Functional foods can be any type of food or beverage that provides health benefits in addition to its basic nutrients. Functional foods come in a variety of forms, including:

• Whole (conventional) foods. Foods that, in their natural state, provide certain health benefits when consumed. Examples include oats (provide soluble fiber that helps to lower cholesterol levels) and tomatoes (rich in lycopene, a phytochemical that appears to inhibit cancer cell growth). Many, if not all, whole foods contain substances that are associated with some type of health benefit and may be considered a functional food.
  
  
• Fortified foods. When nutrients or phytochemicals are added to foods to provide a specific health benefit. For example, orange juice fortified with calcium may help strengthen bones. Multigrain cereal may be enriched with flaxseed, which may reduce the risk of cancer. Certain types of fat substitutes contain a plant sterol (phytosterol) to help lower cholesterol. Many foods are now enhanced with a variety of vitamins and/or minerals (e.g., milk with vitamins A and D, flour with folic acid).
  
  
• Modified foods. Food that has been altered in such a way as to benefit a person’s health. For example, foods may be processed so that they include less fat than they originally contained. Low-fat or fat-free foods may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Additional foods are under development. For example, scientists are working on new types of flour the contain higher levels of antioxidants and soybeans with enhanced levels of calcium.

In some cases, an entirely new food may be created for the purpose of providing a specific health benefit. Examples include meat substitutes, such as products made with soy (e.g., soy burgers), as well as those made with mycoprotein (a protein derived from fungi). These meat substitutes can help lower cholesterol levels and may provide additional health benefits as well.

Food biotechnology (using living organisms to create food products) involves producing certain whole foods that contain specific amounts of a health-enhancing substance. This may include enhancing naturally occurring substances in food (e.g., producing a tomato that contains more lycopene than usual), or engineering foods to contain specific added ingredients (e.g., varieties of rice that include beta-carotene and iron).