[History and importance of functional foods]

A short overview on the historic developments is presented which resulted in a scientific consensus on the concept of functional food in 1999. The preconditions to be fulfilled by the functional foods are summarized. It is emphasized that easy measurable biological markers that are relevant for the expected health benefits may be important for measuring the effectiveness of the action of a functional food. Of special importance is also the recently published scientific consensus paper on the kind of experimental results that should be made available for the official acceptance of a claim. These proposals are at present serving as guidelines in the ongoing deliberations on the legislation for claims by the European Union.