What s driving all this innovation is industry, not consumer demand, says Margaret Mellon, Ph.D., director of the agriculture and biotechnology program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. With grocery sales and profits nearly flat, the food industry is hoping to develop a new niche and create demand for these products - for which they will likely charge a premium price. But Bruce Watkins, Ph.D., Purdue University professor and director of the Center for Enhancing Foods to Protect Health, argues otherwise. Functional foods, he insists, can offer health protection, and hens given feed that enhances the level of desirable omega-3 fatty acids in eggs may provide a cheaper source of these beneficial fats than, say, salmon. In other words, shopping could get very complicated.
Demand drives the market place and consumer choices have absolutely everything to do with supply.
What we buy today shapes tomorrow s supermarket shelf, so the future of both organic and functional foods ultimately rests in our hands.