in the
manufacturing and food processing, that in turn had a significant impact on the entire food supply chain, up to the
distribution of food to end consumers, and forced companies to pay high attention in food products that meet
the consumers demand for a healthy lifestyle. As a consequence, innovation has been widely investigated also within
this traditional industry.
Innovations introduced in the food industry in recent
years mainly refer to new scientific and technical
approaches in food processing, and to the introduction of
novel foods. In this regard, functional food plays an
outstanding role, as demonstrated by their increasing
demand derived from the increasing cost of healthcare,
the steady increase in life expectancy, and the desire of
older people for an improved quality of life in their later
years (Kotilainen, Rajalahti, Ragasa, & Pehu, 2006;
Robertfroid, 2000a, 2000b). As such, researchers agree in
stating that functional food represents one of the most interesting areas of research and innovation in the food industry
(Annunziata & Vecchio, 2011; Jones & Jew, 2007; Sir

o,
K
apolna, K
apolna, & Lugasi, 2008).

B. Bigliardi, F. Galati / Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

Based on the premises above, the main target of this

paper is to analyze the state of the art on functional foods.
For this purpose, a review of the extant literature is presented where specific emphasis is laid on the definition
and the main examples of functional food. The article concludes with comments on future trends.
Innovation in the food industry
In innovation literature, the food industry is typically
classified as a sector with low research intensity, accounting
to one of the lowest R&D-to-sales ratios of any industrial
sector. Moreover, the pace of technological change in this
industry, measured by the number of patented inventions,
appears to be less dynamic than other manufacturing sectors (Christensen et al., 1996; Garcia Martinez & Briz,
2000). Fairly recently, Beckeman and Skjolkebrand
(2007) assessed the degree of innovation in the food industry, stressing the fact that very little innovation is taking
place in the food industry. However, due to the fact that
technology moved from the production age to the information age, toward the service age, the food sector kept
growing and still appears to be growing faster than past
years.
Food industry innovations are often aimed at developing
important replacement products, following nutritional directions, or obeying food additive regulations. They are
generally new or improved consumer products and services,
and can be focused in one area of food technology, for
example process engineering, product formulation, food
qualities or consumer needs. Moreover, they have to
combine technological innovation with social and cultural
innovation in order to produce food that satisfies the nutritional, personal and social needs of all communities. Innovations may occur throughout all parts of the food chain
and a possible classification of the food innovations is the
following: (1) new food ingredients and materials, (2) innovations in fresh foods, (3) new food process techniques, (4)
innovations in food quality, (5) new packaging methods,
and (6) new distribution or retailing methods.
Among all the innovations introduced in this industry,
researchers recognize functional food as one of the most
interesting areas of research and innovation (Annunziata
& Vecchio, 2011; Jones & Jew, 2007; Sir

o et al., 2008).
Their relevance is related to the increasing cost of healthcare, the steady increase in life expectancy, and the desire
of older people for an improved quality of life in their later
years (Kotilainen et al., 2006; Robertfroid, 2000a, 2000b).
Based on these premises, this study consists of a review of
scientific articles on the topic of functional food. We
considered both articles published in scholarly journals
and those published on books or proceedings based on international conferences. In order to do that, we first carried
out a computerized search by using functional foods as
keywords in three different databases (ISI Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar and Scopus). The identified articles
were then subjected to a double screening. First of all

