History Although the idea of functional food and use very old was based on the vision of food as a drug, the term ‘per se’ is born in Japan in the 1980s when the authorities became aware of Japanese food that to control the overall expenditure on health was necessary to develop foods that will improve the quality of life of the population, covering certain “defiicencias pandemic.” At this time is set for the first time in Japan on nutritional concept of “Food for Specific Use in Health (Foods for Specified English Health Use, whose acronym is: FOSHU). The demand for this type of food has grown dramatically in the Asian country since the late twentieth century.Gradually he dives appearing in European countries need to regulate this type of power, arise specific projects within the area of functional foods under the auspices of the ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute), little by little concern on this type of power became international in the late twentieth century. The emergence of patents on the design of functional foods and economic benefit (the case of Benecol) has boosted interest from the food industry. Josyann Abisaab