114 HEALTH & WELLBEING

PharmaFcodAs consumers' understanding of nutrition ltas become mlre sopltisticated,th3y ay9, increasi.nsb managTnig ltealtlt, peryformance and appb.a1anceu i a s e lf- m e di c a t i oil-an d t lt ip re"u en t i o n o f iiln e s s t hr o u glt nu iri t i o n,says Saralt Bentley. Pltarmafoods suclt"as ltyber-fruitl, added-ualue foodsaird eaen'beauryfogds', alorigside ;upeyfooil meilus and personaliseilillness-preuenti1il diets, are.Feco*iryS the nea aay to attlempt to acltieueoptimim ltealtlt and extend longeuifi.

115

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fortifzed b eu eragu he lp pro tec t the s kinfrompremature ageing, auu. ly core d. com ; Bi.rdsEy efi shfingers, uau. birds ey eifo o ds. comThe Fo o d D o ctor bre ad'Jor a omen' richinfo li c a ci d, a uu. t h efo o d d o c t o r. c o m

SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTHOn both sides of the Atlantic, healthand well-being has become a major mediafocus. Consumers are being bombardedwith conflicting messages, from scarestories to lifestyle advice. Despiteconfusion over what is and isn't healthy, formany people the main message that healthis influenced by nutrition has hit home.This has fuelled a thirst for genuine,unbiased information on health andnutrition. Websites such as those for theFood and Behaviour Research charitableorganisation (Fabresearch), the NHS'sBehind the headlines and the Consumersfor Health Choice site are popular, withFabresearch getting an average of 10,000visitors every month. Consumers forHealth Choice has a database of over267,000 supporters.

DIET-LINKED DISEASEMedia coverage of new research andonline information has greatly heightenedpublic understanding ofhow diet canmake the body more susceptible to, orprevent, disease. A recent study by theWorld Cancer Research Fund stated:'Evidence shows that vegetables, fruits andother foods containing dietary fibre (such

as wholegrains and pulses) may protectagainst a range ofcancers' and came witha list of top 10 dietary recommendations toreduce cancer risk.

The study also found that certainfoods are not merely bad for the waistline,but can actually increase susceptibility tocancer. Processed meats such as ham andbacon can increase the chance ofgettingcancer by l0%, and, while drinking redwine can reduce the likelihood of heartdisease, it can increase the possibility ofmouth. throat and breast cancers. Rather

than giving general advice to eat healthily,

we can envisage doctors and governments

advising people to eat or avoid specific

loods to lower chances of diseases they

may be susceptible to.

PERFORMANCE EATERSA burgeoning consumer demographicbuys Foods purely for health-givingproperties, without being concernedwhether these are organic, pure or natural.Members of GenerationJones want to lookand feel as good as they did in their youth,and have no intention of giving in to thesigns of ageing, while fast-livingZenoYouth embrace vitamin-enrichedor vaccine-boosted produce to improvetheir health without having to stick toa nutritionally-balanced natural diet.

These groups are fuelling thefunctional foods market as they notonly buy to improve their own wellness,performance and appearance, butalso that of their families. For thesegroups, heightened performance andhealth is the only goal and if that comesthrough products with a wealth of addedvitamins and minerals subjected to fator sugar stripping processes or syntheticproduction processes, so be it.

FOODMEDICSFood Medics are the key consumer groupdriving the pharmacy foods market. FoodMedics are at the forefront of selFmedicationthrough nutrition. They research and honetheir knowledge to achieve a diet thatmaintains and enhances health, performanceand function. Consumers in this group arethe early adopters ofnew supey'functionalfoods and innovative food productionsystems but only if they believe the productshave genuine, proven health benefits. 116)

Pharmafoods and superfoods are the ne@@ay to attempt to achieae optimum healthand extend longevity

Infuture, doctors and goaernrnents nxayadaise people to eat or aaoi,d spec!ficfoods tolouer chances of disease

A burge oni,ng consurner derno grap hic,including Generation jlnes and lenoTouth, buysfoods purelyfor health-gtoingproperties, aithout being concerned uhetherthese are organic, pure ornatural

