Wellness still healthy trend for food makers

CHICAGO (Reuters) - New on the U.S. functional food menu: yogurt shots that may lower your cholesterol and a carbonated drink its makers say will help you lose weight.

These are two of the latest offerings as food and drink companies try to cash in on the healthy eating trend.

In May, Unilever, which makes Hellman's mayonnaise and Lipton tea, will launch a yogurt drink fortified with plant sterols in the U.S. market. Sterols are plant extracts that have been shown to lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, in some clinical studies.

"One of these (100 milligram drinks) a day, and your cholesterol level comes down 10 percent," said Alan Jope, a global vice president at Unilever (UNc.AS) (ULVR.L), speaking at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago this week. "We have 141 studies throughout the industry about the impact on cholesterol of plant sterols."

Unilever sees the "vitality shots" and health drinks market as a high-growth area in the United States, Jope said.

The yogurt brand will be called Promise, and will be priced at about $1 for a 100-milligram bottle. The company also plans to launch a fruit-and-vegetable shot under its Knorr label later this year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorizes the labeling of health claims about the role of plant sterols, which inhibit the body's absorption of cholesterol on certain foods and beverages.

Coca-Cola Co.'s (KO.N) Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise orange juice, Unilever's Take Control spread, and Benecol, another spread sold by McNeil Nutritionals, a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) company, contain plant sterols and are currently available in the U.S.

"Companies like Coca-Cola and Unilever are grateful that there's at least one ingredient with good evidence of effectiveness," said David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy organization, in a telephone interview.

A daily intake of 800 milligrams of plant sterols can lower cholesterol levels by 10 percent, he said, but added that it was a "modest drop" that would not significantly improve the conditions of high-cholesterol patients.

Most other nutritional and health claims made by beverage makers have little scientific backing and are of "dubious value," Schardt said.

That hasn't stopped companies from selling so-called health and wellness beverages, or "functional foods."

COKE, PEPSI TO LAUNCH DRINKS

This summer, cola giants Coke and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N) are launching Diet Coke Plus and Pepsi Max -- both very-low-calorie drinks claiming to contain essential nutrients and minerals.

In February, Coke and Nestle (NESN.VX) launched Enviga, a carbonated green tea beverage that promised to help consumers lose weight -- if they drink three cans of the 5-calorie-a-can drink a day.

The Enviga Web site says the drink's combination of green tea extract and caffeine helps people burn 106 extra calories a day.

However, the CSPI has sued Coke and Nestle, asserting "fraudulent claims," Schardt said.

"We're suing them because all they have is a three-day study and they don't really know what happens after three days of drinking the beverage," he said.

Last month, the Connecticut attorney general said he has sent letters to the companies seeking evidence to support their claims. Coke and Nestle

The Coke-Nestle joint venture has said it "stands behind the science that supports our claim that Enviga invigorates your metabolism to gently burn calories."

Scott Young, Coke's regional vice president of food service and hospitality, said at the Reuters Summit that Enviga is "going well and gaining some traction in food service."

Jamba Juice, which sells made-to-order smoothies at about 565 stores across the country, is also looking at a "clean caffeine" beverage that comes from green tea, Chief Executive Paul Clayton said at the summit.

Jamba already offers several boosts that can be mixed into its smoothies, including an immunity boost and a performance boost. None of the ingredients used in their boosts, such as rhodiola and echinacea, have been evaluated by the FDA for health benefits.

"We're very, very careful about the efficacious levels of the doses we offer," Clayton said. "Those boosts work if you take them regularly."

The wholesale market for wellness and functional beverages was about $54 billion in 2005, according to Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York-based research firm.

Wellness beverages, including milk and water, accounted for $48 billion, while functional beverages, including nutrient-enhanced teas, dairy drinks, and fruit beverage, accounted for $6 billion.