Who would have thought that one of the major ingredients in your breakfast cereal would be, of all things, fish oil? Adding key nutrients to everyday or less-than-nutritious foods would appear to be the next wave in food production, says the NYT. These “nutraceuticals” may radically change how we think about the nutritional value of common foods.
Forget that daily multivitamin–in the future, our foods will be suped up with nutriceuticles to ensure that even those who don’t like fish will get those essential omega-3s or women get calcium from multiple sources beyond the dairy aisle.
But these additives would seem to raise two important questions. First, how will these modifications effect food safety? Can they be made to both ensure the nutritional content they promise without compromising food quality and public safety? Second, will nutraceuticals simply justify eating unhealthy foods for which some of their less healthy qualities are masked or ignored by those who tout their engineered health benefits?
As soon as they create ice cream with omega-3s and a wide range of vitamins justifications for why ice cream is good for you will abound from dairy manufacturers and ice cream lovers alike. But would the inclusion of some key vitamins and minerals justify ignoring the saturated fat, refined sugar, and other less than appealing aspects of something as delicious as ice cream? Who wouldn’t want “fat-burning waffles” or ketchup for your french fries that helps regulate digestion?
It would seem that new ways of thinking about enhanced foods, how they are promoted, and labeled would be required to ensure that we aren’t just kidding ourselves that the ketchup with our fries makes downing them good for our health.
Summer Johnson, PhD