Thursday, July 25, 2013

ReDeco, Revista electrónica del Derecho del consumo y la alimentación, nº 33, pág. 53

 


Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals/Alimentos funcionales:

 

Lydia J.R. Lawless, Renee T. Threlfall, Luke R. Howard and Jean-François Meullenet, “Sensory, Compositional, and Color Properties of Nutraceutical-Rich Juice Blends”. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, Vol. 63 No. 4 (2012) 529-537. 

Abstract 

Phytochemical-rich fruits may have health-related properties, which make juices of these fruits prime candidates for the nutraceutical market. Understanding consumer acceptance and compositional, color, and descriptive sensory changes during storage is crucial to the success of nutraceutical-rich juices. Juices (blackberry, blueberry, and Concord grape) were blended according to the ABCD mixture design (three primary juices, three binary blends, and four tertiary blends). Prior to storage, a trained descriptive panel (n = 8) determined that Concord-containing blends were generally sweeter, less bitter, less astringent, and less sour than blackberry- or blueberry-containing blends. When relating compositional, color, and descriptive sensory characteristics, sweetness was inversely correlated to total phenolics (r = −0.88), total anthocyanins (r = −0.75), color density (r = −0.84), and astringency (r = −0.92) and positively correlated with soluble solids (r = 0.92) and polymeric color (r = 0.78). Consumers (n = 108) evaluated overall liking on a 9-point verbal hedonic scale. Average liking scores were high for 100% Concord juice (7.79), moderate for 100% blueberry juice (5.47), and low for 100% blackberry juice (2.95). Consumer acceptance was driven by soluble solids, total anthocyanins, purple color, red color, astringency, sweetness, and grape flavor. Compositional, color, and descriptive sensory changes were tracked during 200 days storage at 2°C and 21°C. Prior to storage, 100% blueberry juice had the highest total anthocyanins (67 mg/100 mL), 100% blackberry juice had the highest total phenolics (249 mg/100 mL), and 100% Concord juice had the highest polymeric color (23%). During storage, polymeric color increased as total anthocyanins decreased at 2°C and 21°C. Blending juices balanced nutraceutical enhancement and maintenance of consumer acceptance.

 

 

Alessandro Bonanno, “Functional foods as differentiated products: the Italian yogurt market”. European Revue of Agricutural Economics, Vol. 40 No. 1 (2013) 45-71. 

Abstract 

In spite of the growing consumers' interest for functional foods, the knowledge regarding the demand for these products and their profitability is limited. Adapting the LA/AIDS (Linear Approximated–Almost Ideal Demand System) model by means of Pinkse, Slade and Brett's distance metric method (2002), this article studies demand, substitution pattern, and profitability of conventional and functional alternatives inside the yogurt category in Italy. Results indicate that, in the yogurt market, functional alternatives' demand is often less elastic than that of their conventional counterparts, that brand loyalty plays a key role, and that the profitability of the functional alternatives is, on average, larger than that of conventional ones.

 

 

Ellen H. M. Moors, “Functional foods: regulation and innovations in the EU”. Innovation, Vol. 25 No 4 (2012) 424-440. 
 
Abstract 

Worldwide consumers are becoming more interested in the relation between food and health. In order to harmonize regulation on foods throughout the EU, the Regulation EC1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims came into force, as a first specific set of EU legal rules dealing with nutrition and health claims. A Union List of EU-wide approved claims is now being developed that creates a level playing-field on which food operators can innovate, backed by legal certainty to ultimately bring benefits to the consumer. This paper assesses the new Regulation and its impact on the functional food innovation process, functional foods being conventional food products with added substances to promote health. Food innovation is perceived as a collective effort of a variety of actors within the context of a network of institutions, whose activities and interactions initiate, import and diffuse new innovations. Both desk research and semi-structured interviews with actors in the Dutch functional food value chain have been performed to explore the impact of the new Regulation. It seems that the new regulatory regime may not only be restrictive but also selective for future functional food innovative activities.

 

 

Collin L. Gyles, Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop y Jared G. Carlberg, “Health economics and nutrition: a review of published evidence”. Nutrition Reviews, Vol. 70 nº 12 (2012) 693–708. 

Abstract 

The relationship between nutrition and health-economic outcomes is important at both the individual and the societal level. While personal nutritional choices affect an individual's health condition, thus influencing productivity and economic contribution to society, nutrition interventions carried out by the state also have the potential to affect economic output in significant ways. This review summarizes studies of nutrition interventions in which health-related economic implications of the intervention have been addressed. Results of the search strategy have been categorized into three areas: economic studies of micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition; economic studies of dietary improvements; and economic studies of functional foods. The findings show that a significant number of studies have calculated the health-economic impacts of nutrition interventions, but approaches and methodologies are sometimes ad hoc in nature and vary widely in quality. Development of an encompassing economic framework to evaluate costs and benefits from such interventions is a potentially fruitful area for future research.

 

 
◊ Electronic resources 

S.A. El Sohaimy, “Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals-Modern Approach to Food Science”. World Applied Sciences Journal, Vol. 20 No. 5 (2012) 691-708: http://www.idosi.org/wasj/wasj20(5)12/12.pdf (last accessed on 8 January 2013).