Chances are you've taken in your share of "functional foods": if you've ever had a glass of calcium-fortified orange juice or a bowl of vitamin-enriched cereal, you've consumed a functional food. Functional foods are foods that have had vitamins, fiber, herbs, or extracts they don't normally contain added to them to help our bodies fight everything from depression to osteoporosis.

Consumers seem to be drawn to functional foods for a variety of reasons. It may seem easier to get extra nutrients from foods than to purchase and then remember to take daily supplements. Or, it may be that the ever-growing older-adult population is seeking inexpensive solutions to an aging body's needs in the face of rising health care costs.

Whatever the reason, where there is a consumer demand there are manufacturers ready to meet it, and as a result, functional foods crowd the shelves of our supermarkets and health food stores. Functional foods come in every form: you can find them in cans, bottles, boxes, and plastic wrappers; they include soups, sports bars, drinks, snacks, and cereals, to name a few. There's split pea soup with St. John's wort to make you happier, and chewing gum made with phosphatidyl serine to help you remember to pick up the split pea soup with St. John's wort when you're at the grocery store.

However, experts have yet to determine whether or not functional foods are able to deliver on their promises, or even if they're safe to consume on a regular basis. Some experts believe that the amount of supplements added to some functional foods are so small they have no benefit at all. Others are concerned that consuming too much of a functional food may jeopardize your health. Unfortunately, the research field has yet to catch up with the marketplace. In the early 1990s the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stepped in, requiring a food manufacturer intending to make a health promotion claim on its product's label to receive FDA approval for the label before the product hit the market. Since 1993, the FDA has approved 10 functional food labels boasting health claims. So why are there far more than 10 fortified or enriched products appearing on store shelves?

The answer is simple: where there's a will to meet the demands of a market, there are ways around the FDA's rules. Since the definition of a functional food requires that the label state the foods' intended effect on a particular disease, some manufacturers mention only the effect their product has on the structure or function of the body; for example, "antioxidants can slow aging." Some manufacturers get around the rules by labeling their products "dietary supplements" because currently the FDA does not require pre-market notification for most supplement label claims and cannot restrict the sale of dietary supplements unless they receive "complaints of harm." As dietary supplements, these products do not have to undergo the rigorous testing that drugs or foods with new additives do.

This leaves consumers with lots of appealing advertising but little scientific information on the safety and effectiveness of the functional foods they are buying. Until more research has been done and more stringent government regulations are in place, use the information that is available and don't assume that a functional food is a healthy food. Scrutinize food labels: some functional foods that make Herculean claims have nutritional labels to tell the real story (e.g., the amounts of nutrients they contain are minute, and sugar and water dominate the list of main ingredients). Have the added ingredients been proven effective? For example, when you are evaluating a product that has added kava kava "to promote relaxation," it is good to know that not one study has shown that kava kava relieves stress. Also, look to see how much of a substance is actually in a functional food you are considering and do a little research to find out if that amount is substantial enough to be of any benefit to you or if it far exceeds the recommended amounts for good health. Also find out what's known about the added ingredients concerning potential allergic reactions, long-term effects, interactions with other drugs, or side effects, such as drowsiness. Most importantly, talk to your doctor about your healthcare concerns, and by all means, don't replace the advice of a certified medical professional with the advice on the labels of functional foods. 

If all of this sounds like too much work, don't despair. Remember that there are some foods that have a lot of science to back up their claims of disease prevention: just head right over to the produce aisle.

Extract: the essential components of a substance that have been taken out of it

Fortified: contains additional substances to make it more potent

Kava kava: the root from a tall shrub that grows on islands in the Pacific Ocean

Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements by Michael T. Murray, N.D. (Prima Health, 1996)

Herbal Medicine by Mark Blumenthal (Integrative Medicine Communications, 2000)

Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson M. Haas, M.D. (Celestial Arts, 1992)

Tyler's Honest Herbal by Steven Foster and Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., Sc.D. (Haworth Herbal Press, 1999)

Brophy B, Schardt D. Nutrition Action Healthletter. "Functional Foods."April 1999. Available at http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_99/functional_foods.htm.

Nelson NJ. Purple carrots, margarine laced with wood pulp? Nutraceuticals move into the super market. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1999;91(9):755-757.