Functional foods are foods that provide positive health benefits, particularly additional benefits apart from the basic nutrition provided by that food.
They are divided into two categories:
1. Functional foods that naturally contain a component that offers additional (health) benefits to the consumer,
2. Functional foods consisting of processed foods with added components for additional (health) benefits.
Examples of functional foods belonging to the first category include tomatoes, watermelons, fatty fish, and cranberries. Examples of functional foods belonging to the second category include breads and cereals with added fiber, orange juice with added vitamin D, and omega-3-enriched eggs.