Food Medics are the early adoptersof n e a s u p e r/fun c ti o n a lfo o d s an dfo o dproduction innlaatioe srstenxs but only

lfthq belieae the produrts haae genuine,proaen health benefits

Today onfi one infiae Britons is concemedabout GMfood, hafthe proportiln thatenpressed concern in 2000

Groups such as Zeno Touth see enrichedfoodsas the perfect antidote to their syntheticfood

ll/hen it comes to health-boostingfood,consurners areuillingto pay extra; houeaer,thefunctionalfood and drinks market isabout t0 enter a criti,cal era as purchasersbecome increasingly ueptical about ooer-inJlated clairns

M anqfact ure rs oJ tr a di ti o n a I Ig un h e a lt b)foods such as titps, chocolate, oils andfast

food are giaingtheir products a dramatichealthmakeoaer

Antioxidants haae abigfuture, as dos up erfruit s an d inge s tib I e b e au Qt p r o du e ts

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ProductsThe ingredients, products andinnovations set to drive the brandand category sales of tomorrow...

Bonsoy: Often referred to as the Rolls-Royce of soya milks by coffee baristas forits smooth appearance and creamy taste.Expect sales to rise as foodies discover itssuperior taste and the health-consciousrealise it is one of the few sova milks thatalready contains sea veg.

Children's health: Products such asDanone's Danimals, smoothies forchildren with probiotic Lactobacillus(LGG), will lead the way in the soon-to-explode children's functional foodmarket. Adult Food Medics will feedtheir offspring the same health-boostingfoodstuffs they feed themselves and well-meaning parents will look for quick fixesand easy vehicles for topping up theirchildren's vitamin and mineral intake.

Satiety products: Satiety products suchas Slimfast's new Hunger Shot drink andCoca-Cola's calorie-burning Enviga willgenerate fans among those who wantto control" maintain and reduce theirweight with as little effort as possible.Anything that suppresses the appetitewithout being too extreme will windedicated repeat buyers.

Mood foods: Already big in Japan,'mood foods' that help tacklestress, restlessness, concentrationand depression will spread. As theeffectiveness ofdrugs such as Prozacis questioned, more people will look tofood and naturally occurring ingredientsto improve their moods.

ZENO YOUTHProudly urbanite and digitally native,Zeno Youths don't automatically equateorganic with quality. This is a generationthat has grown up with the concepts ofhybrid pets and successful cloning. Theysee genetically modified crops as a wayofensuring that there is enough food foreveryone, via crops that can resist drought,disease and pests. They have not thoughtabout the potential complications becausethey see technological advances as a forcefor good. They represent an emerging waveof changing attitudes towards science.Today only one in f ive Britons is concernedabout GM food, half the proportion thatexpressed concern in 2000.

Zenos are also keen on enriched foods,from dairy produce with additional Omega 3to vitamin-enriched juices and breads.The wholefood fanatic would see these asgimmicky, but the Zeno looks upon themas the perfect antidote to their syntheticfood favourites and hedonistic lifestvles.

BUYING INTO HEALTHConsumers are dedicating a larger chunkof their incomes to qual i ty, organic,premium, health-giving and functionalfoods. According to Datamonitor, thecombined US, Western European andAsian-Pacific functional food and drinkmarket is worth $72.3bn, proving thatwhen it comes to health-boosting food,consumers are willing to pay extra.

However, according to industryexperts, despite impressive sales figures,the functional foods and drinks marketis about to enter a critical era. Accordingto Datamonitor: Although consumersare actively seeking out food and drinksthat optimise performance and reducethe risk of illness, they are becoming

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Opposite dorkaise-[rom teJt: Ptlsi Raois madefrom natural ingre dients an dc ontains no artlficial pres eru atia es,c o lours,fl aa o urings 0r Jro e e teners,uau. p ep siraa. co. uk ; B orb a neu tra-c e u ti c al c o nJe c tio n ery c o n t ain s kin- b o o rtingi ngred ie nts, aua. borba . co m; Coraaonasheart healthl potato chips actiuely reducec ho les tero ls, uau. c0raz0nas. com ; Thre ecans per day ofEnuiga calorie-burning drinkhas been shoan to increase calorie burningby 60-100 calories, auu.enuiga.com; N.V.Perricone Nutraceuticals super berrl pouderait h ac ai, uaa.nap erriconemd. com

more sceptical about the health claimsmade by food and drink manufacturerb...a lack ofconfidence in food and drinkwith'artificial' ingredients means moreconsumers are opting for naturally healthydiets in order to boost wellness levels.'