119

they have been sorted based on their title and summary

and subsequently by analyzing the body of the remaining
articles. As results of this double screening, we obtained
a final sample of 114 papers to be included in the review
as discussed in the following sections.
Functional foods: an overview
The term functional food was first used in 1984 in
Japan as a result of a study on the relationships between
nutrition, sensory satisfaction, fortification and modulation
of physiological systems in order to define those food products fortified with special constituents that possess advantageous physiological effects (Hardy, 2000; Kwak & Jukes,
2001). Functional foods objectives are manifold: they
improve the general conditions of the body (e.g., pre- and
probiotics), decrease the risk of some diseases (e.g.,
cholesterol-lowering products), and could be used for
curing some illnesses (Mark-Herbert, 2004; Menrad,
2003; Side, 2006).
Notwithstanding the increasing interest from both researchers and the food industry toward functional foods,
it is not still clearly defined which foods are considered
as functional. As a consequence, it is difficult to estimate
the market of these products (Kotilainen et al., 2006).
Despite the mismatch of information on this market, in
particular in terms of total turnover and volume of functional foods sold, it emerges as a business in rapid growth.
The rise of functional foods market is mainly due to a series
of critical awareness of personal health. According to a
Euromonitor survey, Japan is the worlds largest market,
followed by the US, while the European market still appears to be less developed. These three dominant markets
contribute to over 90% of the total sales (Benkouider,
2005). It is not surprising that in Japan this market is significant due to the fact that it is regarded as the birthplace of
functional food (Hilliam, 2000): only between 1988 and
1998, more than 1700 functional food products have been
launched in Japan. As far as the European countries are
concerned, the studies by Bech-Larsen and Scholderer
(2007) and Makinen-Aakula (2006) highlighted that the
major markets are the UK, Germany, France and Italy.
Van Trijp (2007) emphasized that the European market is
a heterogeneous one, characterized by large regional differences in use and acceptance of functional foods (e.g., the
interest of consumers in functional food in the Central
and Northern European countries is higher than in Mediterranean countries). As for Italy, the most important segment
of the functional food market is the one of the so called
health yogurt: according to a research by IRI (2008),
only in Italy their growth rate was 6.3% per year, thus
reaching 560 million euros of sales, corresponding to
almost 4% of the whole Italian sector. Several authors
(e.g., Benkouider, 2005), according also to predictions
made periodically by Euromonitor, stressed the moderate
growing importance of newly emerging markets such as
Hungary, Poland and Russia: although these markets are

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B. Bigliardi, F. Galati / Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

still undeveloped, in fact, numerous new functional foods

have been introduced in the last few years.
Functional foods have been developed almost in all food
categories, even if they are not homogeneously distributed
over all segments of the food industry. As a consequence,
consumer preferences may vary between markets. Among
all the food markets, functional foods have been mainly
launched in the dairy-, confectionery, soft-drinks, bakery
and baby-food market (Kotilainen et al., 2006; Menrad,
2003). The extant literature proposes different classification
of functional foods. From a product point of view,
Kotilainen et al. (2006), Sloan (2000) and Spence (2006),
have proposed the following classification:
 food fortified with additional nutrients (labeled fortified
products), such as fruit juices fortified with vitamin C,
vitamin E, folic acid, zinc and calcium;
 food with additional new nutrients or components not
normally found in a particular food (labeled enriched
products), like probiotics or prebiotics;
 food from which a deleterious component has been
removed, reduced or replaced by another with beneficial
effects (labeled altered products), for example fibers as
fat releasers in meat or ice cream;
 food in which one of the components have been naturally enhanced (labeled enhanced commodities), e.g.,
eggs with increased omega-3 content.
According to alternative classification based on the aim
of functional foods, they can be classified as follows (e.g.,
Makinen-Aakula, 2006):
 functional foods that add good to life or improve childrens life, like prebiotics and probiotics;
 functional foods that reduce an existing health risk problem such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure;
 functional foods which makes life easier, such as
lactose-free or gluten-free products.
Regardless the classification adopted, it is possible to list
the main functional foods as in Table 1.
Recently, both in Japan and Europe the market of functional foods is mainly dominated by probiotics with more
than 370 products launched worldwide in 2005
(Ouwehand, 2007). Within the probiotic field, Lactic acid
bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are the most studied
and widely used ones (Kociubinski & Salminen, 2006).
As quite recently highlighted by Makinen-Aakula (2006),
the main markets of probiotics are Scandinavia, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, Croatia and Estonia followed
by emerging markets such as Greece, France and Spain.
Researchers agree in stating that their success among functional foods is mainly due to their general positive image
among consumers (Makinen-Aakula, 2006; Szak
aly,
Szigeti, M
ath
e, & Szente, 2007), but also due to their
intrinsic characteristics (the products kept at cold

temperature, they have relatively short shelf life, etc.).

