Recent Advances in Consumers’ Preferences and Behavior Toward Healthy and Functional Foods: 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

This is the second edition of the Topic “Recent Advances in Consumers’ Preferences and Behavior Toward Healthy and Functional Foods”, available at https://www.mdpi.com/topics/consumer_foods. In recent decades, diet-related diseases have gained attention among both institutions and researchers as they represent a severe problem for human health and a cost for national health systems. Since a more balanced diet based on the selection and choice of healthier foods can help to reduce such diseases, the European Union has promoted the health benefits of functional foods by providing specific regulations to govern the adoption of nutrition and health claims on food labels (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and Regulation (EU) No 432/2012). These labels represent a means to guide consumers toward an informed choice when purchasing products, thus providing a fair competitive environment among the food industry. Consequently, it has become increasingly important to inform consumers about the irreplaceable role of functional food consumption. Due to their bioactive compounds and micronutrients, such as polyphenols, vitamins, fibers, omega 3 fatty acids, etc., functional foods produce positive physiological effects on human health, enhancing the metabolic functions of organisms. With the aim to provide safer food and ensure higher sensory and nutritional quality standards, the agro-food industry has been called upon to develop more innovative food products. Therefore, it is of great interest to us to further explore how lifestyle, social, and psychological drivers move consumers and influence their choice to purchase these products. Within this context, the aim of this Topic is to collect valuable contributions related to the following areas:

• Healthy and functional food consumption;
• Consumers’ interests toward functional food components;
• Effectiveness of food-related claims in consumers’ choices;
• Drivers of healthy and functional food consumption.

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Antonio Di Vita
Prof. Dr. Gioacchino Pappalardo
Dr. Raffaele Zanchini
Dr. Angelina De Pascale
Topic Editors