Too much of a good thing?

A simple grocery list of milk, butter, yoghurt and eggs has suddenly become very complicated. Do you want your dairy spread to lower your cholesterol? Should your yoghurt boost your immunity, or lower your blood pressure? And do you really need Omega 3 in your milk and eggs? Welcome to the world of functional foods - foods that deliver extra health benefits as well as basic nutrition.

Most people have been unwittingly consuming functional foods for years: many breakfast cereals are fortified with fibre, minerals and vitamins. But the market has become much more sophisticated in recent years, with energy drinks and fortified bottled waters carrying claims ranging from improving performance, cleansing livers and even reducing appetites. An indicator of the shift in the market is that soft-drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are increasing their share of the juice market as carbonated drinks get squeezed by juices and waters.

According to Enterprise Ireland, we consumed up to €400 million worth of functional foods and drinks in 2004. The market leaders are energy drinks, bottled waters and dairy drinks. Then there are the fortified eggs, high-energy cereal and fruit bars and confectionery. Coming to a shelf near you soon, if they haven't already arrived, are cholesterol-lowering cheeses, salt that reduces blood pressure and cooking oil that lowers cholesterol.

The growth in the sector is driven by the need of manufacturers to provide added value in an increasingly competitive market, and increasing demand from consumers for healthier foods.

Functional foods may sit alongside ordinary foods on supermarket shelves, but nutritionists would like to see people treating them with more respect. "People need to be aware that plant stanols, for example, are the same as a medical treatment," says Margot Brennan, spokeswoman for the Irish Nutritional and Dietetic Institute. "We are frequently coming across people who are taking cholesterol-lowering products, yet they don't even know what their cholesterol is." She also cautions people with high cholesterol to remember that the products are only part of the solution. "You still need to look at your overall lifestyle. This will only bring it down by a percentage. It doesn't give you the green light to eat and drink whatever you like."

Brennan says probiotics definitely have their uses, particularly after a course of antibiotics, or if someone has been travelling. The naturally occurring "good" bacteria in the gut may get depleted at these times and probiotics help to normalise the gut. But people watching their weight should also remember that probiotic drinks could contain up to 70 calories a bottle.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is keen to avoid sensational claims from food manufacturers. The agency can remove a product from the market on foot of a complaint about misleading advertising. "In the past year, we noticed that a lot of the claims were getting a bit out of hand. It does this, it lowers that," says Dr Pat O'Mahony, FSAI chief specialist in biotechnology. "No one was asking for our opinion and we have the remit for food labelling."

He points to a study which found that probiotics were not present in some products that were being marketed as probiotic-containing foods. It was not clear if processing had killed the bacteria or brought it down to a level where it made no difference or whether the probiotic had ever been added to the product. But the EU is now planning to standardise these health and nutritional claims with new legislation. Member states will have to draw up a list of acceptable health claims for nutrients, and only foods with scientifically proven claims will be added to the list.

Back home, Enterprise Ireland has set up the Functional Foods Forum to guide the development of the sector. Enterprise Ireland's food director, Mike Feeney, says functional foods have "enormous potential" because a health and wellness agenda is driving consumer behaviour. The European market was valued at €21 billion in 2004, and the global market is expected to increase by 14 per cent a year to 2010 and then reach a plateau.

"Ireland is well positioned to make its mark on this sector," he says, pointing to the food and pharmaceutical base here, the high quality raw materials and our research centres and third-level institutions. "It's a very, very challenging sector. It's not as simple as just assembling food on a tray. This is much more sophisticated."

A Reuters Business Insight report predicts that low-carbohydrate foods will have dropped from the number one "profitability hotspot" by 2009, usurped by cholesterol-lowering foods and "diabetes friendly" foods.

But with so many functional foods on the market, enthusiastic consumers might run the risk of overloading, according to Margot Brennan. "The people who take these products are often the people who also take multivitamins and minerals. They might have six or eight supplements that they pop every morning," she says. "A well-balanced diet combined with exercise is still the best approach."