PROVISION OF PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC AVAILABILITY OF HEALTHY FOODS TO THE POPULATION
The objective of the research is to prove the advisability of using specialized and functional food products in the population nutrition including the compliance with the caloric and natural nutrition norms as well as to reconcile the discrepancies in the terminology existing at present in the market of these products. To effectively achieve the purposes of the programs “Strategies of Food Product Quality Improvement in the Russian Federation up to 2010” and “Strategies of Formation of Healthy Lifestyle of the Population, Prevention and Control of NCDs for the Period up to 2015” the necessary condition is to create economic and physical availability of food products of proper quality and to develop food diet enrichment systems in the situation of “hidden hunger”. As a result of the analysis of statistical data made by quantitative and qualitative methods it is found that about 45 % of the RF population have one or more diseases caused by improper nutrition, with 16.1 % of them suffering from gastrointestinal diseases and 7.3 % having allergy to food products. When prescribing a diet for these people it is necessary to follow dietary therapy. It is revealed that children and teenagers under 19 years of age are the most active consumers of vitamin products and biological food supplements as specialized and functional products. Older age groups over 50s prefer to take dietary fibers and food supplements as an alternative to vitamins. It is established that products which are sources of specific substances and are meant for sportsmen, pregnant and lactating women, children, as well as products for dietary nutrition and biological food supplements belong to specialized food products. Other food products with pronounced functional properties containing no less than 15 % of active substances in 100 cm3 or 100 g of the recommended daily intake belong to functional food products.