Proposed Functional Food Center Services

Functional Foods Education

Who You Are: A registered dietitian or nutritionist, graduated student, who wants to learn and teach their patients/customers about using functional foods

What This Is: A two-week, flexible training course with medical and professional benefits

Using functional foods to impart a concrete health benefit has obvious clinical appeal. Management of chronic conditions through a patient’s regular diet, rather than by a pharmaceutical regimen, can improve compliance and reduce costs. And with the aging populations and epidemic “lifestyle” diseases of industrialized nations, demand for such accessible and effective treatment will only increase.

As the premier institution for functional food research and application, the Functional Food Center’s mission includes educating professionals and the public about functional food’s promise and challenges. We now offer a training and certification package for registered dietitians and nutritionists, helping them apply functional food science to their practice and share this knowledge with their patients. Please click here for more details.

Subscription Service for FFC Publications

Who You Are: A busy member of the functional food community, who wants to keep up with new developments

What This Is: Fresh FFC books and conference materials, almost effortlessly

The Functional Food Center aims to keep its members apprised of developments in the field of functional foods and bioactive compounds through regular international conferences and peer-edited publications. Because sharing new research amongst the community is a vital task, FFC now offers a subscription service for our publications and conference proceedings.

Functional Foods and Chronic Diseases is the Center’s ongoing review publication, presenting interdisciplinary work from hundreds of functional food researchers on basic bioactive principles and health applications. Since these books are published based on the availability of quality research, the subscription is a payment service rather than an annual fee. Subscribed members are automatically billed and will receive the latest volume of Functional Foods and Chronic Diseases as it is published. Please click here for more details.

Industry Consultation: Functional Food Market Analysis

Who You Are: A small-to-medium sized food company, bringing a functional food product to market

What This Is: Three months of expert research and recommendations on your next step

Just as the Functional Food Center supports academic investigators performing critical research, it also serves corporations in their work to bring functional food products to market. In this specialized arm of the agribusiness sector, it pays to have an outside perspective on your product in potentia and the market your startup or growing company will be competing in. FFC can connect you to this resource amongst its 1,200,000 academic and industrial readers, providing you with experienced and confidential direction for your company. Please click here for more details.

Consultation for Academics

Who You Are: A principal investigator with promising clinical results for a functional food

What This Is: Informational resources on producing your food at scale, and a food industry expert’s review and advice on what you need to bring it to market

The corporate environment can be an alien space for institutional researchers, as they seek a path for their functional food onto the consumer’s plate. The Functional Food Center, in its mission to develop foods as a profitable therapeutic vector, thousands of industry and institutional figures whose collective experience can help you take those first steps towards a marketable product.

Similar to our Prospectus for Your Products and Markets package for food industrialists, Pipettes to Products provides the diligence of FFC members to confidentially analyze your plans for future commercialization. Please click here for more details.

Functional Food Certification

Who You Are: A functional food producer looking to attract and retain customer loyalty

What It Is: The Functional Food Center’s seal of approval to verify your product claims

After the years of laboratory research, clinical trials, market analysis, and product development, your functional food is ready for sale. Your product can help the American consumer live a healthier, better life, and you want them to know it. With Certification from the Functional Food Center, dietitians, patients, and the public can trust that your functional food lives up to the pitch.

Certification comes from examination of peer-reviewed publications in multiple journals, demonstrating the safe and efficacious use of your product to meet this definition. Panels of ASFFBC members will confer for three to six months for this analysis, in a process parallel to the Japanese FOSHU designation* and article submission to scientific journals. Since the Certification criteria are drawn from FOSHU and FDA policies regarding health benefit claims for foods, the Certification process can also prepare your company and product for later application for government recognition.*

A more detailed description of the Certification process can be found here.

Services for the Food and Medical Industry

We are the Functional Food Center (FFC), a research organization based in Dallas, TX. Since 1998, we have been researching and collaborating with fellow scientists concerning functional food science, a topic that is gaining both interest and visibility in today’s food market. In recent decades, industrialized countries have been increasingly plagued with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other diet-related ailments. As health costs for these individuals remain high, these individuals are turning to food as a solution for their health problems.

Over the course of nearly 25 years, we have published more than 30 books (including 7 textbooks), organized 28 international conferences, and built a network of over 1.200,000 subscribers to our weekly newsletters. We research functional food with the goal of increasing healthy food access to those suffering from chronic illness.

In the effort to further increase demand for your products, we would like to provide you with insight into this field. For a limited time, we are offering a course in which you will hear from expert nutritionists and medical researchers about how to create healthy food. We will help you increase your products’ healthy marketing appeal.

For example, depending on your product range, we can provide you with ready-made formulations or “recipes” for creating quality healthy food using natural ingredients. We will also teach you how to calculate proper amounts of bioactive ingredients that can be put in food. For example, say you’re interested in creating an iron-rich cereal, we know how to balance bioactive ingredients to make a cereal that’s both safe and heart healthy. Overall, we will help you expand your product range to include food containing essential vitamins and minerals, such as: magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Finally, following this course, you will be eligible to receive additional guidance toward finalizing your functional/healthy food. We are experts in functional food safety; therefore, we can maximize your products’ presentation among consumers. After your products are approved to be sold, we will publish an article about your products’ development in our journal, The Journal of Functional Foods in Health and Disease (FFHD), where your exposure and reputation in the functional/healthy food community will grow.

