Institute for Science and Society, Law and Soc. Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK.
Health (London). 2010 Nov;14(6):585-602. doi: 10.1177/1363459309360784.
Functional foods promoted as novel food products providing health benefits beyond basic nutrition are gradually becoming part of the European food basket. Typically, research on functional food has focused on public attitudes, the acceptability of different product types, and public trust in novel food. In this article, discursive analysis of focus group discussions held in Britain with 34 users and non-users of probiotics points to the argumentative orientation of explanations for consumption of this particular type of functional food. Using the concepts of 'interpretative repertoire' and 'subject position', I explore the role of moral considerations in people's accounts of purchasing probiotics in the current context of increased health awareness and health anxiety. The analysis demonstrates how the lay accounts of eating and purchasing probiotics are entangled with notions of indulgence, individualism, as well as social norms and responsibility.
功能性食品作为提供基本营养以外健康益处的新型食品产品逐渐成为欧洲食品篮子的一部分。通常，功能性食品的研究集中在公众态度、不同产品类型的可接受性以及公众对新型食品的信任上。在本文中，通过对英国 34 名益生菌使用者和非使用者进行焦点小组讨论的话语分析，指出了对这种特殊类型的功能性食品消费的解释的争论性倾向。本文运用“解释性资源”和“主体位置”的概念，探讨了在当前健康意识和健康焦虑增加的背景下，人们在购买益生菌时的道德考虑因素在购买行为中的作用。分析表明，食用和购买益生菌的非专业解释与放纵、个人主义以及社会规范和责任的概念交织在一起。
