Currently browsing posts about: Fiber

This study, produced by Tate & Lyle, was sent to me by a reader, but Tate & Lyle also sent me:

• A press release: “Fibre fortification could lower risk of heart disease and diabetes for 7 in 10 UK adults.”
• An infographic with the results of the study: “Benefits of Reformulating with Fibre.”

The press release worked.  FoodNavigator.com did a story with this headline: “Fibre fortification in everyday foods could lower risk of heart disease and diabetes”

A new study suggests that adding fibre to everyday foods – including baked foods, dairy products, soups, smoothies and dressings – would allow 50% more UK adults to reach their recommended daily consumption of fibre. This could in turn lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

I give FoodNavigator.com high marks for stating right up front who paid for this study:

New research from ingredie3nt supplier Tate & Lyle, published in Cambridge University Press’ British Journal of Nutrition, found reformulating everyday foods with added fibre could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes for 72% of the UK adult population.

The study: Estimating the potential public health impact of fibre enrichment: a UK modelling study.  Kirstie Canene-Adams, Ieva Laurie, Kavita Karnik, et al.  Br J Nutr. 2022 Jan 7;1-7.   doi: 10.1017/S0007114521004827. Online ahead of print.

Conclusions: The fibre enrichment intervention showed a mean fibre intake of 19·9 g/d in the UK, signifying a 2·2 g/d increase from baseline. Modelling suggested that 5·9 % of subjects could achieve a weight reduction, 72·2 % a reduction in cardiovascular risk and 71·7 % a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes with fibre fortification (all Ps ≤ 0·05).

Conflict of Interest statement: Authors are employees of Tate & Lyle PLC (IL and KK) or Creme Global (BF, WG, SP) as indicated by our affiliations. KCA was employed by Tate & Lyle PLC at the time of research and writing the article and is now employed by Mars Wrigley. This work was funded by Tate & Lyle, London, UK which specialises in fibres and low-calorie sweetening ingredients used by food and drink producers worldwide. Creme Global is a company based in Dublin, Ireland which specialises in scientific modelling in the areas of food, nutrition and cosmetics.

Comment: Tate & Lyle collected data on what consumers currently eat and drink using the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey.  Investigators applied statistical models to determine how fiber-supplemented food would change consumers’ diet and health.

My translation: Tate & Lyle employees added fiber to foods, predicted that if people ate foods with added fiber they would take in more fiber (duh), and found just that.

Tate & Lyle makes fiber supplements.  Are Tate & Lyle fiber supplements as good for health as the fiber found naturally in food?  That, alas, is beyond the scope of a modeling study.

Addition

Hugh Joseph sent along this video from Tate & Lyle.  It’s about all the good things T&L ingredients do for Jane’s diet.  Oh dear.

For no particular reason other than curiosity, I’ve been hanging on to these items.  This feels like a good time to share them.