DOCTOR. DOCTORIronically, as the public steers clear ofthedoctor's surgery, the red carpet is beingrolled out for medics working in foodand beauty, with products conceived by'doctors' becoming more prevalent onshelves. German brand Dr Karg's organiccrispbreads are rapidly becoming the latestin gourmet, health-boosting crackerbreads,while American beauty brand NV PerriconeMD, named for dermatologist Dr NicholasPerricone, is receiving accolades for itsrange of digestible beauty products.

BORN.AGAINJUNKManulacturers of traditionally unhealthyfoods such as crisps, chocolate, oils and fastfood are giving their products a dramatichealth makeover. Walkers now fries its crispsin Sunseed oil, McDonald's is using organicmilk and Marks & Spencer children'ssweets are additjve free. American companyCorazonas Foods, creator of CorazonasHeart-Healthy Potato Chips, uses a patentedtechnology that infuses plant sterols intothe chips. This is claimed to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol byup to L5%. Similarly, Israeli firm ShemenIndustries has launched Canola Active Oil,also said to reduce cholesterol by usinginfusions of plant phytosterols.

'First we had products with lowercholesterol-forming levels, Now we'vegot products on the market that helplower cholesterol, and in the future there'llbe products that stop cholesterol from 119 )

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getting high in the first place,' says KarlCrawford, business leader of HortResearchin New Zealand, a government-sponsoredresearch programme designed to probe thepossibilities of functional food.

Following Corazonas' healthy potatochips, Coca-Cola has brought out acanned green tea drink, Enviga, that burnscalories. By 2009, American companyPioneer Hi-Bred International hopes tolaunch a new soya bean oil that is, throughgenetic manipulation, healthier anddoesn't produce trans fats during cooking.

OMEGA3 RUSHMany people in countries including theUK, US, Europe and Australia have fartoo little Omega 3-derived EPA and DHAin their diets, and this has been widelypublicised. These essential fatty acids areneeded for optimum brain function, andfood manulacturers are adding them toanything and everything. McCain haslaunched a range ofSuper Crunchy Omega 3Fries and Healthy Choice Pizzas withadded Omega 3, while Heinz has producedOmega 3-enriched tinned Spaghetti Plus,and Birds Eye has followed suit with SmartChoice Fish Fillets. However, none ofthese products have set the market alightlike Australian bread brand Tip Top Up,an Omega 3-enriched sliced loaf that hasbecome the most popular sliced loaf in thecountry as it is not only rich in Omega 3,but is deemed perfect'lunch-box' size,with a superior grainy taste.

Alex Richardson, nutritionist andfounder of the Fabresearch heath andnutrition website, is generally sceptical of'added-value' products and a supporterof nutrients obtained from their naturalsources, such as fresh fish, in the case ofOmega 3. However, he tentatively supports

such products. 'Obviously eating foily] fishtwice a week is best, but there is sucha massive dearth of Omega 3-derived EPAand DHA that anything healthy that gets itinto people's diets is good.'

ANTIOXIDANTTAKE.OVERIfindustry experts are to be believed,antioxidants will become the probioticsof2008. To date, probiotic drinks are thebiggest single market in the functionalfoods category. Although these are boughtby a relat ively small number of people.such customers form a dedicated, loyaland repeat-purchasing base. Probiotics,designed to aid the digestive system andboost 'wellness', have proved a majorsuccess for Danone, which producesActimel, a €1bn brand.

