Modern consumers  are increasingly focused on personal well-being and expect the food they eat to be healthy and even capable of helping to prevent illness.                     This global   trend has seen the emergence of functional foods or nutraceuticals. More and more, consumers require food products to be fresh, tasty, safe, easy to use and store, and contain little or no additives.

The term 'healthy ageing' has grown popular, partly due to   the fact that the average age of the population is on an upward trend. Also, to compensate stressful modern living, there is increasing concern on food safety among the consumers, thus changing their consumption habits.

Healthy eating in the form of  functional foods has come  a long way. New product launches have accelerated across the globe. National and local traditions continue, nevertheless, to play an important role in shaping consumer choices, which means that the new food products can vary dramatically in different countries.     The same functional concept, however, can often be adapted to a wide range of different foods.