Their success is confirmed by the increasingly extensive
research and development concerning probiotics aiming
to introduce new dairy products (e.g., probiotic drinking
yogurt like Actimel and Activia, dairy products containing
Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 like Hellus, etc.) (Sir

o
et al., 2008; Szak
aly, 2007). As for the prebiotics category,
inulin and oligofructose are amongst the most studied and
well established (Gibson, 2004). In addition to the objective
reported in Table 1, Bosscher, Van Loo, and Franck (2006)
have shown that prebiotics increase calcium absorption,
thus improving bone mineral content and density. According to L
opez-Molina et al. (2005), they also influence the
formation of blood glucose, thus reducing the levels of
cholesterol and serum lipids. Moreover, prebiotics might
enhance the growth and survival of the probiotic cultures
by influencing the growth and metabolites of both the probiotic and the starter. As far as the functional drinks are
concerned, although they are available in a relatively high
number, their market is still small and fragmented, especially at a European level: only Germany, in fact, has a sizeable functional drink market, thanks to the success of ACE
drinks in this country.
How functional foods have been defined in literature
The analysis of the extant literature on functional food
highlighted that, although the term functional food has
already been defined several times (Robertfroid, 2002), so
far there is no unitary accepted definition for this group
of food (Alzamora et al., 2005). In most countries
there is no legislative definition of the term and drawing
a border line between conventional and functional foods
is challenging even for nutritionists and food experts
(Mark-Herbert, 2004; Niva, 2007). Moreover, the European
legislation does not consider functional food as specific
food categories, but rather as a concept (Coppens,
Fernandes Da Silva, & Pettman, 2006; Stanton, Ross,
Fitzgerald, & Van Sinderen, 2005). To date, a number of
national authorities, academic bodies and the industry
have proposed definitions for functional food. While
some definitions simply suggest that any food, if marketed
with the appropriate positioning, is a functional food
(Hollingsworth, 1999; Riemersma, 1996), others are more
complex and maintain that only fortified, enriched, or
enhanced food with a component having a health benefit
beyond basic nutrition can be considered functional foods
(Kleinschmidt, 2003).
After reviewing over 1 hundred definitions, 39 were
selected on the basis of their representation of functional
foods. The selected definitions are listed in Table 2.
The definitions listed in Table 2 encapsulate all or in part
the following three main concepts:
(1) the concept of health benefits: almost all definitions
(35 out of 39) mention the health benefits that a food

B. Bigliardi, F. Galati / Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

121

Table 1. The main type of functional foods available on the market.

Type of functional food and
definition

Objective

Example

Main references

Probiotics
live microorganisms, as they are
consumed in adequate numbers
confer a health benefit on the host
Charalampopoulos, Pandiella, and
Webb (2003)
Prebiotics
non-digestible food ingredients
that beneficially affect the host by
stimulating the growth and/or
activity of one or a limited number
of bacteria in the colon
Charalampopoulos et al. (2003)
Functional drinks
non-alcoholic beverages fortified
with vitamins A, C and E or other
functional ingredients
Menrad (2003) and Side (2006)

Influence on human health,

including influence on
gastrointestinal health,
immune function and
cancer (Jones & Jew, 2007).

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB)

and bifidobacteria.

Alzamora et al. (2005), Jones and

Jew (2007) and Saarela,
Lahteenmaki, Crittenden,
Salminen, and
Mattila-Sandholm (2002).

To stimulate the growth

and/or activity of one or a
limited number of bacteria
in the colon, thus improving
host health (Stanton et al.,
2005).

Fructo-oligosaccharide
(FOS), inulin, isomaltooligosaccharides (IMO),
polydextrose, lactulose and
resistant starch.

Bosscher (2007), Bosscher et al.

(2006), Cani, Neyrinck, Maton,
and Delzenne (2005) and
Ouwehand (2007).

