Coughs, sniffles, sneezes, these annoyances are all too common during the fall and winter months when cold and flu season hits. In any given year, 5-20% of the U.S. population suffers from the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That is equivalent to approximately 15 to 63 million people, with about 200,000 requiring hospitalization. On top of that, about one billion colds occur annually. With these statistics and the fear of other contagious diseases, consumers have become more and more interested in ways to strengthen their immune systems.
The immune system is one of the most complex in the body. As such, scientists continue to investigate ways to enhance immunity in warding off disease. Pharmaceutical, dietary supplement and food ingredient companies are engaged in identifying and evaluating various substances for their ability to boost the immune system. This effort could result in a potential “blur” of the lines of distinction between a food ingredient or dietary supplement versus a drug, keeping in mind that the FD&C Act defines drugs, in part, by their intended use as "articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease" and "articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals" [FD&C Act, sec. 201(g)(1)]. Together with other selection criteria, this definition is critical to the ability of food scientists to develop food or beverage products which make a claim for immune support.