Health impacting

ingredients: biofunctionality

Learning outcomes. Be able to:

• Identify and discuss the impact on health of various food ingredients, including
those most associated with lost DALYs
• Critically discuss food formulation ‘for health’ (prevention & enhancement),
using examples
• Discuss levels of evidence for health ‘impact’ and the relevance to regulations
associated with consumer information/ promotion
• Propose appropriate ingredients for a food, associated with intended health
benefit
• read the papers on Stream and be able to discuss
• Sloan (2024) The top 10 functional food trends https://www.ift.org/news-and-
publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2024/april/features/top-10-functional-
food-trends-reinventing--wellness
• IFIC, 2009; van de Velde, et al. 2016; Quintaes et al, 2015
Extra: Look at regulations for Health Claims
• Reformulation as a strategy for developing healthier food products : challenges, recent
developments and future prospects / Vassilios Raikos, Viren Ranawana, editors (ebook)
Biofunctional ingredients- related to human
health
• All food impacts human health, directly or indirectly

• Some ingredients have been shown to have negative impact on

human health
• “functional foods” contain bioactive components that provide a
health benefit beyond ‘basic nutrition’

• Go to https://www.menti.com
What are some health concerns to consider
in relation to foods?
• Global or in specific regions/ populations?

https://ourworldindata.
org/burden-of-
disease#all-charts
 https://ourworldind
ata.org/burden-of-
disease#all-charts

CVD- “key facts” (WHO, 2021)

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of
death globally.
• An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019,
representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85%
were due to heart attack and stroke
• Over three quarters of CVD deaths take place in low- and
middle-income countries.
• Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by
addressing risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet
and obesity, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol .
(& high blood pressure, diabetes and raised lipids).
https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-
sheets/detail/cardiovascular-diseases-(cvds)
Cancer- “key facts” (WHO, 2022)
• Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly
10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths.
• The most common cancers are breast, lung, colon and rectum and
prostate cancers.
• Around one-third of deaths from cancer are due to tobacco use,
high body mass index, alcohol consumption, low fruit and
vegetable intake, and lack of physical activity.
• Cancer-causing infections, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and
hepatitis, are responsible for approximately 30% of cancer cases in
low- and lower-middle-income countries.
• Many cancers can be cured if detected early and treated effectively

https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer

Diabetes- “Key Facts” (WHO, 2023)

• The number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million
in 2014. Prevalence has been rising more rapidly in low- and middle-income
countries than in high-income countries.
• Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and
lower limb amputation.
• Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 3% increase in diabetes mortality rates by
age.
• In 2019, diabetes and kidney disease due to diabetes caused an estimated 2
million deaths.
• A healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and
avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
• Diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet,
physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment for
complications.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes
Obesity- “Key Facts” (WHO, 2024)
• In 2022, 1 in 8 people in the world were living with obesity.
• Worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and
adolescent obesity has quadrupled.
• In 2022, 2.5 billion adults (18 years and older) were overweight. Of these,
890 million were living with obesity.
• In 2022, 43% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight and 16%
were living with obesity.
• In 2022, 37 million children under the age of 5 were overweight.
• Over 390 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 years were
overweight in 2022, including 160 million who were living with obesit

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

Obesity
• Obesity-high body fat, is risk factor for chronic disease
• BUT,
• Excess body fat is not always visible – “TOFI” (thin on the outside,
fat on the inside)
• Reducing body fat by fad diets, yo-yo dieting, etc. will not improve
health
➢Focus on
➢Healthy diet
➢Physical activity
Diet risk factors- lacking or in excess

**why mention of ‘ultra-processed foods?

** Where are the health impacting ingredients?
WHO Global Action Plan includes:
Develop guidelines, recommendations or policy measures that engage
different relevant sectors, such as food producers and processors, and
other relevant commercial operators, as well as consumers, to:

• Reduce the level of salt/sodium added to food (prepared or processed).

