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In the year 2002 Lafrancol S.A., in view of the world tendencies decided to enter the functional foods market.

FUNCTIONAL FOODS:
"Functional Foods" are foods or dietary components that have a component, nutrient or non-nutrient, with selective effect on one or various functions of the body. It provides an added effect above its nutritional value and its positive effects justify its functional attributes or health benefits.

ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute) Europe.
Soy is the base of the diet in oriental countries such as China, Japan, Korea, etc. It has been observed that this population has less incidence of certain illnesses. Multiple clinical studies have shown that the low incidence of diseases such as cardiovascular, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer in this population due to the high consumption of soy in their daily diets. Today, soy is the most important and most studied functional food. Some of the benefits are:
1. Cardiovascular System
In 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration established that foods containing 6.25 grams of soy protein per serving: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk or heart disease." It has been proven scientifically that soy lowers the cholesterol levels and is an excellent alternative in the daily diet for people that need to consume cholesterol-free foods.
2. Menopause and osteoporosis
The hormonal changes that occur during menopause can cause a variety of symptoms and increment the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. Soy protein is also rich in isoflavones, also called phitoestrogens, which have a similar effect as estrogens but without the harmful effects for health. It is recognized in some of the hormone therapies as the estrogen can increase the risk in breast cancer. Soy protein reduce the symptoms associated with menopause such as: hot-flashes, night sweats, headaches, irritability, insomnia, etc. and prevents osteoporosis.
3. Cancer prevention
It has been scientifically proven that a diet rich in soy can prevent certain types of cancer like breast, prostrate and colon cancer. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that people who have a diet rich in soy have a lesser incidence in breast, prostate and colon cancer than a western diet. That is why the soy based foods comply with the dietetic guidelines to reduce the cancer risk and are anti carcinogens since the act as protector.
4. Lactose Intolerance
Certain people do not have an enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar) to make it digestible. These people cannot consume dairy milk since they cannot tolerate it, symptoms include nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Say can perfectly be substituted for these people.
5. Cognoscitive function
It has been fond that people who have diets rich in soy or women that consume isoflavones during menopause experience better memory.
6. Allergies
When a person is allergic to milk products and eggs (very common in children), it is necessary to replace the foods for others that have the same acceptability and protein content. This is why generally the soy-based foods should replace the foods that produce allergic reactions such as dairy milk and eggs. Incidentally there exists soy-based formulas that are specially for newborns.
7. Diabetes and kidney disease
Evidence exists that some soy-based foods can help control the sugar levels in diebetic people. Also they can help lower the risk of some diabetes complications such as kidney disease.

SOY PROTEIN QUALITY
Soy protein is considered as high quality protein since it contains 9 essential amino acids (which are those the body cannot synthesize since they are not provided in the daily diet).
In addition to the amino acids, the content of the digestibility of protein is important for it to be considered high quality. The digestibility is measured by the PDCAAS (Qualification of amino acids corrected for digestibility of protein. Methods adopted by the OMS and FDA).
The PDCAAS of soy protein is 1 which is equivalent to milk and eggs.