Full Speed the Wrong Way

[Guest guest]

Saw this article on a food newsletter and though that some might be

interested. It just shows how worlds apart we can be on food issues.

I say " phooey " to more commercial nonsense, I'll stick with

naturally " modified " foods (kefir, kraut,etc) --

Firms pioneer healthy 'phood'

March 29, 2005

Scripps News Service

Lance Gay

A new generation of " phoods " is, according to this story, beginning

to appear on supermarket shelves, with pharmaceuticals added to the

calories to improve vision, lower cholesterol or add bone-

strengthening calcium.

Food scientists say these products are the vanguard of a revolution

in farm fields and processing plants due to advances in microbiology

and plant engineering. The advances will make it possible to produce

new generations of " functional foods " altered to give specific health

benefits or change the body's chemistry to avert cancers.

Fergus Clydesdale, head of the department of food science at the

University of Massachusetts and chairman of a 28-member panel of the

Institute of Food Technologists studying the issue was quoted as

saying, " We're really in a pioneering period of this era, " adding

that he sees a future where people can tailor their diets to specific

genetically inherited disorders, and so ward off cancers or arterial

diseases that killed their ancestors.

" The functional foods currently available represent only a fraction

of the potential opportunities for consumers to manage their health

through diet, " he said.

The story notes that " phoods " and their liquid

counterparts " bepherages " aren't really new. Iodine was added to salt

early in the 20th century in a public health campaign to counter

incidences of goiter, and consumers are used to seeing on supermarket

shelves products like calcium-enriched orange juice, vitamin D-

enhanced milk and drinks fortified for energy.

Food scientists say they have identified specific food components

that could improve memory, reduce arthritis and have other advantages

achieved by taking specific drugs. By altering some of the basic

components of food, supermarkets in the future could sell products

that increase energy, improve mental alertness, or encourage more

restful sleep.

Diane Birt, chairwoman of the Food Science and Human Nutrition

Department at Iowa State University, was cited as saying one barrier

confronting the introduction of more functional foods is outdated

government rules prohibiting food companies from making any drug

claims on their products.

Gilbert Leveille, a Michigan State University food science professor

who retired from the food giant Cargill, was cited as saying science

is finding ways to concentrate the beneficial components of foods.