• Increase availability, affordability and consumption of fruit and vegetables.
• Reduce saturated fatty acids in food and replace them with unsaturated
fatty acids.
• Replace trans-fats with unsaturated fats.
• Reduce the content of free and added sugars in food and non-alcoholic
beverages.
• Limit excess calorie intake, reduce portion size and energy density of foods
Energy density- what is it? How to reduce it?

Grapes: 279 kJ/ 100 g Raisins: 1180 kJ/ 100g

472 kJ/ cup 1620 kJ/cup

Limit
• Salt/sodium
• Saturated fat/ trans fat
• Added sugars
• Energy

➢Reduce &/or Replace

➢Challenge- these often have functional role in food
(Read the article by van de Velde, van Gunst & Roodenburg, 2016)

• Note– we’re not looking at toxic levels from any one food, it’s the totality of
the diet/ food supply that has dangerous levels.
 Should you claim when you’ve reduced a ‘baddie’?
(Marketing vs stealth approach)

Do you read the label? Which would you chose?

Increase availability, affordability and consumption

of fruit and vegetables– how?
So?
• As new ingredients are used in large amounts and/or new processing
methods impact large volume of food products, new
information/cautions may come to light
• Balance of ‘fact’ and consumer ‘fear’, e.g. cholesterol, gluten
• Calling attention to lack of ‘bad’ ingredient, e.g. ‘no preservatives’,
consumer fears can be confirmed (in spite of lack of evidence), e.g.
emphasis on ‘clean labels’
• Claims about lack of/low levels of energy, sugar, fat, saturated fat,
sodium are generally regulated (more later)
Ingredient with specific benefit, what do you
want to achieve?
• Health – population, widespread problem
• Stealth
• Market advantage
• Price premium

• Health- individual, targeted

• Price premium- benefit needs to resonate with felt-need

-to achieve health benefit consider evidence; dose, frequency (across

food supply)

Health impacting- what benefits?

• Health benefit • Ingredient/nutrient

Desired/ fad?
Public health goals?
 Health promoting ingredients:
“Functional Foods”
“Foods that provide benefit beyond basic nutrition”
• Foods naturally high in phytochemicals/bioactives
• Can use these foods as ingredients, e.g. muesli bars with
blueberries
➢Addition of phytochemical/bioactives as ingredient…. Higher levels
than naturally occurring?

• also addition of vitamins & minerals; fibre or nutrients, e.g. omega 3

fatty acids; pre/probiotics- definitions vary

• Moving Targets- performance & sport-

hydration, performance, energy enhancers
• Proactive potions- functional beverages
• Re-conditioning- ‘food as medicine’, e.g.
Top 10 inflammation, blood sugar control, joint
comfort
Functional • Sensitivity training- ‘free from’
• Supporting self-esteem- reduce stress,
Food Trends anxiety, sleep support, cognition
• Healthy adventures- exciting flavours; ff
(Sloan, 2024) ingredients in indulgent foods (!)
• Whole food remedies-
• Hassel-free health- fortified foods (protein,
fibre, vitamins, minerals)
• https://www.ift.org/news • Health insurance- healthy ageing (younger
-and-publications/food- adults also concerned!)
technology- • Conscious decisions- possible change in
magazine/issues/2024/ap priorities?
ril/features/top-10-
functional-food-trends- Read this article
reinventing--wellness
 https://fhafnb.com/blog/functional-foods-
market/#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20functional%20foods%20include,an
d%20organic%20food%20awareness%20increases

Addition of vitamins and minerals-

bioavailability vs nutrient content
-- what is purpose of fortification?
- bioavailability depends on form of
nutrient and food matrix
-nutrient suppliers can provide
some information re biovailability,
but …..

Tradeoffs: Cost of increasing

bioavailability vs cost of higher iron
content OR not being effective

Turner & Bagrinskiy, 2008

etc.

