Démonstration scientifique des fonctions des aliments associées à la santé

Following the former paper where functional properties of some food/ingredients were remembered, the present paper summarizes the main steps of the scientific demonstration that allow to support the claimed functional properties. This demonstration is composed of four main elements: Identification and characterisation of the food/ingredient that will bear the claim; then building scientific arguments generated from human clinical studies using the relevant food/ingredient; selection and use of adequate markers in the key clinical studies and finally the analysis of the validity of the evidence. These demonstrated functional benefits for consumer, can support either the improvement of a physiological function or the reduction of some risks factors. However the first rule still remains to have a reasonable and diversified diet. A four-step scheme summarizes this paper for pedagogic purpose.