Health Food Category: Functional Food, Designed Food

In this video, Prof. Huang will explain functional food and designed food.

The definition of functional food comes from a theoretical basis and clinical verification. Clinical verification must from many clinical experiments. These experiment results must prove certain food has the advantages to the human body. For example, fish oil is one of the most commonly consumed dietary supplements. Clinical experiments show that omega-3 fatty acids are the main source that benefits health. So fish oil can be categorized as a functional food. This type of product usually emphasizes its effectiveness or function on health.

Finally, designed food is related to biotechnology. It is the food designed for special needs. For example, goat milk contained with antibiotics; when patients taking antibiotics, it can be taken along with goat milk. The same as caffeine-free coffee. In some cases, designed food includes genetic modification.

In general, we classify health food as 7 categories.