To summarize, this course package has three parts:

1. A two-week course in functional food science including our new textbook, Introduction to Functional Food Science, third edition, PowerPoint slide series, and other course materials
2. Ready-made recipes and guidance toward creating novel formulations
3. Plans for future collaboration to finalize and create new healthy food

Our course is designed to educate non-experts in this growing field of functional food science and take advantage of the enormous public need for healthy food. Sign up for our functional food course in order to make a solid impact on that market. To sign up or receive more information, call or email us at: 469-441-8272, ffc_usa@sbcglobal.net.

Services for Researchers

We are the Functional Food Center (FFC), a research organization based in Dallas, TX. Since 1998, we have been researching and collaborating with fellow scientists regarding functional food science, a topic that is gaining momentum in the nutritional sciences and food market. In recent decades, industrialized countries have been increasingly plagued with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other diet-related ailments. As health costs tied to these ailments remain high, more and more people are turning to food as a solution for their health problems.

Over the course of nearly 20 years, we have published more than 30 books (including 7 Textbooks), organized 27 international conferences, and built a network of over 1,200,000 subscribers to our weekly newsletters regarding current findings in functional food science. We research functional food with the goal of increasing healthy food access to those suffering from chronic illnesses.

As you know, the process of reducing chronic illness is ongoing and it requires the help of researchers like yourself to contribute to growing literature that bespeaks the power of food on our health. With this in mind, we are offering a course to researchers about functional food science. You and your colleagues will hear from medical researchers and expert nutritionists discuss the functional food concept, modern research techniques, bioactive compounds and their mechanisms, and policies that promise to increase functional food access to needy populations.

Given that researchers are constantly looking for new areas of inquiry, we have several opportunities for research within our organization. For example, as a part of the course, we would provide you with formulations and bioactive compounds that have undergone preliminary testing, but are still unknown to the scientific community. We would provide you with samples and chemical data, such as chemical structures and analysis that will allow you to delve into more specialized testing. In short, you would receive ingredients or bioactive compounds with experimental value from which you would have the freedom to unearth their nutritional values, biochemical mechanisms, and concentrations in various foods.

Following your completion of this course, you will be certified in functional food science by the FFC and eligible to collaborate with us on your research. As experts in this field, we can assist you in whatever stage you are in with regards to your research. We can supply you with ingredients, formulation, and other research materials, advise you on research techniques, and assist you in receiving business research grants, such as from the SBIR, SSTR, for example.

To summarize, this course package contains the following parts:

1. A two-week course in functional food science including our new textbook, Introduction to Functional Food Science, third edition, PowerPoint slide series, and other course materials
2. Certification in functional food science knowledge (see our website)
3. Bioactive compounds/ingredients and preliminary analysis (chemical structure, initial mapping of biochemical pathways, etc.)
4. Ability to receive guidance on your research by the FFC, supplies (ingredients, lab animals, etc.), grant writing assistance
5. Discounts to all of our future U.S. functional food conferences
6. Membership in our Academic Society for Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds (ASFFBC)

In order to truly make an impact on chronically ill communities, researchers must collaborate by supporting each other through knowledge and resources. Only then can we adequately inform the world on what is healthy and what are healthy lifestyle changes. Take the next step towards helping chronically ill populations by signing up for the functional food course with the FFC. To sign up or receive more information, call or email us at: 469-441-8272, ffc@functionalfoodscenter.net.

Services for Dietitians / Nutritionists

We are the Functional Food Center (FFC), a research organization based in Dallas, TX. Since 1998, we have been researching and collaborating with fellow scientists concerning functional food science, a topic that is gaining momentum in the nutritional sciences and food market. In recent decades, industrialized countries have been increasingly plagued with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other diet-related ailments. As health costs tied to these ailments remain high, more and more people are turning to food as a solution for their health problems.

Over the course of nearly 20 years, we have published more than 30 books (including 7 textbooks), organized 27 international conferences, and built a network of over 1,200,000 subscribers to our weekly newsletters regarding current findings in functional food science. We research functional food with the goal of increasing healthy food access to those suffering from chronic illnesses.

In order to heal more individuals through diet, we would like to provide you with insight into this field. For a limited time, we are offering a course in which you will hear from expert nutritionists and medical researchers about functional food science and nutritional physiology. In this course, you will learn about how bioactive compounds prevent, manage, and treat chronic illness, which functional foods heal which illnesses, the proper doses of each food based on population/illness, the healthiest food preparation methods, and the best ways to convey this information to your patients. Following this course, you will be eligible to receive additional guidance related to functional food science and patient care from the FFC.

In total, gifts to you will include our newest textbook, Introduction to Functional Food Science, third edition, which is currently being used in by 70 universities from the different countries, PowerPoint slides from our lectures, teaching materials for your dietetics practice, and a certification in functional food knowledge from the FFC (see our website). In addition, if you are a member of a dietetics or nutrition-related organization, we will provide copies of our book to all members at a discounted price.

To summarize, this course package contains the following parts:

A two-week course in functional food science including our new textbook, Introduction to Functional Food Science, third edition, PowerPoint slide series, and patient teaching package

1. Certification in Functional Food Science (credits for R.D.)
2. Discounts to all of our future U.S. functional food conferences
3. Membership in our Academic Society for Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds (ASFFBC)
4. Additional guidance from the FFC related to functional food science or patient care

Our course is designed to educate dietitians like yourself about this growing field of functional food science. As a dietetic professional educated in the specialized field of functional food science, you will not only have the knowledge to help individuals prevent, manage, and treat illness through food, you will be highly competitiveness as a nutritional professional. Sign up for our functional food course in order to help sick communities through food therapy and food education. To sign up or receive more information, call or email us at: 469-441- 8272, ffc@functionalfoodscenter.net.