424 Chapter 24
foods, functional meat products, and bioac-
tive compounds in meat. The development of
novel functional meat products is also
discussed.
Functional Foods and Functional
Meat Products
Functional Foods
Although there is no universal defi nition
of “ functional food, ” a typical and simple
defi nition is “ processed foods having dis-
ease - preventing and/or health - promoting
benefi ts in addition to their nutritive value ”
(Arihara 2004 ). The term functional food
was coined in Japan in the early 1980s
(Arihara 2006b ). Japan is also the fi rst
country to have formulated a specifi c regula-
tory approval process for functional foods. In
1991, the concept of foods for specifi ed
health use (FOSHU) was established by the
Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare.
FOSHU are foods that, based on the knowl-
edge of the relationship between foods or
food components and health, are expected to
have certain health benefi ts and have been
licensed to bear a label claiming that a person
using them may expect to obtain that health
use through the consumption of these foods.
The majority of FOSHU products utilize
functional ingredients to maintain the health
of the human body. Such functional food
ingredients are listed in Table 24.1. As of
August 2009, 894 FOSHU products have
been approved in Japan. The market scale of
FOSHU in Japan in 2007 was about seven
billion US$.
Regulations for functional foods have
not yet been established in many countries.
International considerations of functional
foods were reviewed by Fitzpatrick (2007).
Also, a recent book (Bagchi 2008 ) provides
the regulations of functional foods in many
countries, including the United States,
European Union, Australia, and Japan.Functional Meat Products
Numerous low - fat or fat - free meat products
have been developed in many countries, with
the United States at the head of the list
(Jim é nez - Colmenero et al. 2006 ). Recently,
sugar - free meat products, such as roast ham
and sausages, have been developed in Japan
(Fig. 24.1 ). In addition to these “ free ” andTable 24.1. Representative food ingredients used for FOSHU products
Health claims Functional food ingredients
Intestinal disorder Oligosaccharides
Xylo - oligosaccharide, Fructo - oligosaccharide, Galacto - oligosaccharide,
Lactulose, Raffi nose
Dietary fi ber
Indigestible dextrin, Indigestible starch, Sodium alginate, Corn fi ber
Bacterial strains
Lactobacillus sp., Bifi dobacterium sp., Propionibacterium sp., Bacillus subtilis
Cholesterol level Vegetable sterol, Vegetable steroid ether, Soy protein, Sodium alginate, Chitosan,
Catechin
Blood pressure level Peptides
Casein dodeca peptide, Sardine peptide, Isoleucyl tyrosine, 4 - Aminobutyric acid
Mineral (Ca/Fe) level Caseinphospho peptide, Calcium citrate malate, Heme iron
Bone density Soy isofl avone, Milk basic protein, Vitamin K2, Polyglutamic acid
Dental caries Xylitol, Maltitose, Palatinose, Tea polyphenol
Blood sugar level Indigestible dextrin, Arabinose, Wheat albumin
Blood neutral fat level Diacylglycerl, Globin hydrolyzate, Catechin