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'Functional Foods' Worry Health Experts

'Nutritious' junk food grabs growing US market share

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 21, 2009 8:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – Once dubbed junk, certain snacks are enjoying a second life as so-called “functional foods”—candy bars or sugary cereals spruced up with added nutrients, the AP reports. Despite warnings by health experts, functional foods now account for $27 billion in sales, or 5% of the US food market, and experts say that share will grow. But "functional foods are about marketing, not health," says one scientist.

Still, who can resist a candy bar with vitamin B or ice cream with calcium? General Mills Health Fiber One bars, some flavored with caramel or chocolate—and boosted with fiber—topped the $100-million sales mark in 2007. Health advocates worry about Americans growing ever fatter: "The biggest problem we have in the United States is overnutrition—too much calories," one says.

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Post cereals are seen on display at a grocery store in Palo Alto, Calif., Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Post cereals are seen on display at a grocery store in Palo Alto, Calif. in this Nov. 5, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

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It's really a junk food dressed up to look prettier than it is. People are going to be deceived into thinking a lot of these products are especially healthy for them when there's little evidence they are. - David Schardt, senior nutritionist, Center for Science in the Public Interest

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'Functional Foods' Worry Health Experts