Nutritional Labeling

Food Label

• Common name of the product
• Name and address of the product's manufacturer
• Net contents in weight, measure or count,
• Ingredient List – Lists the ingredients in descending order of predominance and weight.
• Serving size - servings per container

Old Label

Must contain:

• Serving size (reasonable)
• Servings per container
• Calories per serving
• Protein content
• Carbohydrate content
• Lipid content
• Percentage of US RDA for key nutrients

Required Nutrients

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Thiamin
• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Calcium
• Iron

Old Label

No health claims allowed

Sodium, cholesterol and/or saturated fat allowed only with the following statement:

Information on Cholesterol (saturated fat or sodium) content is provided for individuals who on the advice of a physician, are modifying their dietary intake of...

NLEA

• Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA)
• Replaced first act established in the 1970s
• Made significant changes to the law
• Sought considerable consumer input
• Reflects a change in philosophy

Food Labeling Reform

FDA called for public comments and held public hearings on the following:

Nutritional label content Label format

Ingredient labeling Food descriptors Health messages

Comments received:

• Widespread support for mandatory labeling, Label fatty acid, cholesterol and fiber content
• Want readable format, Define low fat, high fiber, etc., Education to explain changes

Revised Format

• Mandatory labeling - Federal law - Interstate
• Make label content more consistent with today's concerns
• Require cholesterol, saturated fatty acid content, dietary fiber and calories from fat
• Remove thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin
• Mandatory serving size
• Flavors, colors spaces declared specifically
• Define Low fat etc.

Established Reference Daily Intakes (RDI)

Daily Reference Value (DRV) as part of 2,350 calorie diet

Label format

• Nutrition facts
• Serving size, Servings per container
• Amount per serving: Calories, Calories from fat
• % Daily value: Total fat, Saturated fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrate - Total, Dietary fiber, Sugars, Protein
• Vitamin A, C, