Alimentos funcionais e nutracêuticos: origem, diferenciação conforme aspectos legislativos

Abstract

The consumption of foods with a health appeal has been increasing due to a greater concern on the part of consumers with their own well-being and with the wellbeing of those around them. The terms functional food and nutraceuticals are frequently noticed in this category of products and, therefore, a clear differentiation between these terms is necessary, considering legislative aspects and academic literature, since they are terms that are still frequently used as synonyms. When talking about functional foods, we are referring to foods in their whole form, which can be industrialized, natural or added with specific ingredients, which have bioactive components in their physical-chemical composition, which are substances present in food that do not have essential functions (such as dietary fiber, carotenoids, flavonoids, among others), that reflect beneficially on consumer health, improving their physical, psychological, behavioral and/or metabolic well-being and help reduce the risk of certain types of diseases. On the other hand, nutraceuticals have a medicinal use, usually for the treatment of diseases or are consumed together with such treatments, being found in much higher concentrations than those present in whole foods, sold in the form of capsules, supplements, powders and others. types of concentrated products. In this way, the revision of these terms presents great potential both for professionals in the area of research and development and for more appropriate indications for the treatment of diseases, since there is still much room for the development of foods with the claim of adding functional compounds.