Bruce Holub, professor at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) suggests that a proactive, preventive model of health care holds the key to a workable solution for CVD and other chronic diseases appearing at younger ages today than ever before. Holub hypothesizes that such a model--which might include the early introduction of nutraceuticals and functional foods well researched for cardiovascular benefits--could save a minimum of $300 billion dollars annually in health-care costs in North America.
Food, beverage and dietary supplement products making heart health claims are now a multi-billion dollar category in the U.S., with comparable markets in Europe, Japan and Australia. (See the “Now Introducing…” chart.) The introduction in May 2005 of One-A-Day Cholesterol Plus by Bayer Health Care's Consumer Care division (Morristown, N.J.), billed as the first multivitamin “specially formulated with heart-health supporting ingredients,” is one indication that the pharmaceutical industry is scrambling to reposition itself in this profitable marketplace. However, for non-pharmaceutical manufacturers, in spite of prolific new product research and applications development, some marketing hurdles stand in the way of new product introductions. Labeling claims permitted by FDA remain limited for dietary supplement nutraceutical ingredients, although convincing scientific evidence has paved the way for a number of new food ingredient health claims.