The food industry is one of the most important branches of the national economy in Italy and in the European Union in general, playing a central role for the processing of agricultural raw materials and food supply. This industry is traditionally regarded as a sector with low research intensity; notwithstanding, innovations are recognized as an important instrument for companies belonging to the food industry in order to stand out from competitors and to satisfy consumer expectations. In this regard, functional foods play an outstanding role, as demonstrated by their increasing demand derived from the increasing cost of healthcare, the steady increase of life expectancy, and the desire of older people for improved quality of their later years. The main target of this paper is to analyze the state of the art on functional foods. For this purpose, a review of extant literature is presented. Specific emphasis is laid on the definition and the main examples of functional food. The paper concludes with comments on future trends.

Innovation trends in the food industry: The case of functional foods

Making sense of the "clean label" trends: A review of consumer food choice behavior and discussion of industry implications.

Public acceptance of nanotechnology foods and food packaging: The influence of affect and trust

Background Consumers’ perceptions of naturalness are important for the acceptance of foods and food technologies. Thus, several studies have examined the significance of naturalness among consumers. Nonetheless, the aspects that are considered essential in perceiving a food item as natural may vary across consumers and different stakeholder groups. Scope and approach This systematic review identified 72 studies conducted in 32 countries involving 85,348 consumers. We aimed to answer the following questions: 1) How has the perceived importance of naturalness for consumers been defined and measured? 2) To what extent is perceived naturalness important to consumers? 3) Are there individual differences regarding the importance given to food naturalness that can be explained by consumers' characteristics? 4) Do consumers’ attitudes toward food naturalness influence their intentions and behavior? Key findings and conclusions The review clearly shows that for the majority of consumers, food naturalness is crucial. This finding could be observed across countries and in the different years when the studies were conducted. Therefore, neglecting the aspect of naturalness in the food industry may be very costly in the end. Our review also reveals differences across studies in how naturalness has been defined and measured. Based on a content analysis of the measurement scales, the items used to measure the importance of naturalness can be classified into three categories: 1) the way the food has been grown (food origin), 2) how the food has been produced (what technology and ingredients have been used), and 3) the properties of the final product.

The importance of food naturalness for consumers: Results of a systematic review

Factors that influence public acceptance of innovative technologies and products in the food area were determined. Results suggest that perceived benefit, perceived risks and perceived naturalness are important factors for the acceptance of new food technologies. Lay people may not only have difficulties in assessing risks associated with novel food technologies, but the benefits of such technologies may also not be obvious. Trust, therefore, is important for the acceptance of new food technologies. Finally, the impact of general psychological constructs, such as food neophobia and others, on the acceptance of new foods is discussed.

Amy Swerdlin

Papers

Preference for natural: instrumental and ideational/moral motivations, and the contrast between foods and medicines.