`Functional foods' could lead consumers to reappraise dairy and meat products

The arrival of a new generation of foods with tangible health benefits is likely to lead to a reappraisal of dairy and even meat products in consumer minds, an international food science conference heard yesterday.

There is a growing body of evidence of the benefits of what are known as "functional foods", most notably in disease prevention (including cancer) and enhancing the body's immune system, the conference in Cork was told. It is being hosted by the Irish agricultural research body, Teagasc.

The functional food sector including probiotics - mixtures of microbes good for humans such as those in yoghurts - is predicted to be worth $20 billion worldwide by 2000. The microbes are naturally available from many sources, but scientists are perfecting their isolation and production, so they can be incorporated into foods.

Among the important new health-promoting substances set to be contained in new designer foods is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid component, particularly high in meat and milk.

Ireland, because of its grass-based cattle production systems, is suited to generating high CLA levels in its foods, according to Dr Catherine Stanton of Teagasc Dairy Research Centre in Co Cork.

Lush grass was directly related to high CLA while Irish studies had shown it could be boosted by up to 65 per cent by also feeding cattle rapeseed and soya.

CLA, which was made by natural bacteria in the rumen of cattle, took close to 15 years to isolate from hamburger meat but its potential as an anti-cancer agent was rapidly becoming more obvious, said Prof Mark Cook of the University of Wisconsin.

In addition to anti-cancer effects, it had the ability to dramatically reduce body fat, though because it increased muscle mass it did not reduce body weight. For farmers, it was an extremely efficient feed source. It also led to "healthier" animals as shown in a US study where CLA reduced back fat in pigs by 27 per cent. A Norwegian study of humans, soon to be published, would show a 20 per cent reduction in body fat.

The irony, Prof Cook said, was that US consumption of dairy and meat products, "the richest source of CLA", was declining, yet obesity was increasingly a problem. It was naturally present in breast milk, and the body could produce some CLA but not to a significant degree.

A fermented milk product proved to reduce blood pressure in people with hypertension was successfully establishing itself on the Japanese market, Dr Toshiki Tokano of Calpis Food Industry in Japan said. Protein units in the milk known as peptides were responsible.

Japan was leading the world in functional foods as it had a long-established attitude of food and medicine "having the same origin".

Currently, 80 foods have legal status under its Foods for Specific Health Use scheme.