Nutraceuticals

Definition

Coined in 1989 by Stephen L. DeFelice (founder and president of “The Foundation for Innovation in Medicine”), the term nutraceutical is composed of the two substantives "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical".
The word can refer to various types of products, including isolated nutrients, dietary supplements, herbal products, meal replacements, and even processed foods (such as grains, soups, and some beverages).

Nutraceuticals: What Are They?

Nutraceutical products are food derivatives to which, in addition to the basic nutritional value, one or more additional benefits are attributed.
Depending on the jurisdiction, nutraceutical products can be defined as "preventative of chronic diseases, improve health, retard the aging process, promote longevity or support certain bodily systems or functions". Let's analyze the two main categories: Dietary Supplements and Functional Foods.

1. Dietary supplements: these are real food supplements. In Italy, food supplements are understood as: "food products intended to supplement the common diet and which constitute a concentrated source of nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, or of other substances having a nutritional or physiological effect, in particular, but not exclusively, amino acids, essential fatty acids, fiber and extracts of vegetable origin, both single and multi-compound, in pre-dosed forms "(cit. www.salute.gov.it).

In Italy, food supplements must be approved by the Ministry of Health and mentioned in the "appropriate register; in America, however, they do not necessarily have to be approved by the" Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ", which only carries out plant monitoring.
With few exceptions, food supplements are marketed to support body structure or functions, without mentioning or implying that they can cure diseases or conditions. Even the label must comply with some very specific requirements; first of all those of the European Union and secondly the national ones.

2. Functional Foods they are "designed" to allow consumers to introduce foods rich in useful molecules (however close to the natural state) rather than supplements manufactured in liquid or capsule form, etc. Functional foods can therefore be enriched or fortified, a process also known as “nutrrification”. This practice increases and restores the content of certain elements until they reach the levels prior to processing. Sometimes, additional complementary nutrients are added (for example, vitamin D in milk).

The "Health Canada" (Canadian Ministry of Health) defines functional foods as "ordinary foods added in other components or ingredients aimed at rendering a specific medical or physiological benefit, other than a purely nutritional effect".
In Japan, all functional foods should meet three very specific requirements:

1. natural form, not capsules, tablets, powders or other extracts
2. they can be consumed in the diet on a daily basis
3. they must regulate a biological process with the aim of preventing or controlling certain diseases.

The global vision of nutraceuticals is therefore more or less uniform, with some small differences as regards regulation and protection in the trade (see next paragraph).
In Italy, some very famous nutraceuticals are: goji berries, raw green coffee, Ganoderma lucidum (reishi), fermented red rice, krill oil etc.

World Regulation of Nutraceuticals

Nutraceuticals are classified differently by the various national jurisdictions.
In Italy, as well as in the entire European community, the term nutraceutical is not defined by any legislative body and the products that fall into this category are part of the so-called food supplements.
Under Canadian law, a nutraceutical product can be marketed as either a food or a drug. In fact, the terms "nutraceutical" and "functional food" have no legal distinction; both refer to "an isolated or purified product, obtained from one or more food ingredients, generally sold in a medicinal form and not associated with food, whose" physiological or beneficial effect against certain chronic diseases is scientifically proven ".
In US law, however, as in Europe, the term nutraceutical has no legislative meaning. On the contrary, based on the ingredients and the terms with which it is marketed, a product is regulated as a drug (natural product that contains pharmacological active ingredients), food supplement, food ingredient or food proper.

Problems

On the global market there are not a few complications regarding the quality of the products in circulation. In fact, while it is true that some nutraceutical manufacturers use only safe and high quality ingredients, others exploit the lack of specific regulations and inexorably compromise both the safety and efficacy of their products. large profit margin, some companies aim to produce poor quality or ineffective nutraceuticals, to be marketed in countries that do not have specific regulation.

Background

Indians, Egyptians, Chinese and Sumerians; these are just some of the civilizations that have used food as medicine since ancient times. Hippocrates, considered by many to be the founding father of Western medicine, advised "Make food your medicine".
The modern nutraceutical market first began to develop in Japan in the 1980s.
In contrast to the naturalness of herbs and spices used for centuries as popular medicine in Asia, the modern nutraceutical industry has also grown thanks to the expansion and exploration of technology.

The market

A 2012 market research indicates that, by 2018, the global market of "Food Supplements (vitamins, minerals, herbal, non-herbal and other), Functional Foods and Drinks", therefore also of nutraceuticals, will reach 250 billion dollars .