Most consumers, bar the Food Medicsgroup, have an extremely rudimentarygrasp of why probiotics are good lor them,yet buy into the product anyway. Thesame goes for the burgeoning interest inantioxidants: consumers purchase productswith high antioxidant levels because theysee these simply as a'wellness-boosting'property. Those with a sl ightly higherunderstanding may describe antioxidantsas compounds that'kill free radicals, whichare, er, bad things we don't want inside us.'

HortResearch scienrisrs are propagaringnew strains ofapples, kiwis and berries suchas raspberry, boysenberry, blackcurrantand blackberry with levels ofantioxidantseight times higher than standard crops.They are also looking at the theories aboutwhy antioxidants are good for us. 'What

antioxidants probably do is signal to cellsor act ivate cel ls to produce the body'sown antioxidants, which help normaliseimmune function, inflammation and mopup free radicals,' says Karl Crawford. 120r.

119

InnovationsDrinkable sunscreen: Why spend timeslapping on suntan lotion when youcan drink it instead? Lyc-O-Guard,one of the lycopene-based, tomato-derived products from Lyc-O-Mato,aims to protect against solar radiationand other free radical donors.

Nutrigenomics: As nutrigenomicsbecome more sophisticated, expectpersonalised diets to become the norm inthe quest to prevent the onset ofdisease.This trend will be supported by theemerging pharmacogenomics industry.

Healthyjunk: Food such as Corazonas'potato chips that actively reducecholesterol will become the norm andkind of technologywill be applied to avariety ofjunk foods.

Supreme produce: Through selectivebreeding technolog:y, the nutritionalvalue of fruit and vegetables, particularlyantioxidant levels, will be boosted tolevels as much as eight times higher thanthat of naturally occurring produce.This is possible as researchers now havea more sophisticated knowledge of fruitgenetics than ever before.

Health-to-go: Dissolvable strips lookset to become the newvehicle forsupplement absorption with industryexperts l ist ing 812, chromiumpicolinate, melatonin and possiblycoenzyme QtO (COQ[0) as goodexamples of ingredients thatwould besuitable for soluble films.

120 HEALTH & WELLBEING

TARGETAREASHeart health was targeted by functionalfood manufacturers during the late 90svia a multitude of 'death marketing'campaigns. Digestive health and weightmanagement will be the key trends of 2008and beyond. Jul ian Mellentin, executivedirector and editor-in-chief of NewNutrition Business believes this is largelybecause'digestive health problems frombloating to IBS affect millions of peopleand are usually packaged in a generalwellness message which is more appealingthan products with single-organ appeal.'

We can expect to see a rise in foodswith added digestive health-improvingconstituents, such as products from OraftiActive Food Ingredients that leaturenatural extracts from chicory: inulin, aheterogeneous blend of fructose polymers,and oligofructose, a subgroup ofinulin.Sunsweet has produced a beverage calledPlumSmart that claims to boost digestivehealth. In a recent press statement SteveHarris, vice president of marketing atSunsweet, said: 'With 60 to 70 millionAmericans suffering from digestive diseases,PlumSmart Light is the only low-sugarjuice for digestive health maintenance.'Until another 10 come along...

BEAUTY SHOPPINGIn the beauty realm, Borba Nutraceuticals,a US company that specialises innutraceuticals and ingestible beautyproducts, is using agai, pomegranate andgoji berry in various products that claim toenhance beauty: waters, HD-IlluminatingPlasma Infused Crystals and Gummi Bears(yes, Gummi Bears). 'Berries are huge rightnow,'says founder and CEO Scott-VincentBorba. 'Our products that contain them,especially the Gummi Bears, are extremely

popular.'At $25 a bag, Borba GummiBears have an almost inconceivable mark-up on standard sweets yet on their initiallaunch stockists sold out injust a few days.'Retailers thought lwas crazy,but I saw agap in the market for ingestible beauty andbeauty fromwithin that needed to be filled,'says Borba. 'Borba Nutraceuticals targetsproblems at the root, inside your body, andit's a concept consumers totally get.'

