The word 'healthy' has major implications for the European health claims legislation - studies must support the efficacy of an ingredient or product in a healthy population, if that is the intended use.
Stephen Daniells talks to Dr Jia Zhao from Yakult Europe about the meaning of such a simple word – what is healthy and how do we define it? Dr Zhao explains that more needs to be done on understanding the word – sports people are very healthy, for example, but excessive training suppresses their immune systems, she says. We still think of them as healthy.