To reduce the cholesterol

level, to stimulate the
antioxidant function and to
avoid the inhibition of
growth and the deformation
of the bones (Tammsaar,
2007).
Fermentable substrates for
the growth of probiotic
microorganisms, sources of
non-digestible
carbohydrates, stimulator of
the growth of lactobacilli
and bifidobacteria present
in the colon (Brennan &
Cleary, 2005;
Charalampopoulos, Wang,
Pandiella, & Webb, 2002).
To reformulate the fatty acid
profiles or inclusion of
antioxidants, dietary fiber or
probiotics (Sir

o et al.,
2008).

ACE drinks, cholesterollowering drinks, eye

health drinks or bone
health drinks.

Keller (2006) and Tammsaar

(2007).

Oat, barley, rye, spelt.

Alldrick (2007), Benkouider

(2005), Mon
ar (2007) and
Poutanen (2006).

Meat with the control of the

composition of raw and
processed materials.

Jimenez-Colmenero, Carballo, and

Cofrades (2001), Kovacs,
Zsarn
oczay, and Gasparik
Reichardt (2007), Mendoza,
Garc
a, Casas, and Selgas (2001)
and Ricondo and Ayo (2007).

Egg enriched with omega-3

fatty acids simultaneously
with antioxidants and other
vitamins.

Sir

o et al. (2008) and Surai and
Sparks (2001).

Functional cereals
Cereals containing dietary fiber,
such as b-glucan and
arabinoxylan, oilgosaccharides,
such as galacto- and fructooligosaccharides and resistant
starch
Oatles and Cagindi (2006)

Functional meat
meat modified by adding
ingredients considered beneficial
for health or by eliminating or
reducing components that are
considered harmful
Bhat and Bhat (2011)
Functional eggs
eggs with increased omega-3 fatty
acid content
Sir

o et al. (2008)

To reduce the possible

formation of blood clots and
for blood pressure control
(Sir

o et al., 2008).

have to bring to its consumer in order to be labeled as

functional food. Thus, this concept appears to be central in functional foods literature;
(2) the technological process at the basis of the functional
food: some definitions (18 out of 39) stress the fact that
the food must have been fortified, enriched or had an
ingredient added, while others mention the removal of
allergens or of components considered detrimental to
the health if over consumed (e.g., salt, sugar);
(3) the nutritional function: all food to be functional must
have some nutritional functions, as pointed out by 25
definitions out of the total.
What follows are the three detailed concepts according
to the articles reviewed.

Nutritional function
The term nutritional functions refers to the role of nutrients in growth, development and maintaining the organs
and systems of the human body. Therefore, it is possible to
state that the basic functions of a food are to provide vitamins, minerals and energy derived from the proteins, carbohydrates and lipids required for the well-being of the
human body. Today, as stressed by Ashwell (2003), the
focus of nutritional science is shifting toward the concept
of optimal nutrition. In other words, the objective of nutritional science is to optimize the daily diet in terms of
nutrients and non-nutrients, as well as other food properties
that provide the maintenance health. The above
mentioned shift is mainly motivated by an increase in
lifestyle related diseases, combined with constantly rising

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122

Table 2. The main definition of functional foods.

No.

