Résumé and Recommendations

Abstract

New food technologies coupled with demands by increasingly health-conscious consumers have led to the development of functional foods; foods with potential health and well-being effects that go beyond their ordinary nutritional value. This book examined the implications of functional foods for consumers, economic actors, animals and the environment from a variety of angles. Disciplines amongst the book’s authors included nutritional physiology, molecular biology, food biotechnology, biochemistry, law, economics, social psychology and philosophy. Despite the wide range of approaches and backgrounds, one dominant cross-cutting theme emerged, namely health claims for foods. We shall look at this theme again to recapitulate our progress throughout the book. Other, less dominant, cross-cutting themes such as the drug-food divide and issues of choice will not be discussed again, but are included in the recommendations.