Functional foods and consumer issues - implications for fruit and vegetable biotechnology

The benefits to the consumer from consumption of so-called ‘functional’ foods are potentially very wide ranging. Possible benefits include, for example, an improvement in cognitive or physical performance, improvements in psychological well-being or reduction of the risks of, or prevention of, certain diseases arising.

New advances in food technology are part of a ‘long-term shift in the market’ associated with the development of foods which promote good health. In the earlier parts of the 20th century, foods were produced which prevented nutritional deficiencies. At the beginning of the 21st century, the focus of development is on foods that are capable of reducing risks of specific chronic diseases. However, these more recent developments ‘[have] complicated the task of communicating with the public about health-related benefits and risks’ (Greenberg and Graham, 2000). This is partly because not all foods will benefit all individuals, but rather will improve the health of some subgroups within the population. A second factor is that these novel foods may be produced using technologies that some people see as problematic.

It is arguable that the development of ‘functional foods’ represents a natural progression from foods that were nutrient enhanced to compensate for vitamin deficiencies. The relationship between diet and health has later focused on relationships between food choice and diseases like cancer and heart disease (Lambert, 2001). Research has indicated that foods may play an important part in disease prevention, or slowing the progress of diseases. Greenberg and Graham (2000) note that simultaneous developments in human genetics and plant biotechnology have introduced the possibility that consumers can choose from a variety of foods aimed at preventing specific diseases for which they are at risk. This suggests that a long-term shift towards preventative therapies in health care may deliver benefits to individual subgroups in the population, but may further complicate the already uneasy relationship between science and society through the introduction of further concerns about the effectiveness and safety of novel foods.

Complicating the issue of consumer attitude is the problem of increasingly ambiguous categorisation of what is considered a food and what is considered a medicine. For example, how should fruits and vegetables genetically modified to fight diseases such as cancer, or deliver edible vaccines in the form of fruit, be regulated? Furthermore, post-genomic research is developing at a rate that is difficult to comprehend by the lay person. If the advantages of novel foods with direct and concrete benefits to health are to be realised in terms of improvements in the quality of life that people experience, an effective and appropriate strategy for enhanced public consultation and public understanding of post-genomic nutrition must be developed and operationalised.

This policy should be based on an understanding of what is driving public concern, and be linked to an effective communication strategy regarding the development and regulation of research and its applications. For example, people’s concerns may be more concrete, relating to privacy, (to what extent should human genetic databases be anonymised, how easy is it to identify even an anonymous individual from their genetic data), personal economic consequences (those who are identified as at risk from particular diseases will be uninsurable, unemployable and unable to raise the finance to buy property, for example), as well as moral concerns (human genetics is morally wrong or represents tampering with nature) and risk perceptions (the technology is unnatural and the long-term consequences are unknown).

It is important that communication strategies are developed to ensure that consumers are forming attitudes based on the best and most up-to-date information available, and take these concerns into account. Information should acknowledge the uncertainties inherent in risk-analysis processes as well as the potential benefits of novel products if consumers are both to trust and believe the information source and the information that it provides. Failure to achieve this will result in increased public concerns and opposition to technological progress. Public distrust in science, scientific institutions, and the institutional mechanisms through which the governance of science is operationalised will increase.

A fruitful area for research into consumer attitudes will be to develop theoretical models which link perceptions, attitudes, and values to human decision-making. Risk communication and health education initiatives might usefully be directed towards individuals with specific dietary needs, but it cannot be assumed that, because someone is ‘at risk’ from a particular illness, they will automatically make food choice decisions to offset the risk. Other barriers to dietary change can readily be identified, and may prevent people responding to information about the benefits of a particular product. For example, ‘optimistic bias’, where people consider themselves to be at less risk from a given hazard compared to other people in similar circumstances, may result in people denying their own health risks, and thus failing to take preventative action to protect against ill-health (Miles and Scaife, in press).

A second example of barriers to dietary change can be identified through consideration of current health information campaigns associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and the prevention of cancer. Some barriers to increased fruit and vegetable consumption cannot be linked to demographic factors (Havas et al., 1998). However, there are some general demographic trends that make a contribution and are clearly linked to intake (Krebs-Smith et al., 1995; Subar et al., 1995; Johansson and Andersen 1998; Billson et al., 1999). For example, more affluent and better-educated individuals are generally more health conscious and thus may be more motivated to process complex diet and health messages.

Women are generally more health conscious than males. Perhaps most obviously, people who do not like the taste of fruit and vegetables will not eat them, and if one has been brought up eating fruit and vegetables one is more likely to acquire their taste and continue eating these foods throughout life. Furthermore, Dibsdall et al. (in press) have reported that, in low-income groups, it is not knowledge about what constitutes a healthy diet that prevents healthy food choices, but rather that other lifestyle concerns and activities take priority in groups where financial resources are limited.

The food industry will need to predict what kind of products will be acceptable as well as beneficial to consumers, particularly in the area of ‘preventative nutrition therapy’. For example, sensory properties of foods are likely to be as important as functional- or health-related factors in determining whether consumers accept novel fruit and vegetables produced with the aid of biotechnology.