Definition

References

Main concepts
Nutritional
function

4
5
6

8
9

10

11

Foods which are expected to have certain health

benefits, and have been licensed to bear a label
claiming that a person using them for specified
health use may expect to obtain the health use
through the consumption thereof
Food that encompasses potentially helpful
products, including any modified food or food
ingredient that may provide a health benefit
beyond that of the traditional nutrient it contains
Food and drink products derived from naturally
occurring substances consumed as part of the
daily diet and possessing particular physiological
benefits when ingested
Foods that may provide health benefits beyond
basic nutrition
Foods or food products marketed with the
message of the benefit to health
Food derived from naturally occurring
substances, which can and should be consumed
as part of the daily diet and which serves to
regulate or otherwise affect a particular body
process when ingested
Food similar in appearance to conventional
food, which is consumed as part of the usual diet
and has demonstrated physiological benefit and/
or reduces the risk of chronic disease beyond
basic nutritional functions
Modified foods or food ingredients that provide
health benefits beyond their traditional nutrients
Foods with added ingredients that claim to
provide a health benefit to consumers beyond the
benefits provided by ordinary foods themselves
A food product can only be considered
functional if together with the basic nutritional
impact it has beneficial effects on one or more
functions of the human organism thus either
improving the general and physical conditions or/
and decreasing the risk of the evolution of
diseases. The amount of intake and form of the
functional food should be as it is normally
expected for dietary purposes. Therefore, it could
not be in the form of pill or capsule just as normal
food form
Functional foods are products formulated with
naturally occurring chemicals (or combination of
chemicals) e found in many fruits, vegetables,
grains, herbs and spices e to provide a health
benefit, to reduce the risk of certain diseases, or
to affect a particular body process. They go
beyond correcting diseases such as pellagra and
scurvy, caused by nutritional deficiencies.
Functional foods are akin to novel macro
ingredients in that their formulation is intended to
provide a health benefit to consumers. However,
functional foods are designed to reduce the risk
of specific diseases such as lung cancer by
removing certain ingredients, by adding or
combining ingredients not normally found in a
food product, or by concentrating substances in
higher than usual quantities

Health
benefits

Technological
process

FOSHU, by the Japanese

Ministry of Health, Labor
and Welfare (1991), cited in
Anon. (2003)

Food and Nutrition Board

(1994)

Hillian (1995), cited in

Robertfroid (2002)

IFIC Foundation (1995,

2006: p. 4)
Riemersma (1996)

Smith, Marcotte, and

Harman (1996)

Health Canada (1997)

Adelaja and Schilling

(1999)
Center for Science in the
Public Interest (1999: p. 55)

Diplock et al. (1999)

General Accounting Office

(2000: p. 47)

#
#

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123

Table 2 (continued )
No.

12

13

14
15

16

17

18

19

20
21

22

23

24

25

26

Definition

Foods that, by virtue of physiologically active

components, provide benefits beyond basic
nutrition and may prevent disease or promote
health
Food in which ingredients with an additional
health value have been added and this is
announced to the consumers
A food is functional if a health claim
can be made
Foods or food components that may have health
benefits that reduce the risk of specific diseases or
other health concerns
Food product that looks like conventional food
but that is demonstrated to have physiological
benefits and/or to reduce the risk of chronic
disease beyond basic nutritional functions
A food that is a food and not a drug, that is part
of a normal diet and that can produce benefits
beyond basic nutrition
A natural food to which a component has been
added and from which a component has been
removed, where the nature of one or more
components has been modified, in which the
bioavailability of one or more components have
been modified
Foods derived from naturally occurring
substances, which can and should be consumed
as part of the daily diet and which serves to
regulate or otherwise affect a particular body
process when ingested
Any food for which a health claim can be made
is a functional food
They are foods which can be part of our
everyday diet but which have properties that
provide an additional health benefit
Functional foods help primarily for the supply of
nutrients, but additionally they offer a special
advantage for the health
Food similar in appearance to conventional food
that is intended to be consumed as part of a
normal diet, but has been modified to have
physiological roles beyond the provision of
simple nutrient requirements
Foodstuffs mostly similar in appearance to
conventional foods that fit daily in the diet and
consumption pattern but that, in addition to their
basic nutritional value, contain specific additives
or properties achieved by processing or otherwise
for which a physiological/health benefit beyond
basic nutrition is claimed
A whole food (as opposed to pills, powders, or
supplements) that is fortified, enriched, or
enhanced with a component having a health
benefit beyond basic nutrition
Foods that encompass potentially healthful
products, including any modified food or food
ingredient that may provide a health benefit
beyond the traditional nutrients it contains

References

Hasler (2000)

Main concepts
Nutritional
Health
function
benefits

Technological
process

Hilliam (2000)

