Modifying certain aspects of food and nutritional services, as well as residents' dining experience, may improve QOL of elderly LTC residents.

The agro-food industry is developing a "second generation" of genetically modified~GM! foods that can offer functional health benefits to consumers+ Many consumers, however, are turning to organic foods in order to avoid GM foods+ This report attempts to differentiate consumer valuation of functional health properties in conventional, organic, and GM foods+ A representative sample of 1,008 Canadian household food shoppers responded to twelve stated-choice experiments during a telephone survey+ Because opinions about organic and GM foods varied greatly, random parameters logit models were used to analyze their choices+ Results indicate that many Canadian consumers will avoid GM foods, regardless of the presence of functional health properties+ For others, the introduction of GM functional plant foods should increase acceptance of GM production methods, but many consumers will likely avoid functional foods derived from GM animals+ The organic food industry could also profit from the introduction of organic functional foods+ @EconLit citations: I120; D120+#

Very few economic analyses have been done about functional foods and nutraceuticals. The current paper seeks to characterize Canadian consumers' attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and willingness‐to‐pay for functional foods. In the spring of 2001, a telephone survey of 1008 Canadian household food shoppers was conducted. The questionnaire included stated‐choice experiments to derive distributions of price‐functional property trade‐offs. The majority of respondents appeared willing to purchase and to pay a price premium for functional foods, particularly if the functional property were added to foods derived from plants. Consumers were less receptive to a functional property incorporated in a meat product. A large proportion of respondents negatively perceived genetically modified (GM) and organic foods relative to conventional foods, after controlling for price and the health property. This suggests that there could be a niche market for organic functional foods and that GM functional foods would have to be discounted to attract a wide range of consumers. Peu d'études ont été réalisées sur les aliments fonctionnels et les nutraceutiques. Notre papier a pour but de caractériser les attitudes, les croyances, les connaissances et la volonté des consommateurs canadiens de payer plus cher pour des aliments fonctionnels. Un sondage téléphonique fut administré auprès de 1008 répondants à trovers le Canada. Des expériences amenant les répondants àénoncer leur préférences en faisant des choix de produits ont été réalisées pour générer les distributions des compromis entre les prix et les propriétés fonctionnelles. La majorité des répondants sontprêt á payer des suppléments pour des propriétés fonctionnelles, surtout si celles‐ci sont ajoutées a des produits dérivés des plantes. Les répondants semblent mains réceptifs aux propriétés ajoutées à de la viande. Une proportion élevée de répondants entretiennent des perceptions négatives des aliments GM et organiques, relativement aux produits conventionnels après avoir contrôlé pour les prix et les propriétés fonctionnelles. Ceci suggère qu'il y aurait un marché niche pour les aliments fonctionnels organiques et que les aliments fonctionnels GM devraient être réduits en prix pour attirer une vaste clientele.

"Consumers have increasingly recognized the link between health and diet, and are taking special interest in functional foods that promise to enhance health and reduce the risk of diseases. Milk, an excellent source of essential nutrients, as well as an ideal carrier of healthy functional ingredients, holds promise for the development of functional foods. A variety of functional milk products have been launched into the market, such as yogurt, milk, butter and cheese fortified with vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which may help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, and obesity, is naturally found in milk. The dairy industry is working actively with scientists to develop CLA-enriched dairy products to serve Canadian consumers. This study examines consumers' attitudes toward CLA-enriched products, and identifies several key factors that may help determine consumers' acceptance of these products. The information obtained from this study is useful for the dairy industry to develop marketing strategies for CLA and other functional milk products." Copyright 2006 Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.