Functional foods do not have an internationally agreed definition but they can be defined as foods that provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition.

    A functional food can contain an added ingredient that makes the traditional food functional e.g. probiotic bacteria added into traditional yogurt. However, a food can also be naturally functional eg. oatmeal which naturally contains beta-glucan which has been proven to reduce blood cholesterol levels.

   Dairy products dominate the area of functional foods for gut health. Common gut health products include fermented milk and yogurt drinks.

   The most common gut health ingredients include probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics.

  Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that help maintain the balance of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the gut whereas prebiotics are a natural food for probiotic bacteria thus supporting their growth. A symbiotic product contains both a probiotic and a prebiotic ingredient.

   Probiotics are natural micro-organisms added to food or taken as a supplement, which aid digestion and are therefore beneficial to health. Most people became aware of them with the launch of Yakult, a fermented skimmed milk drink containing so-called 'friendly bacteria' which help with digestion. Other similar products are now available. Every one of Yakult's tiny 65ml bottles, for example, contains 6.5 billion friendly bacteria of the strain Lactobacillus casei shirota.

   The bacteria work alongside our own natural bacteria - or gut flora, to aid digestion. Probiotics are now also available in yoghurts, fruit juice, as pills or in powdered form. Research supports the beneficial effect of probiotics for a number of digestive disorders, including:

	improving symptoms of lactose intolerance
	reducing susceptibility to stomach allergies
	helping to control irritable bowel symptoms
	reducing the risk of bowel cancer
	diarrhoea

   The demand for functional food is being driven by a growing public understanding of the link between diet and disease, and interest in self-health maintenance, rising healthcare costs and advances in food technology and nutrition.

   As their understanding of the health benefits of eating certain foods grows, people are increasingly seeking to prevent disease through nutritional means.

   Only the Japanese have strict regulations in place to govern the area of functional foods. There is no specific European legislation on these products, but the EU is currently working to draw up regulations, which are anticipated at the end of 2004. In the meantime, existing laws on misleading claims and food safety are strictly enforced.