Iowa State University (2000:

p. 2)
National Institute of
Nutrition (2000: p. 4)

Wilson (2001)

Lajolo (2002)

#
#

Robertfroid (2002)

Robertfroid (2002)

Weststrate, van Poppel, and

Verschuren (2002)
Agriculture, Food and Rural
Development (2003: p. 2)

#
#

Anonymous (2003: p. 72)

Bech-Larsen and Grunert

(2003)

Jansen and Krijger (2003)

Kleinschmidt (2003)

National Academy of
Sciences, USA (cited in
Anonymous, 2003, p. 72)

#
#

(continued on next page)

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124

Table 2 (continued)
No.

27

28

29
30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37
38

39

Definition

Foods that may be eaten regularly as part of a

normal diet, that have been designed specifically
to provide a physiological or medical benefit by
regulating body functions to protect against or
retard the progression of diseases such as
coronary heart disease, cancer, hypertension,
diabetes and osteoporosis
Foods that, in addition to supply known
nutrients, can provide other health benefits
as well
A food or a part of a food which provides
medical or health benefits
A functional food is a conventional food or a
food similar in appearance to a conventional
food, it is part of a regular diet, that has healthrelated benefits and (or) reduces the risk of
specific chronic diseases above its basic
nutritional functions
Any food or food ingredient that might provide a
health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it
contains
Any substances that is a food or part of a food
that provides medical and/or health benefits,
including the prevention and treatment of
disease
A food that contains added, technologically
developed ingredients with a specific health
benefit
A functional food is, or appears similar to, a
conventional food. It is part of a standard diet and
is consumed on a regular basis, in normal
quantities. It has proven health benefits that
reduce the risk of specific chronic diseases or
beneficially affect target functions beyond its
basic nutritional functions
A food can be regarded as functional if it is
satisfactorily demonstrated to affect beneficially
one or more target functions in the body, beyond
adequate nutritional effects, in a way that is
relevant to either improved state of health and
well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease
Food which has a demonstrated benefit for one
or more functions of the human organism,
improving the state of health or well-being or
reducing the risk of disease
Food products fortified with special constituents
that possess advantageous physiological effects
Whole foods and fortified, enriched, or
enhanced foods that have a potentially beneficial
effect on health when consumed as part of a
varied diet on a regular basis, at effective levels
Foods that with their specific health effects
could, in the future, indicate a new mode of
thinking about the relationships between food
and health in everyday life

References

Main concepts
Nutritional
Health
function
benefits

CSIRO Human Nutrition

(2004)

Egg Nutrition Center (2004)

Technological
process

Scholey (2004)
Health Canada (2006)

Rakic, Povrenovic, Tesevic,

Simic, and Maletic (2006)

DeFelice (2007)

Niva (2007)

Doyon and Labrecque

(2008)

Doyon and Labrecque

(2008)

Plaza, Cifuentes, and

Ibanez (2008)

Sir

o et al. (2008)

#
#

Hasler et al. (2009)

Ballali and Lanciai (2012)