• Thorny issue: Malaysian durian industry hit by demand slump and manpower shortage due to COVID-19:  The durian industry in Malaysia has been hit hard by a drastic drop in demand and lack of manpower due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a sharp downturn for one of the country’s most popular exports.  Read more
• Wake up and smell the … peanuts? Virginia Gold Peanut Coffee offers novel twist on classic drink:  With the invention of peanut coffee, fifth generation peanut farmer James Harrell found a way to combine in one product the rich history and future of his hometown of Suffolk, Va., which as the headquarters for Planters Peanuts was once known as the ‘peanut capital of the world’ before an influx of prominent coffee companies inspired the new moniker ‘caffeine capital.’… Read more
• The recipe for ‘healthier’ milk chocolate? Just add peanut waste:  Scientists claim to have found a ‘new way’ to boost the antioxidant properties of milk chocolate: by combining it with waste peanut skins…. Read more
• Apricot kernels recalled in New Zealand due to poisoning risk:   Raw apricot kernels are being recalled in New Zealand after three people needed hospital treatment. They were sold by Christchurch business Ethnic Market in Linwood. Sale of raw apricot kernels is prohibited under New Zealand food law. Those admitted to the hospital as a precaution have since been discharged after eating the raw kernels. Ethnic General… Continue Reading  
  What’s for dinner? Grasshoppers, says Hargol FoodTech as it raises $3m to build edible insect operationIsraeli firm Hargol FoodTech – which is blazing a distinct trail in the embryonic edible insect sector by focusing on grasshoppers, rather than crickets – has completed a $3m financing round from existing shareholders, Singapore-based Sirius Venture Capital and Netherlands-based SLJ Investment Partners…. Read more
• Insect fat the new butter replacement? Researchers see potential in bakery products: Researchers have examined the potential for black soldier fly larvae fat to partially substitute butter in cakes, cookies and waffles…. Read more 
  Farmed sea cucumbers: The new ‘superfood’ functional ingredient?  Researchers in Norway are investigating commercial farming practices for sea cucumbers, which they say should be exploited as a raw ingredient for health products…. Read more
• White paper: The fiber opportunity in dairy: Want to learn more about how to replace sugar with dietary fiber in dairy products without losing their sweetness? …Download our free paper to learn all you need to know about our biological solution Saphera® Fiber.  [this is an ad]

I always thought fiber had a simple definition: complex carbohydrates in food plants impervious to enzymes in our digestive tract.

OK, bacterial enzymes complicate the definition a bit.   But the real complication comes from what food companies toss into products to increase their apparent fiber content on food labels.

Now the FDA has issued guidance to industry about what companies can use to boost their products’ fiber content.  In FDA-speak:

We intend to exercise enforcement discretion for the declaration of dietary fiber, pending completion of a rulemaking regarding revising our regulations, if the declaration includes one or more of the following eight isolated or synthetic non-digestible carbohydrates, when present in a food and included in the amount of dietary fiber declared on the Nutrition or Supplement Facts label:

• mixed plant cell wall fibers
• arabinoxylan
• alginate
• inulin and inulin-type fructans
• high amylose starch (resistant starch)
• galactooligosaccharide
• polydextrose
• resistant maltodextrin/dextrin

What this means is that food manufacturers can use these to count as fiber.

Here, for example, is a happy announcement from Sensus, a company that manufactures “Frutafit” and “Frutalose” chicory root fibers.  It

welcomes the announcement that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes inulin-type fructans derived from chicory root as dietary fiber for the new nutrition facts label. The recognition consolidates the fiber status of chicory root fiber in the US and supports further opportunities for healthy food applications in the US.

The Sensus announcement explains that this decision came about as a result of a “joint citizen petition,” one in which you can bet this company was involved.

This decision is about marketing.

If you want fiber in your diet, the best sources are still foods: fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts.

This is one of FoodNavigator’-USA’s ongoing series of collected articles on specific topics from a food-industry perspective, in this case, digestive health.

Special Edition: Digestive health

Digestive health used to revolve around roughage, but as understanding of the relationship between our gut and our overall health has grown, consumers are now exploring everything from prebiotic fibers and probiotics to a new wave of fermented foods or simply avoiding foods that make them feel bloated or lethargic. We explore how consumers are thinking about gut health and how manufacturers can tap into demand for foods that make our microbes happy.