Quintaes et al, 2015– Have a look at this paper**

Enriched bread– US example

Copyright 2005 Wadsworth Group, a division of Thomson Learning

Micronutrients: Consumer perceived vs actual needs

What does this

suggest in regards to
what information is
provided to the
consumer and how
this benefits the
consumer and the
company?

Probiotics: live microorganisms with health benefit (intended)- generally target large intestine
Prebiotics: non-digestible food ingredients that ‘stimulate growth/activity of beneficial bacteria’ in large intestine,
e.g. fructans (inulin, Fructo-oligosaccharide), galacto-oligosaccharides, resistance starch )
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6463098/
 Dietary Fibre &
Prebiotics & Prebiotics
Probiotics

Probiotics-
Strain x amount

Fibre- amount x
type x frequency

Whole foods- benefits beyond basic nutrition?

Examples include
• Broccoli
• Green tea
• Garlic
• Red wine
• Tomatoes
• Oats
• Cranberries
• Yoghurt

• Can they be used as an

ingredient? Minimally
processed?
• Challenges?
 Benefit?

Hi-Oleic not mentioned on front

Of pack- why?

Modified whole foods

• Hi Oleic Peanuts
- Oleic acid substitute for linoleic
- monounsaturated FAs;
-
- PUFAs

- no evidence of health
benefit, but nuts in general associated with
with positive metabolic effects
- Longer shelf life

https://pca.com.au/pca-profile/hi-oleic-the-best-peanuts-yet/
 Functional Foods:
Much research; little ‘definite’ –
generally insufficient for health claim
•Phenolic compounds in rosemary as potential source of
bioactive compounds against colorectal cancer: In situ
absorption and metabolism study Álvaro Fernández-Ochoa |
Isabel Borrás-Linares | ...
•Effects of Lonicera caerulea berry extract on
lipopolysaccharide-induced toxicity in rat liver cells:
Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic
activitiesYuehua Wang | Bin Li | ...
•Multi-perspective evaluation of phytonutrients – Case study
on tomato landraces for fresh consumption László Csambalik |
Anna Divéky-Ertsey | ...
 IFIC, 2009—read this

Herbs….
• Many traditions identify health benefits from particular herbs*
• But the level of scientific evidence is often thin
• This makes it difficult to make an explicit ‘health claim’ of the benefit from
particular ingredients
➢ the level of evidence required varies between countries
➢regulations in NZ around claims can make it difficult to promote this
type of product unless there is a healthy budget for research into health
benefits
➢Some ingredients are ‘recognised’ without having to state benefit
➢Supplemented Food Regulations is another route to consider

*long tradition of use does not guarantee ‘safety’ especially in relation to

chronic conditions
 Disease Target: Addition of plant sterols- reduce cholesterol reabsorption
-- reduce blood cholesterol level

25g/day (rounded tsp) -2 g sterols/day,

lower cholesterol by up to 10% in 3
weeks as part of a healthy diet.
The spread is lower in saturated fat than
Contains at least 0.4 g sterol/bar butter.

Market segment: Women’s health?

https://whitepapers.spoonshot.com/ift-first
https://whitepapers.spoonshot.com/ift-first

https://whitepapers.spoonshot.com/ift-first
 https://whitepapers.spoonshot.com/ift-first

https://whitepapers.spoonshot.com/ift-first
Perceived need- mood/ mental wellbeing

Key FF trends- foods to manage stress,

anxiety, sleep, mood, etc (especially among < 40 yr olds)
• Probiotics
• Mushrooms
• “regular foods”
• “healthy metabolism for healthy mind”
• Blood sugar impact, including high protein
• “No fear of fat”
• Collagen, protein, amino acids

• https://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/issues/2023-11/view_features/key-trends-in-functional-foods-
for-2024/
 Mood; anxiety; sleep*

Rich sources of melatonin

• Tart cherries/ juice
• Goji berries
• Pistachio
• Cranberry
• Black/red rice
• Eggs
• Milk
• Fish
• A range of herbs
*need effective amount, but also not too much (Meng et al, 2017)

Biofunctionality: Things to consider…

• How much is required for effect?

