Citation
Blades, M. (2011), "Editorial", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 41 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2011.01741caa.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 41, Issue 3
I have tried to make this Nutrition and Food Science very much focussed on a spectrum of different and new foods. Consumers are more and more interested in novel foods and also in the health benefits of them.
Papers include the following:
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Cross-sectional awareness of functional foods in Greece shows that while only a third of consumers studied knew the term functional foods many knew about the health promoting factors of such foods. Functional foods are those, which provide health benefits over and above the nutritional ones of the food. In food facts there is an up to date section on the use of functional foods by older people and the benefits.
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Spirulina is a blue green algae found in both sea water and fresh water and is seen to provide a supplement of protein and other nutrients for use in the human and animal diets. The paper from India on optimising environmental factors for maximising the yield of Spirulina provides an innovative approach to cultivating Spirulina.
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Probiotics are seen to include such beneficial bacteria as Lactobacillus and a paper from Germany on spray drying the bacteria could be useful for the food and supplement industry.
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Consumption of Fair Trade products in municipal catering organisations provides a viewpoint on the uptake of such products, which is particularly relevant today when there is a greater consideration of ethical catering.
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Water is something that is often taken for granted as being a safe product and the paper from Egypt on heavy metals in tap water shows how these may affect health.
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Having several papers on innovative foods and food products it seemed appropriate to include a paper on food neophobia, which will be of interest to those encouraging individuals plus large consumer groups to try new foods.
Mabel Blades