• How are consumers thinking about digestive health? Hartman Group weighs in: For some consumers, digestive health is about avoiding foods that make them feel bloated or lethargic, for some, it’s about ‘roughage’ and ‘regularity,’ while for others it’s about keeping their guts happy with prebiotics and probiotics, says Hartman Group… Read
• Green banana flour: A powerful new tool in the digestive health toolbox?  Milled starchy unripe bananas – which are low in sugar and high in RS2 resistant starch – can help people better control their blood glucose, but they also confer an exciting range of digestive benefits, making them a powerful new gut health ingredient, claims the firm behind NuBana green banana flour… Read
• Not all fiber is created equally, creators of resistant starch-packed Barley+ argue: Consumer demand for fiber is on the rise thanks in part to increased awareness of the ingredient’s cancer-fighting and other health benefits, but according to recent research not all fiber packs the same punch… Watch now
• Good mood food? Consumers are catching onto prebiotics, says dietitian turned food entrepreneur: While nutrition scientists are still unlocking the secrets of the gut microbiome, consumers increasingly understand that what we feed the army of microbes that line our digestive tracts may be intimately connected to our physical – and mental – health and wellbeing, says Kara Landau, the dietitian behind a new brand dedicated to gut health: Uplift: Good Mood Food… Read
• Beneo: ‘Prebiotics open a whole new door to the world of gut health that hasn’t been well explored in the US’: Brands and consumers are getting more comfortable talking about digestive health, with the conversation shifting beyond getting enough fiber for regular bowel movements, to the gut microbiome, says Beneo, which says growing interest in probiotics is helping Americans get their heads about the concept of prebiotics… Read
• Dannon continues yogurt and gut microbiome exploration with $50,000 in fellowship grants: As part of Danone North America, the Dannon Probiotics Fellowship Grant Program has awarded two graduate students with $25,000 each to help fund their independent and novel studies of yogurt, probiotics, and the human gut microbiome… Read
• Paleo On The Go sees ‘huge’ potential for convenient, auto immune protocol compliant products: With one in five Americans suffering from an auto immune disease and looking for ways to manage their conditions through diet, the market potential for foods and beverage that comply with the auto immune protocol is “huge,” and yet relatively untapped, according to one entrepreneur in the space… Read
• CHR Hansen sees growing demand for probiotics in drinkable yogurts, kids’ snacks, plant-based fermented foods: US consumers are increasingly interested in the relationship between intestinal bacteria and overall health, says CHR Hansen, but there is some confusion about which foods and beverages contain probiotics: live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (according to the World Health Organization)… Read
• FDA issues guidance on added sugar, dietary fiber, serving sizes: The FDA has unveiled guidance on added sugars, serving sizes and dietary fibers to help manufacturers implement the new Nutrition Facts label, and says it’s working on a plan to incentivize manufacturers to make healthier products and “provide consumers with helpful tools to make healthy food choices, including clarity on food label claims.”.. Read
• Unique milling process qualifies Grain Millers’ oat hull fiber as ‘intrinsic and intact’ dietary fiber under FDA rules, claims company: Should oat hull fiber be classified as a dietary fiber? It depends, according to Grain Millers, which claims that its unique, mechanical milling process ensures that its oat hull fiber is the only one on the market that meets the FDA’s definition of ‘intrinsic and intact’ fibers, and queries whether oat fibers made using traditional chemical methods meet the FDA definition of ‘isolated or synthetic’ fibers either… Read
• Barrel Creek Provisions breathes new life into fermented foods: Barrel Creek Provisions has undergone a brand transformation to establish itself as a formidable player in the fermented foods category, a market that continues to grow alongside consumers’ interest in gut health and probiotics… Read

It’s pretty depressing to watch what’s happening to the gains in food and nutrition policy so hard won in the last few years.

Nothing but bad news:

Menu labeling:  The FDA is submitting interim final rules, a tactic to delay implementation of menu labeling, which was supposed to start on May 5.  Why?  The National Association of Convenience Stores and the National Grocers Association filed a petition asking for the delay.   Pizza sellers have been lobbying like mad to avoid having to post calories.

Food labels (calories, added sugars): As the Washington Post puts it, the food industry is counting on the current administration to back off on anything that might help us all make better food choices.  At least 17 food industry groups have asked for a delay in the compliance date for new food labels—for three years.  Why?  They are a burden to industry.  The soon-to-be FDA Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, said this about food labels:

As a general matter, I support providing clear, accurate, and understandable information to American consumers to help inform healthy dietary choices,” Gottlieb wrote, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. “ … However, I am mindful of the unique challenges that developing and communicating such information can pose, particularly on small, independent businesses.”

Definition of dietary fiber: The American Bakers Association wants the FDA to take back its new, stricter definition of dietary fiber, (it excludes synthetic fiber) due to go into effect in July 2018.

