The maintenance of health and well being are still important issues in western countries, where populations are rapidly ageing. The costs of medical care are high, and increasing. The risk of common diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis could be significantly decreased by the food that we eat. Thus, the food industry has a great challenge to develop and promote healthy and delicious food products. A new line of products, functional foods and foodstuff with healtheffects has been invented. With the development of Xylitol in the early 70s by Finnish dentists in Turku, Finland was one of the first countries in the world to develop these products. At the time, the phrase "functional food" was unknown. Xylitol has avery important health effect proven in several clinical studies. The sugar (alcohol) can not been used as nutrient by the bacteria in tne mouth, resulting in a decrease of caries.
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