Is functional beverage really functional?

When it comes to functional beverages, many people’s minds come up with a series of promotional terms such as “refreshing, supplementing energy, and restoring strength”. But who has designed the formula for these functional beverages and has it been tested? Does the ingredient inside really have said effect? This is also a long-standing question in the hearts of many consumers. Experts in the interview with reporters reminded consumers that functional drinks are not all functional, nor are they suitable for everyone.

The functional drinks in the supermarket sold well. The reporter saw a large supermarket drink area on Zhongnan Road. The shelves were filled with various types of functional drinks, and buyers were quite a few. The reporter spent only 5 minutes at the scene and more than 10 customers chose functional beverages. Two of the young men carrying a gym bag suddenly bought four boxes of a brand of functional drinks. They told reporters that because they used to keep fit, they said that the drink was able to quickly replenish energy and restore strength, so they drank this drink. For convenience, generally buy one or two boxes at a time and put it in the trunk of the car at any time. After drinking this functional beverage, does the effect really add energy quickly as advertised? The two young men said with a smile that they didn't feel anything, but because the people who love and exercise around are drinking this brand of beverage, we're going to congregate.

Supermarket service personnel responsible for beverage sales told reporters that functional beverages mainly include sports drinks, energy drinks and other health-care beverages. Although slightly higher than ordinary mineral water and fruit juice drinks, its sales have been good, especially for sports drinks and Gavi C drinks, and buyers are mostly young people. However, Mr. Wang, a person in charge of a trading company who has long been engaged in beverage sales, told reporters: “Actually, there is no such thing as a functional beverage, but it is a generic name on the market and there has been no corresponding national standard.”

Functional beverages have not verified that standard functional beverages have national standards in the end? The reporter interviewed Professor Nong Shaozhuang of the School of Food Engineering of Dalian University of Technology. According to him, at present, China's functional beverage standards are still not perfect, and only sports drinks have the national technical standard "Sports Drinks Standard Technical Requirements." In addition, there are no national and industry standards for functional beverages. Even what is a functional beverage has not yet been explained by a national or industry standard. At present, the only thing that approximates functional beverages is the "sports drinks" and "special-purpose beverages" mentioned in "Beverage General". "Sports drink" is defined as a beverage in which the nutrient and its content can be adapted to the physiological characteristics of a group of people who are active or physically active. The definition of “special use beverages” is to adapt the beverages needed by certain people by adjusting the composition and content of nutrients in beverages or by adding specific functional ingredients.

If consumers are looking for health-care functional beverages that have been clearly identified and proven to be effective, then they must first purchase health-care beverages with the words “health food” written on the packaging of those products; second, choose those that have packaging approvals. No., with the product "Wei Shi Jian Zi ××××××".

Gavi C Drinks: It's Better to Eat Fruit Directly Professor Nong Shaozhuang told reporters that functional drinks do not have functions. Take the recent example of a good Vitamin C beverage sold in major supermarkets. Nutritionally speaking, Vitamin C is an essential daily trace element for the human body. It is appropriate for summers where there is more sweating and more water-soluble vitamins are lost. Some vitamin C supplements are healthy. But after all, vitamin C in vitamin C is itself a water-soluble vitamin. If you really want to add a vitamin C drink, you can do it yourself at home. You just have to combine vitamin C and fruit juice. . To really supplement Vitamin C, it is better to eat fruits directly because they contain other beneficial ingredients that cannot be provided in beverages, such as anthocyanins and dietary fiber.

Most sports-balance beverages contain large amounts of proteins, peptides, and amino acids, which in turn compensate for the loss of water and electrolytes (salt) that the body loses because of the large amount of exercise and labor sweating. This balances body fluids. However, Professor Nong reminded consumers to clearly define the exact definition of “consumer” of the product. Ordinary people's daily activities and easing aerobic exercise can only be called fitness exercise, not physical exercise. Physical activity refers to activities that are more professional in nature or have greater exercise intensity. Therefore, the balance supplementation without a high degree of salt loss will only increase the burden on the body, causing an increase in cardiac burden and blood pressure. Therefore, normal active children and adults and elderly people with poor metabolic function are not suitable for drinking sports-balance drinks.