B. Bigliardi, F. Galati / Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

healthcare costs. Moreover, demographic changes, among

which the aging of the population in most developed countries, the higher life expectancy and the desire for an
improved quality of life, have stimulated research to identify or produce food with nutritional functions. People
can use functional foods to fill in certain nutritional gaps
left by intolerances, strict diets or personal preferences.
For example, those who are lactose intolerant can drink calcium fortified orange juice, those who are vegetarians can
indulge in soy-based products for protein, and those who
dislike seafood can get omega-3s from enriched eggs or
pasta. According to Hasler, Brown and American Dietetic
Association (2009), examples of functional foods with
nutritional or dietary function are infant foods, hypoallergenic foods (such as gluten-free foods or lactose-free
foods), and weight-loss foods.
To better define the boundaries of functional food, it is
important to distinguish between nutritional deficiency and
other physiological effects such as disease risk reduction.
However, all food have some nutritional functions: according to the definitions selected, what makes a food functional
is also the benefits beyond its basic nutritional functions.
Thus, a food that improves nutritional equilibrium should
not be considered, on that unique basis, a functional food.
Health benefits
A growing number of consumers are becoming aware of
functional foods with hopes of reaping additional health
benefits that may reduce certain disease risks or promote
optimal wellness. A number of health benefits are related
to functional food. According to the study of van Kleef,
van Trijp, and Luning (2005) and the classification of functional foods proposed by Makinen-Aakula (2006), health
benefits may be grouped in three main classes: direct health
benefits, reduction of risk diseases and better life conditions. Examples of health benefits are those reported in
Table 1 referred to the main types of functional foods available on the market. Some of the definitions listed in
Table 2, indicate that if a health claim can be made, a
food is functional. Health claims consist, traditionally, in
front-of-package information, which link the product with
specific health-related functions (Lahteenmaki, 2013).
Generally, it is illegal to give consumers misleading information about products, thus in many countries the use of
this particular kind of claims is governed by additional specific legislation and regulations (Lalor & Wall, 2011). Consumer responses to health claims have been analyzed in
several studies (Annunziata & Vecchio, 2013; Ares,
Gimenez, & Gambaro, 2009; Lahteenmaki, 2013;
Verbeke, Scholderer, & Lahteenmaki, 2009), all aiming to
measure the perceived healthiness or benefits, convincingness or credibility of the claim and the consumer understanding of the claim itself.
Following the structure adopted by Lahteenmaki (2013),
it is possible to divide the topic of health claims in three
different level of analysis:

125

 claim related factors: Ares et al. (2009), Lynam,

McKevitt, and Gibney (2011) and Verbeke et al.
(2009), identified the type of the expected benefits and
the country of the respondents as the main factors that
enable a deeper impact on consumers choice of a functional food. They also considered the length of the
claims, stating that consumers usually prefer short
claims, while Grunert et al. (2009) found two different
consumers behaviors toward health claims: those who
prefer a short set of information and those who preferred
a longer one. Another relevant factor that emerged from
the literature is familiarity: the use of a component that
is already widely marketed with health-related arguments seems to create a better perception than a new
component (Lahteenmaki et al., 2010; van Trijp & van
der Lans, 2007).
 product related factors: the acceptation of health claims
is certainly higher when they are referred to products
that are already considered as having a healthy image
(Dean et al., 2007, 2012; Siegrist, Stampfli, &
Kastenholz, 2008). Consumers tend to prefer foods
that are perceived as natural (Rozin et al., 2004) and
any new ingredients may decrease the naturalness
perceived by customers (Lahteenmaki et al., 2010).
Moreover, several studies have demonstrated the unwillingness of the consumers to compromise taste for health
benefits (Lyly, Roininen, Honkapaa, Poutanen, &
Lahteenmaki, 2007; Steptoe, Pollard, & Wardle, 1995;
Verbeke, 2005).
 consumer related factors: De Jong, Ocke, Branderhorst,
and Friele (2003) suggested that women tend to have a
higher preference for products with related health
claims, while Urala and Lahteenmaki (2007) found no
evidences of gender differences. Other authors (e.g.,
Ares & Gambaro, 2007), stated that the benefits that
are gender dependent are also perceived more positively
by the relevant gender. In demographic terms, the most
important factor seems to be the difference between
countries (Saba et al., 2010). Another important factor
affecting the effectiveness of health claims is lifestyle
(Szakaly, Szente, Kover, Polereczki, & Szigeti, 2012).