ANTI.STRESS CHOCOLATEWe are also seeing the rise of anti-stressfoods, filler foods and'brain foods'.InJapan, the launch of Glico's MentalBalance chocolate, containing GABA,has been a runaway success, due to itsclaims that the ingredient GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). a neurotransmitter,reduces stress, which appeals to a nation ofworkaholics. GABA bars now have annualsales of $40m in Japan alone.

NATURAL SELECTIONLyc-O-Mato is a supplement produced byIsraeli company LycoRed, and is derivedfrom tomato lycopene, believed to helpprevent free-radical damage to humancells. Each Lyc-O-Mato capsule containsfour times the lycopene of a regulartomato. In addition to the supplement,the company has developed a range offunctional drinks: Summer Delight,enriched with antioxidants, lutein andbeta-carotene, and Tomato-on-the-Gobeverages. In the cosmeceutical category,the company is currently promoting Lyc-O-Guard, a beverage that is claimed toprotect against solar radiation and otherfree radical generators such as pollution.

'Functional foods, especially in theform ofbeverages, will be a householdconcept in the near future although the

skin protection category (cosmeceuticals)has the best chance to overtake laggingsales ofsnack bars and foods,'predictsZohar Nir, vice president of productdevelopment and scientific affairs atLycoRed. 'This century will be the centuryof nutr i t ion and the younggenerationwon't be able to shy away from learningnutrition at school, which hopefullywilllower the rate ofdegenerative diseasesin the future.'

FUTURE CLAMPDOWNThe future of the functional foods marketis uncertain as it is unclear what can andcannot be classed as 'functional', whattype of health claims food can make andhow these are to be substantiated. InJuly2007, the EU Directive brought in theNutrition and Health Claims Regulation,designed to set out clearly what healthclaims manufacturers can and cannotmake. The Food Standards Agency (FSA)confirmed the list of nutritional claims isalready in use, but the health claims list isstill being developed by the EU. Its plannedimplementation begins in January 2009.The FSA refrains from conjecturing how theIist may affect the functional foods industry.Will products have to be withdrawn orre-branded? As no-one yet knows whatmeasures the EU plans to impose, or howthese will affect the industry, this is, asKarl Crawford of HortResearch says,'the

$64m dollar question.'

NUTRI-DETECTIVESConsumers' ever-increasing knowledge,not only about diet but about formerlyimpenetrable lists of food preservatives,chemicals and additives, meansmanufacturers won't get awaywith addingcheap junk torfoods, or with over-hyped

'TVtis centur) aill be tlre centurl qf nutrition an4 tlte yunggeneration'uon't be able to shy qiltg-fr.qru learntng"nutrition at scltool, ultich, ltobefulli {nill loaer the"rateof degeneratiue dis'eases in tfiefuhire.'

121

product claims. 'Because the consumersthat are into health tend to be quite vocaland engaged, we're heading into a time

where manufacturers will have to be muchmore careful about not only what theyput into their products but also how they

brand and market them in relation to the

claims they make,' says Lisa Miles of theBrit ish Nutr i t ion Fou ndation. 'Consumersare becoming much more clued-up and aredoing their research to find out what theyare really eating.'

FUTUREFOODSScientific innovation, coupled with

changing consumer attitudes, will seethe pharmafoods ideology spreadthroughout the industry in a variety offorms and guises. The pharmafoodstrend is cranking up a gear: from thecontradictory proposition of nutrient-rich

Big Macs to gene-defying personalised

diets in the not so distant future.

SMALL WORLDNanotechnology is becoming increasinglyimportant in the development ofpharmafoods. Although much of thedevelopment ofnanofoods is being kept

tightly under wraps, nano-tech is already a

billion-dollar industry: the EU has alreadycontributed €1.7bn to research, whileanalysts predict the nanofood industry

could be worth $20bn annually by 2010.Nanotechnology is already being usedin a range of foodstuffs already on themarket, includingTip Top Up bread and

Shemen Industries'Canola Oil. Tip Top

Up adds the Omega 3 to a nanocapsuleliposome and Shemen uses a nanoformation

that reduces cholesterol by competingwith the body's bio-system, preventingcholesterol from being absorbed.

