Dietary fibre: A chemical category or a health ingredient?

Consideration is given to the extent to which the definition of a dietary fibre should relate to its chemical nature or to its physiological action. Whereas a dietary fibre needs to fulfil the necessary condition of forming short-chain fatty acid in the colon, any specific health claim must be independently verified. Clarification is also required when interchangeable or overlapping terms are used such as dietary fibre, prebiotic, and probiotic. For biomaterials which show biological activity, the extent to which the whole material provides the bioactivity relative to contribution of specific components needs to be determined. Despite the acceptance of an international definition of dietary fibre by Codex, individual countries and regions tend also to adopt additional requirements. A dilemma could also arise if a decision based on national health research is used to by-pass the cumbersome international regulatory approval procedures.

► Dietary fibre can be defined either by its chemical nature or its physiological action.
► Any specific health claim requires regulatory acceptance.
► Distinction needs to be made between the overlapping terms: dietary fibre, prebiotic and probiotic.
► For bioactive materials it is desirable that the component(s) responsible for any specific bioactivity should be identified.
► There is potential conflict between national approval systems and the requirements of Codex.