By Julian Mellentin, Director, New Nutrition Business11.01.17
It’s been 20 years since the first “functional food” burst onto the American market, with the debut of rival spreads Benecol from Raisio, and Flora from Unilever, each boasting their clinically proven ability to lower cholesterol by 12% thanks to their active ingredient, plant sterol esters.
But consumers don’t go shopping with a list that says “yogurt, bananas, apples, functional foods.” Since 1998 people have shown they want regular food that confers some health benefit, seems natural, is easy to understand, and relates to their own needs.
That’s why probiotic yogurt was the only real winner from the “functional foods” frenzy of 1998-2007; the presence of bugs that are good for you in yogurt, which people knew contained “live and active cultures,” seemed logical.
Omega-3 fish oil fortified bread, milk with glucosamine for joint health, milk with melatonin, smoothies with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols—these and hundreds of others seemed too medical or just weird to the average person and have disappeared, or linger in niches.
Where the “sci
But consumers don’t go shopping with a list that says “yogurt, bananas, apples, functional foods.” Since 1998 people have shown they want regular food that confers some health benefit, seems natural, is easy to understand, and relates to their own needs.
That’s why probiotic yogurt was the only real winner from the “functional foods” frenzy of 1998-2007; the presence of bugs that are good for you in yogurt, which people knew contained “live and active cultures,” seemed logical.
Omega-3 fish oil fortified bread, milk with glucosamine for joint health, milk with melatonin, smoothies with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols—these and hundreds of others seemed too medical or just weird to the average person and have disappeared, or linger in niches.
Where the “sci
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