Technological process
In his work, Betoret, Betoret, Vidal, and Fito (2011),
reviewed the technologies trends of functional foods development, identifying three different groups:
 technologies traditionally used in food processing.
Formulation and blending constitutes a simple, cheap
and adaptive technology to develop new functional
food and, its use in the development, has a long history
in the successful control of deficiencies of vitamins A
and D, several B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin and
niacin), iodine and iron (Betoret et al., 2011). In more
recent years, the growing importance of dietary

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B. Bigliardi, F. Galati / Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

compounds and the related health benefits offered an

excellent opportunity to improve public health, and
thus this food products category received greater attention from the scientific community, consumers and
food manufacturers (Karaaslan, Ozden, Vardin, &
Turkoglu, 2011; Kim et al., 2010). Other possibilities
come from agriculture and livestock, which provide
the primary source of the nutrients required by humans
(Zhao & Shewry, 2011), as well as from biotechnology
and animal breeding, which offer the possibility to
obtain improved food products (Laible, 2009;
Matsushita et al., 2007; Zhu et al., 2008).
 technologies designed to prevent the deterioration of
physiologically active compounds. The most debated in
scientific literature are:
microencapsulation, that consists in the envelopment of
small solid particles, liquid droplets or gases in a
coating, based on the embedding effects of a polymeric
matrix (Betoret et al., 2011);
edible films and coatings that describe any type of material used for enrobing various food to extend the shelf
life of the product that may be eaten with food (Pavlath
& Orts, 2009). This have the high potential to carry
active ingredients that can reduce the risk of pathogen
growth on the food surface and provide specific nutrients (Betoret et al., 2011);
vacuum impregnation, considered a useful way to introduce desirable solutes into the porous structure of
foods, modifying their original composition
(Watanabe, Yoshimoto, Okada, & Nomura, 2011).
 recent technologies aimed to design personalized functional foods. Nutrigenomics considers the interaction between foods and an individuals genome, and the
consequent downstream effect on their phenotype,
recognizing that an appropriate dietary advice for one
individual may be inappropriate to another (Ferguson,
Philpott, & Barnett, 2010). This innovative science can
offer a wide window of opportunities in the area of functional foods, but it is still in its infancy stage and there
are many aspects not well clarified yet (Penders,
Horstman, Saris, & Vos, 2007; Ronteltap, van Trijp,
Renes, & Frewer, 2007). Moreover, to date, there are
only sporadic examples of clinical trials utilizing these
technologies, thus there is a considerable number of issues to be addressed before genomic approach can
become an acceptable method to guide food development or nutritional recommendations (Betoret et al.,
2011; Kaput & Dawson, 2007).
Future trends and conclusion
The development of functional foods appears to be a
long-term trend with important market potential, where information flows generated by research are needed to support private investments, consumption decisions and
government regulations. According to the literature examined, various definitions exist, thus making it difficult to

provide industry partners with robust information on

market trends and potential. However, it is possible to stress
that development and changes in society as well as sociodemographic trends are in favor of functional food. Consequently it can be assumed that these products represent a
sustainable trend in the food market. In particular, the functional food market is growing worldwide, as demonstrated
by the fact that new functional products are being launched
continuously. As a consequence, competition in this field is
becoming more and more intense. To survive such a
competition, a functional food product needs to be bought
repeatedly, and therefore it has to be developed considering
consumers needs. Therefore, we believe that consumer
research is crucial in the development of functional food
and requires further development and research.
From the review of the main definitions proposed in
literature, it is possible to link the key concepts proposed
(health, technology and nutrition) with the main players
that are involved in functional food research and development process, namely: the food technologist, the nutritionist and the specialist (Fig. 1). The combination of
skills owned by these different actors is essential for the
development of innovative products and particularly for
the development of functional food. This have to present
higher quality standards compared (by an organoleptic
point of view) to the corresponding conventional products
and aim at the maintenance of well-being.
The same concepts also reflect the developments and
changes of the scientific paradigm in nutritional sciences,
the relationship between nutritional factors and the occurrence and prevention of specific diseases, the increasing

SPECIALIST
Health benefits,
physiologic markers,
pathogenic
mechanisms

NUTRITIONIST
Nutritional functions

FOOD TECHNOLOGIST
Raw materials, ingredients
Technological process

Fig. 1. The three main actors involved in the research and development
process to obtain a functional food.

B. Bigliardi, F. Galati / Trends in Food Science & Technology 31 (2013) 118e129

interest of consumers in health and nutrition aspects, as

well as the ageing of the society.
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