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" &amp;quot;Know your customers&amp;#039; needs even before they do,&amp;quot; is a time-honored truism in the hospitality industry. Nestl\u00E9, one of the largest food conglomerates in the world, is applying this simple but effective rule in its own business strategies.  The company famous for cho  colate bars and instant coffee \u2013 to say nothing of hundreds of other popular food products \u2013 has just announced the formation of &amp;quot;Nestl\u00E9 Health Science S.A. and the Nestl\u00E9 Institute of Health Sciences to pioneer a new industry between food and pharma,&amp;quot; according to a company release. The Swiss-based company plans to invest half-a-billion dollars into the venture, an effort that should provide &amp;quot;an opportunity that is more in billions than millions,&amp;quot; according to the New York Times.  These exciting new ventures will &amp;quot;develop the innovative area of personalised health science nutrition to prevent and treat health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer&amp;#039;s disease,&amp;quot; read the release, &amp;quot;which are placing an unsustainable burden on the world&amp;#039;s healthcare systems.&amp;quot; Whew. Aren&amp;#039;t you glad someone is tackling these issues? There could be problems, however.  Just as Nestl\u00E9 is dipping its toe into the waters of functional foods (foods that provide benefits in addition to basic nutrition) the Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against POM Wonderful \u2013 the pomegranate juice in the funny looking bottles - for making &amp;quot;&amp;#039;false and unsubstantiated claims&amp;#039; about treating or preventing heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction,&amp;quot; according to the Wall Street Journal. In other words, it appears the feds may finally be clamping down on claims by food companies that their products will help alleviate or cure various maladies and other, assorted unpleasantries. Remember when Kellogg&amp;#039;s tried to claim that Cocoa Krispies &amp;quot;now helps support your child&amp;#039;s immunity&amp;quot;? Of course, this just brings us back to Nestl\u00E9&amp;#039;s forward thinking business strategy. Finally, they&amp;#039;re developing products that will help their customers deal with the health issues \u2013 such as diabetes and heart disease \u2013 that have arisen as more and more Americans rely upon convenience foods for much of their sustenance.  Take, for example, Lean Pockets&amp;#039; turkey, broccoli, and cheese microwavable sandwich. A single serving \u2013 one sandwich \u2013 contains 530 milligrams of sodium and 3.5 grams of saturated fat. That&amp;#039;s 22- and 8-percent of the recommended daily allowance, respectively.  Not in the mood for a Lean Pocket? Try the Corner Bistro Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Stromboli, with 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 25 grams of cholesterol, and 530 milligrams of sodium (18-, 8-, and 22-percent of the RDA, respectively). Have we mentioned that both of these products are made by Nestl\u00E9? No worries. They&amp;#039;ll be there to help treat your heart disease when you need it because, well, that&amp;#039;s just good customer service. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a38111/nestle-launches-functional-foods-companies/>