Consumer turns more and more attention on quality of products, particularly on influence of diet and its components on human health. Realising expectations of market comes into being new group of food products – so called functional food. Author proposes acceptance in Polish language for this of kind of food term: żywność prozdrowotna. Industrial manufacture this kind of foods demand a clear definition of term, aim, range and legislative expressions, in particularly to which degree it is as preventive and to which one can {perhaps} fulfil medical functions. This is very important, because both intensive researches over relations between health and nourishing, and expectations of consumer as well as market demand create the perspective, that functional food will be important element of food production in XXI century.