Foods for the 21st century

The convergence of major consumer food and nutrition trends with significant scientific breakthroughs in biotechnology and medical sciences will have a profound impact on the food supply in the 21st century. Consumers are being bombarded with nutrition information and are beginning to understand the powerful influence of diet on health and wellbeing. Increasing scientific evidence confirms that specific components in the diet are associated with the mitigation, treatment or prevention of certain chronic diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, and even ageing. Advances in biotechnology and food processing are having a profound impact on food production and will provide the tools for ensuring a safer and more nutritious food supply. The nature of the diet-health message and consequent consumer behaviour is changing from avoidance of "bad" dietary components such as saturated fat, cholesterol and salt, to inclusion of "beneficial" dietary components such as phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables, antioxidants, mono-unsaturated fatty acids and herbs. Many US food companies are capitalizing on these converging trends as illustrated by the introduction of a vast array of nutraceuticals, functional foods and genetically improved foods. Consumer acceptance of nutritionally improved foods will determine their fate in the marketplace and industry, academia and government all have a role in communicating how science and technology will improve the food supply for the 21st century and beyond. Major consumer demographic trends coupled with scientific advances in nutritional, medical and food sciences will have a profound impact on the food supply in the 21st century. Pharmaceutical companies along with the medical science community have the primary goal of applying health knowledge to heal people. The food industry utilizes its knowledge about food to sustain and maintain people's health. The agricultural community has traditionally been focused on growing food productively and in a manner that promotes long-term sustainability. These constituencies will need to work together in an integrated approach with the common objective of improving the nutritional quality and health promoting effects of the food supply. The distinctions between these industries will blur and the common objective drives a new level of collaboration and co-operation.