European consumers acceptance of healthy food products: A review of functional foods

In the recent past, Europe has experienced an increase in several chronic diseaseslinked to dietary and lifestyle habits. In particular, obesity is continuously increasing atan alarming rate all over Europe. As a result healthier food products have rapidly gainedimportant market shares. The food industry has rapidly reacted to this trend bydeveloping a growing variety of new products with health-related claims and images,including functional foods (FF) that are selected by consumers for their health-promotingproperties. However, demand for FF within the European Union varies considerably fromcountry to country, mainly due to food traditions and different cultural heritage. Thischapter offers an overview of the current FF market situation in Europe and addresses themain cognitive, motivational and attitudinal determinants of consumer acceptance ofthese foods in different European countries, providing practical insights of the profile ofFF consumers. In particular, the major factors that are currently restraining growth of FFin Europe (beyond economic crisis) are highlighted and deeply discussed. As the lack ofcategorisation (it is still difficult for consumers to distinguish between functional andconventional food products); growing consumer confusion (due to increasing productvariety and product labelling, together with the overwhelming amount of generalmarketing and educational messages on food intake); low awareness of health benefits offunctional ingredients; lack of consensus on the level of scientific support anddocumentation required for specific health claims. The current work could helppractitioners in making more effective strategic and tactical marketing decisions, and addsome useful information for government bodies interested in designing public healthprograms.