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Article: Functional foods come of age: two thousand years ago, Hippocrates said, "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food." Was he anticipating the advent of functional foods? And, will functional foods follow the difficult path supplements are now experiencing?
- Article from:
- Prepared Foods
- Article date:
- September 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Functional foods and nutraceuticals are redefining the boundaries between what is defined as a food, drug and dietary, supplement, and how, all these are being used to maintain health. Functional foods have become a top U.S. food industry research and development priority.
What are the implications for the traditional supplement industry that is buffeted by bad press, ephedra notoriety and renewed government scrutiny? Can it ride out the onslaught of big food business as it usurps its traditional mission, namely, the delivery of specific nutrition via pills and powders?
Here is a look at the evolution of attitudes toward food's role in health maintenance ...