Challenges related to the composition of functional foods

There is a growing interest among producers and the public in functional foods or foods that may provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. The availability of such foods highlights the changing nature of the food supply and the tremendous difficulty in trying to maintain accurate and timely food composition data. Key questions arise. How can and should we track and maintain a database of functional foods? What food components should we be measuring in order to meet the needs of users of the nutrient data? Do analytical techniques exist for some of these components and what effects do these components have on the measurement of other nutrients? We need to begin how to answer these and similar questions and the answers may vary depending on the nature of the variety of functional foods produced. r 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.