There are hundreds of functional ingredients, and more are identified each year. Food manufacturers are eager to find additional ways to promote health qualities in a range of foods, especially foods that aren’t generally considered healthy — think cookies, muffins, and crunchy/salty/savory snacks. Functional ingredients are a potentially huge market, with global sales of fortified or functional foods at $292 billion in 2021, up from $274 billion in 2020. Functional food and beverage sales in the United States were $83 billion in 2021, a 6.8% increase from 2020. 

This brings up an important and yet unanswered question:  do indulgent foods like cookies and crunchy snacks that contain functional ingredients actually promote health, or is the inclusion of functional ingredients more of a marketing strategy? 

Just because a food label states that it is a “superfood” or that it contains important-sounding ingredients doesn’t mean that the food provides additional health benefits – or even any health benefits. Savvy consumers will look past the marketing on the front of food packages and look instead at the list of ingredients (listed in descending order from what is present in the largest amount by weight) and the Nutrition Facts label. This helps them know exactly what the food provides.

Building an eating plan based on whole foods that naturally contain a wide range of nutrients —  fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts and seeds — is the foundation of a healthy diet. Periodically enjoying a food with functional ingredients because you like the flavor fits into an overall healthy eating plan; just don’t count on any additional health benefits.

References:

1. Government of South Australia. Introduction to Functional Foods and Ingredients. https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/287683/Functional_Foods_Guidance_-_What_are_Functional_Foods.pdf  accessed 2-2-23

2. Food Industry Executive. Functional Ingredients: What Consumers Want. https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2019/05/functional-ingredients-what-consumers-want/ Carol Wiley, 5-13-2019. Accessed 2-2-23

3. The Food Institute. 7 Functional Ingredients to Watch. https://foodinstitute.com/focus/7-functional-ingredients-to-watch/ posted 5-16-22; accessed 2-2-23

4. Steven M. Gendel, Potential functional food ingredients: Insufficient ingredient descriptions, Journal of Functional Foods, Volume 86, 2021, 104721, ISSN 1756-4646, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2021.104721. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464621003704

5. IFT. Top 10 Functional Food Trends. https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2022/april/features/top-10-functional-food-trends. A. Elizabeth Sloan 4-1-22; accessed 2-3-23