Heart health market set to go boom

The European heart health ingredients market will nearly quadruple over the next five years thanks to a "global fitness fad" among consumers, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.

Extensive media coverage had heightened consumer awareness about the fatality of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the ill effects of obesity, heightening interest towards low fat and heart-healthy food products, the researcher said.

The report, called European Heart Health Ingredients Market, said the market for heart health ingredients was worth $545 million in 2008 and was estimated to reach $2.0 billion in 2014.

"A variety of ingredients positioned for heart-health, with their functional benefits, is increasingly used for the fortification of various food and beverage applications," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Chandrasekhar S. "The preventive cost of CVD by virtue of these ingredients is much cheaper for the consumers than the cost of its treatment."

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