Functional Foods: Safety and Toxicity

Hippocrates stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Since that time, about 2000 years ago, now we can say that “Foods could be the natural medicine contributing to a human health and wellbeing.” The term “functional food” originated from Japan in 1984 and has been described as “Food products fortified with special constituents that possess advantageous physiological effects.” Eating habits play an important role in human heath, development, emotional balance, and physiological homeostasis, and the consumed food ingredients have a huge implication on all our body systems, including cardiovascular, digestive, neuromuscular, reproductive, hormonal, etc. Bioactive substances derived from a variety of natural substances possess different properties and have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, antidiabetic, immune-stimulating, antihypertensive, and other properties. Bioactive components (organic or inorganic) can alter more than one metabolic pathway or process, improving health and promoting well-being. Over 900 phytochemicals available from foods, and over 100 phytochemicals from fruits and berries, can help with the maintenance of chronic ailments, and many of them are used as additives for creation of modern functional foods. Originally developed from science following up the needs of humanity, functional food science combines food value, nutrition, and medicine, leading to the new discoveries on the border between food and pharmaceutical sciences. The original concept of functional foods went through various changes during the last decades; however, lack of clear definition led to unregulated claims and constant misunderstandings between government, health professionals, and people. Presently, concerns are significantly rising towards regarding some of the random addition of botanicals to foods, some of which may cause harm to consumers, and urgent need for outline of general criteria evaluating “health claims” should be defined clearly. There is a need for more scientific evidence of the health benefits attributable to functional foods, when different food bioactive compounds can potentially cause any adverse reactions or unexpected side effects. This chapter is dedicated to a deeper explanation of the functional food’s definition, its general health benefits, and newly introduced bioactive compounds, as well as known and needed safety and toxicity evaluation measures, which are necessary and will guarantee the efficacy and safety of functional foods for the consumers’ well-being of the whole world population.