01.16.2008

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The Consumer Take on Functional Foods

“People are saying, ‘I want my food to be food. I want my medicine to be medicine. I don’t want my food to be medicine.’”
–Harvey Hartman, The New York Times, August 1, 2007

The average American consumer is not on the same functional food wavelength as the industry that coined the term. In fact, despite the many functional products that continue to pour into the marketplace—some finding greater success than others—most consumers have a quite literal understanding of the term “functional food” and that is: foods that have a function.

While consumers are interested in the health benefits of their food, rarely does this interest translate into understanding and acceptance of “functional foods” created in factories or laboratories. Consumers are likely to view foods as functional because of ingredients with naturally occurring health benefits. Thus products like olive oil are viewed as a source of “good fats,” or oatmeal “helps with cholesterol,” while most products marketed as cleverly contrived innovations with long ingredient lists are viewed with confusion and skepticism.

In addition to a strong desire for naturally occurring health benefits in their food, when faced with a product boasting specific health benefits consumers make their best quick guess at how this functional food “came to be.” For example, consumers examining a pink translucent soft drink enhanced with calcium become confused because they can’t logically connect the product with its functional ingredient.

If the ingredients make sense to the consumers the product is more readily accepted than one that raises questions that suggest a product is a chemical, pharmaceutical or enhanced in any other way that seems unnatural. In order to succeed in today's consumer driven marketplace, new functional foods and beverages need to be based on culture and not the test laboratory.

To gain an in-depth perspective on this topic, watch our videocast: “Consumers on Functional Foods.”

Run-time: 6 minutes, 31 seconds

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