An interesting area for nanotechnologyis taking food that's bad for us likechocolate, sugary drinks, chips, andmaking them good for us,' says MarkMorrison. scienti f ic manager at theInstitute of Nanotechnology. A newnanotechnology process is being workedon to remove fat frorn mayonnaise: solidglobules of fat are replaced by liquidnutrients and minerals. The resultst i l l tastes and feels l ike mayonnaise,yet contains a fraction ofthe fat. 'The

scientific process is actually quite simple,'says Morrison. 'It's just a case now ofgetting it to a point where it's cost-effectiveto reproduce on a mass scale.'

SECOND GENERATION GMWhile other European countries areexperimenting with genetically modified(GM) crops, the UK is lagging behinddue to staunch opposition from antiGMcampaigners and the general public.However, Iain Ferguson, chiefexecutive ofTate & Lyle and president of Britain's Foodand Drink Federation, recently told theEconomist: 'We sit at a moment in historywhere GM technology is a fact of life.'He went on to argue that, becausemany large agricultural exporters haveadopted GM organisms (GMOs), it is veryexpensive to avoid them.

The article also reports that theEuropean farmers' lobby Copa-Cogeca haswarned that the rising cost of feed couldwipe out Europe's livestock unless bans onGMOs are lifted; globally there are currently114m hectares under GMO cultivation.Unlike early incarnations, the newgeneration of GMO technology can providehealth benefits such as low-cholesterolsoya oil. Whether this will sway Europeanconsumers has yet to be put to thetest. 122)

NanofoodsThe potential ofnanotechnology has yetto be fully exploited and could be used invarious ways. Potential benefits include:

Removing fat from produce such as

mayonnaise without altering the taste,texture or smell

Making oils such as canola and soya notonly cholesterol-free but able to reducecholesterol by competingwith the body'snatural biosystem

Adding nutrients such as vitamins andminerals to everydayitems such as bread,meat, dairy fruit juice and pasta

Delivering nutrients in a vehicle thatprotects them from stomach acids

Aboue: Guarand EAga{ calsules bySup e rfruit, aua. s up erJr uit. s e

122 HEALTH & WELLBEING

Genetic modification can also be used tobattle disease. Yellow rice has already beengenetically engineered to include vitamin Ato tackle deficiency and the resultingblindne ss in parts of the developing world.Now extra lycopene is being added totomatoes to fight prostate cancer. Zenoattitudes which may seem extreme todaywill be shared tomorrow by a growingnumber of people who buy into the foodscience argument.

The positive Zeno stance on GM isshare d by the majority of the developingworld and the US. As science continues rofind solutions to food issues and organicstruggles to find conclusive supportingevidence, theZeno lifestyle will become anincreasingly logical route.

Although some consumers doubtthe results offunctional foods and aremoving towards natural products, thepharmafoods market is onlyjust gettingunder way. It has the potential for massiveinnovations and growth if manufacturerskeep current key trends in mind: natural,convenient, gut health, satiety, mood food,brain food, antioxidant-rich and ingestiblebeauty products.

HEALTHAND DESTINYAs nanotechnology and nutrigenomicsbecome more sophisticated and accurate,nutritional information will become thenorm. Maintaining health will not bea lilestyle choice, but an expectation.Those that choose to ignore their geneticpredispositions or eat unhealthily couldbe refused insurance policies or medicaltreatment. As is the principle of manynatural nutrition courses, individuals willtake control of their own health and manageit in the same way they do their money,instead of relying on medical 'magic bullets'.

This page: Actiaate antioxidant drinks,u a a, a c tizt a t e drink s, c o m

Op p o si t e c I o c ka is efr om I eJt :Goji E chokladberries by Superfruit,aua. sup erfruit. s e ; D anone y ogurts,aua. danone. com; Bons oy nutrient-ric hsoy dri.nk, auu. bonsoy.com

BESPOKEBEAUTYFROM WITHINAs the beauty-from-within marketexpands, we can expect to see a rise inbespoke ingestible beauty products andregimes. The beauty-conscious will investin bespoke (and highly expensive) skinand hair supplement programmes, lotionsand waters, developed in accordance withtheir genetic make-up, ethnicity, skin type,diet and lifestyle. As this market becomespremium, expect more mainstreamproducts to be launched to service middle-income beauty buyers.