• How frequent consumption?
• How much to put in 1 serve?
• How many foods might it be in?
• Does the overall food need to be ‘healthy’, e.g. addition of phytosterol to
milk vs ice cream?

➢Food Standards generally address this in order to make a function or

health claim.
What about ‘implied claims’, e.g. “contains GABA”
Where does knowledge about health benefits come from?
- What level of evidence is enough?
• Biochemistry and physiology– examine mechanism
• In vitro studies
• Animal studies

• Human Studies
• Observation
• Intervention
• Non-randomised trial
• Randomised trial **
• Meta-analysis & Systematic reviews– Cochrane
Database

Implied claim?- requires consumer ‘buy-in’

Ethical aspects?
What other aspects of the products should be considered?
 Is ‘evidence of effect’ the same as a real benefit?
• In a study of 60 healthy college-aged men and women, 100
calories represents the average calories burned over three
hours for those participants consuming a single serving of
Celsius®. Celsius® alone does not produce weight loss in
the absence of a healthy diet and moderate exercise. Loss
of fat mass, gain of muscle mass and improved endurance
were benefits found for participants consuming a single
serving of Celsius everyday and 15 minutes prior to
exercise in a study using a 10-week moderate exercise
program.

• “Did some math and determined that the cost per lb of

“weight loss attributable to Celcius was $14,600.
http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2010/07/23/negative-calorie-bs-from-
celcius/

SAFE?
 Foods contain-
nutrients,
phytochemicals,
toxins

Garlic functionality-- Organosulfur compounds,

especially Allicin– Must crush clove and let sit before
cooking to allow enzyme (allinase) to convert alliin to
allicin
Research into therapeutic uses including….
-antimicrobial
-antifungal
-antiparasitic
-antiviral
-antihypertensive
-antiatherosclerotic
-antithrombotic
-anticancer
-anti-inflammatory
-immunomodulatory
- BUT also possibly toxic- anticoagulant, liver & kidney
changes, intestinal mucosal damage,
Unexpected
consequences?

Not observed in humans,

reduction of hepceptin may be
beneficial…

Need to be cautious when removing the ‘active ingredient’

from a food and adding it to another.
The story of β-carotene (Hercberg, 2004)
• Clinical trials are expensive and sometimes don’t
seem ‘necessary’
• 1970s- Antioxidants as potential anticancer agents,
including β-carotene
• Animal studies provide evidence of anticancer
activity (prevent and slow tumour growth)
• High fruit and vege associated with lower cancer
incidence (esp lung cancer)
– Also observed high dietary intake and/or blood
levels of β-carotene associated with high fruit
and vege
 The story of β-carotene
• 1980-1990 >125 case-control & cohort studies
showing higher intake of β-carotene and lower
risk of some cancers
– Men & women
– Different racial groups
– Smokers, former smokers, non-smokers
➢ Consistency
➢ Magnitude
➢ Dose response
➢ Biological plausibility
 The story of β-carotene: randomised trials
• 18314 smokers/ exposed (CARET)
• 30 mg β-carotene 25000 IU retinyl palmitate/d
• 28% increase in lung cancer incidence in
experimental group
• Stopped trial 4 yrs early
• 220171 male physicians (mainly non-smoking)
– 50 mg β-carotene alternate days
– No effect on lung cancer incidence after 12 yrs
• Similar with Women’s Health Study
• 13017 men & women
– 120 mg vit C, 30 mg vit E, 6 mg β-carotene, 100 µg
selenium & 20 mg zinc
– Reduced risk of cancers for men but not women

Nutrition & Health Claims

• Nutrition and Health Claim legislation varies between countries
What health problems do current commercial functional
foods address?

Will they be consumed in adequate amounts & frequent

to obtain benefit?