It's all conditional

Depending on your birth date you may remember the song, "Just Dropped In (to see what condition my condition is in)," recorded by the First Edition and noted as Jimi Hendrix's favorite song. The acid-dropping, acid-rock meaning of the song may be the antithesis of health and wellness, but for this publication, the July/August issue is an opportunity to check in on 'what conditions our conditions are in,' for the healthy ingredient industry anyway.

The numbers don't lie. Almost half of all American adults say they currently use condition-specific supplements, according to Steve French at Natural Marketing Institute. In this current downward-spiraling economy, it's an upwardly mobile category. Why? Increased attention to obesity, diabetes and diet-related health problems, coupled with an ageing population.

A June 22, 2009, Time magazine cover said it well: "It's all about prevention. The first step toward containing health-care costs is to avoid getting sick."

A Functional Ingredients poll surveying manufacturers asked, 'Which condition-specific functional attributes are you considering adding to your product formulations?' The results follow closely with this year's trends and boomer concerns for common ailments — heart, digestive, joint and cognitive health.

This issue of Functional Ingredients highlights some of the ingredients that can be formulated into beverages, foods and supplements that could play a role in prevention. One of the challenges to a guide such as this is page space. Our editors made some tough calls and had to limit the number of entries and data to fit within the confines of our front and back covers

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For the complete editorial and the respective list of entries, check out our new website (www.functionalingredientsmag.com), where all the companies that responded to our query are included. If you missed the entry deadline, we are happy to update the online version with your company information (ingredients suppliers and contract manufacturers only). Please submit the information on our website in the condition-specific section by following the link on the home page.

Unconditionally yours,
Kimberly Stewart
Editorial Director
[email protected]