JUNKUNDERBELLYIs there potential for a black market

that deals in trans and saturated fat-lacedproducts such as burgers, deep-fried Marsbars, pies, bacon butties, chips, deep panptzzas and other processed foods? Willjunk food bars become the illegal drinkingdens and crack houses of the future?

Looking to the future, Mark Morrisonbelieves that fast food giants will becomevery interested in using nanotechnologyto 'nutritionally beef up their wares'and reveals that nanotechnology hasthe potential to 'go into Star Trekterritory'. Some scientists even suggestthat eventually liposomes could beprogrammed by radio waves to behavedifferently depending on the consumer'scurrent nutritional needs.

123

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TheJacts speak"for themselues. The combindE[], US and Asi an-Pac!fi cjuncti onalfo o dand drink market is aorth $72bn. Andin anye c 0 n a mi cjfl re c as tJo r 2 0 0 8, en h an c e dfo o d s,clnt aining an! t hingfrorn ingre dients th atimprou e h e alt h to Om ega- 3fatQ acids,are seen as one ofthefea safe grouth areasin c o n s um er p urc h a sin g.

This is understandable, considering groaingconcerns oa er hospital h1 giene and u aiting lis ts,the grouingcost ofhealth insurance (expectedto rise at double-digit rates in the US andsomeEU countrie) and theflood ofscare articlesaboutfood links to anything and eaery)thing

from obuitl to cancer. Despite the corlfusion andcontrad,ictoryfindings about u hat is and isn' thealt@ (one day cqffeine is bad, the next a dailycup afcffie is saidto keepAlzheimer's diseaseat ba), and, d,api.te theJact thatfeu actuallyknou the true nutritional ualue ofuhat theyare eating, the ideathat health and beauty isunderpinned b1 nutritionis here to stay

It\ atlpart ofthe curcentmoodoJFUD(fear, uncertainty and doub) saeepingthe aorld: look afteryurse!f, becauseno-one elseuill. This ispart$ rational,but also contains elements that are emotionalan d ill o gical. C onsumers,;for e x arnp le,continue to subsribe to homeopatfu althoughtherc is absolutely no scientfr.c euidence tobackits claims.

Ofcourse, not eaerythinguill be plain sailing

for the enhancedlfoods sector. Consumers arebecomingmore sceptical about the claims beingmade byfood and drinkmanqfacturers. Fore xantp le, Gl a xo SmithKline a asfine d t8 0 klastyar ahen tao Auckland, schoolgirlsproaed that Ribena is not'rich in aitamin C'.Meanahile , media articles are appearingthat question nutritional claims. For example ,earlierthislear the Guardianran an articlethat pointed out the lou aitamin andmineralczntent 0f pre- Prep are dfruit; UK sales oJthishaae almost doubkd in the pau turyears.

Then there are the hiked-up prices attachedto'sup erJo o ds'. These might no t a orry theoaer4os or urban Generation Xers, butthel certainfi diseryfranchise less uell- offconsumers. According to a recent clwumersurue2 @ USJood consultancy Technomic, onlt18% ofthose interuieaed thought that organic

foods ffir goodualue, ahile inthe UK around50% of consumers consider them ouerpriced.

Still, in the longterm, there is no doubtingthejuture ofthis business as it ouerlaps uithareas such as pharmaceuticals andmentalenhancement. The possibilitiesfor groath areendless. Just think about nano-engineered

Jood. Accordingto the Woodlou Wilson Center,Washington, there are 201nano productslisted under health andfitness and onQ 29underfood and beuerages. But ue are onQ atthe beginning. In laboratory experiments, redaine has been turne d into uhite , uhile nano-encapsulationmeans no more bribingthe kidsto eatfruit and aegetables. Pass the broccoli ...