Last year saw functional ingredients perform resiliently as consumers sought supplements.
Sales of functional ingredients have proved resilient over the past year as people try to boost their health through supplements, reports Nutraceuticals World.
The nutraceutical business publication explains that Nutrition Business Journal has found supplement revenues to have grown by six per cent in the US in 2008.
Despite the turbulence in global economies, this represents a faster rate of growth than in 2007 - the only category where this is the case, according to the report.
Nutrition is now valued at more than $100 million (£60 million) in the US, having experienced a nine per cent overall increase in value from 2008 to 2009.
The nutraceutical business news provider previously reported that functional ingredients are desired by almost one in three shoppers.
A study by Florida-based HealthFocus International found that 31 per cent of US consumers find the inclusion of functional ingredients to be a reason to prefer a particular food over similar products.