School meals: The USDA says it is about to announce new school meal “flexibility” (translation: rollback of nutrition standards).

The score: Big business 4, public health 0

Happy May Day.

For further reading:

• Vox’s Julia Belluz reviews these issues, but also comments on Michelle Obama’s enduring legacy.
• Politico summarizes USDA’s proposed actions.

Addition: It gets worse.  Politico reports that the congressional spending bill:

Contains a rider blocking funds from being used to work on “any regulations applicable to food manufacturers for population-wide sodium reduction actions or to develop, issue, promote or advance final guidance applicable to food manufacturers for long term population-wide sodium reduction actions until the date on which a dietary reference intake report with respect to sodium is completed.”

Politico also points out that the previous draft of the appropriation bill merely encouraged FDA to delay its salt reduction proposal until the reference intake report is updated (this, by the way, will take years).

More documents:

• USDA’ proclamation on school meals
• CSPI’s press release
• Background: the letter from Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) requesting these changes
• The FY2017 omnibus spending bill that includes the school lunch changes
• RWJ Foundation’s statement

You might think that fiber simply refers to components of food plants that cannot be digested by human enzymes and are excreted in feces.

No such luck.

Like everything else in nutrition, fiber is complicated, not least because intestinal bacteria can digest some of those components and produce nutrients we can use.

In May, the FDA said that naturally occurring dietary fibers such as those found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains—and 7 specific isolated or synthetic fibers—could be declared on the label under “Dietary Fiber.”

The FDA defines fiber as (no, I’m not kidding):

non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrates (with three or more monomeric units), and lignin that are intrinsic and intact in plants; isolated or synthetic non-digestible carbohydrates (with three or more monomeric units) determined by FDA to have physiological effects that are beneficial to human health.

The isolated or synthetic non-digestible carbohydrates said to have beneficial effects are:

1. [beta]-glucan soluble fiber
2. psyllium husk
3. cellulose
4. guar gum
5. pectin
6. locust bean gum
7. hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

Cows and termites can digest cellulose.  We can’t.  But the FDA has evidence that they do other good things, for example, like lowering cholesterol.

The makers of processed foods love using these fiber additives for their various texturizing properties—and also because they can claim them as fiber on the label.

Now the FDA wants help in understanding whether 26 other kinds of isolated and synthetic fibers qualify as “Dietary Fiber” on food labels and, if so, what their beneficial effects on health might be.

The mind boggles.  This is another reason to stick with fruits, vegetables, and grains.

The comment period for the Request for Information opens on November 23, 2016 and will be open for 45 days.

For Additional Information:

• Federal Register Notice for the Request for Information
• Federal Register for the Draft Guidance
• Draft Guidance for Industry: Scientific Evaluation of the Evidence on the Beneficial Physiological Effects of Isolated or Synthetic Non-digestible Carbohydrates Submitted as a Citizen Petition (21 CFR 10.30)
• Science Review of Isolated and Synthetic Non-Digestible Carbohydrates
• Questions & Answers
• Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label

This semester I answer students questions about nutrition on Tuesdays in the student-run Washington Square News.  Today’s is about fiber.

Question: We tweeted and linked to the article you were cited in The New York Times on Tuesday, and you mentioned the importance of fiber in a diet. How much fiber is good to have in a daily diet, and what does it do for our bodies? What are good sources of fiber — cereal bars, granola bars? How much is too much fiber?

At the request (and expense) of Kellogg’s, the Life Science Research Organization convened an expert panel to evaluate studies linking consumption of whole grains – as defined by FDA – to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.  Using the FDA’s definition, the panel judged the studies insufficient to support a claim that whole grains reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes.  The FDA defines whole grains as whole: grains that are ground, cracked, or flaked but include all the parts in their original proportions.  When the panel expanded the definition of whole grains to include supplements of bran, germ, or fiber, the results came out better.   Supplements work better than the real thing!  Kellogg’s must be pleased with the results of its investment.