The Regulation of Health Claims in Advertising for Functional Foods and Natural Health Products in Canada and the United States by Mark Brosens Studies in Health Care Policy July 2009 The Regulation of Health Claims in Advertising for Functional Foods and Natural Health Products in Canada and the United States by Mark Brosens Contents Introduction l 3 What are nutraceuticals, functional foods, and [...] A literature review was conducted to assess the state of the scientific research on the health benefits of the basic food elements that are essential ingredients in many NFFNHPs, and thus are subject to regulations governing allowable health claims in advertising. [...] The types of health claims allowed to be used in advertising in Canada and the United States were checked for congruence with the scientific research found in the academic literature surveyed. [...] The studies in the sample examined the links between the consump- tion of various kinds of foods, food products, and bioactive compounds and various diseases or health conditions. [...] The regulation of health claims is based on the rationale that in order to ensure that claims about the effects of consuming a food product are accurate and safe, the government should regulate what food producers are able to say in their advertisements with regard to health outcomes.