Comparing the European and US nutraceuticals innovation system

Abstract

In its health strategy to overcome the grand societal challenge of obesity, the European Union (EU) is committed to promote healthy lifestyles by stimulating healthy food choices (EU 2011).Accordingly, during the last decades the role of dietary active components in human nutrition has become an important focus of research. It has increased the awareness of consumers about diet and proper nutrition. An important product innovation emerging from this focus on dietary active components in human nutrition and food are so-called ‘nutraceuticals’. Nutraceuticals are defined as “any substance that may be considered a food or part of a food and provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease” (DeFelice, 1994;1).Several studies showed that European food and life sciences firms encounter several problems due to regulations that might hamper market access of nutraceuticals. Other studies focused on consumer acceptance as a possible explanation of the low diffusion of nutraceuticals in the EU.