There is increasing interest among food manufacturers to design foods that contain health-promoting or disease-preventing ingredients, called "functional foods". Functional foods are foods or dietary components that may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition. A current, highly visible example of this is the addition of omega-3 fatty acids to milk, yogurt and other products, to reduce the risk of
Some companies are currently working on functional ingredients to reduce blood pressure levels. One such company currently markets a peptide that has been shown in trials to lower blood pressure. The peptide is available as a clear beverage product, used in Japan, and under consideration in the US and Europe. Availability in Canada is not known at this time, but the entire heart health category is predicted to grow rapidly as food makers try to help prevent the biggest cause of deaths worldwide (cardiovascular disease).
For more information on functional foods, visit: www.medicinalfoodnews.com or www.ific.org
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