Health food refers to the food that claims to have specific health functions or the purpose of supplementing vitamins and minerals, that is, it is suitable for consumption by specific groups of people, has the function of regulating body functions, is not for the purpose of treating diseases, and does not produce any acute or subacute effects on the human body. or chronically hazardous foods.
Health food, one provides nutrition; two provides color, aroma, taste and shape that increase human appetite; three regulates human function.
The standard stipulates that health food should have functional ingredients corresponding to their functional effects and their minimum content. Functional ingredients refer to substances that can regulate human body functions by activating the activity of enzymes or other pathways, mainly including:
1. Polysaccharides: such as dietary fiber, lentinan, etc.;
2. Functional sweeteners (agents): such as monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polyol sugars, etc.;
3. Functional oils (fatty acids): such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, phosphoesters, choline, etc.;
4. Free radical scavengers: such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, etc.;
5. Vitamins: such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, etc.;
6. Peptides and proteins: such as glutathione, immunoglobulin, etc.;
7. Active bacteria: such as polylactic acid bacteria, bifidobacteria, etc.;
8. Trace elements: such as selenium, zinc, etc.;
9. Other categories: stearyl alcohol, phytosterols, saponins (glycosides), etc.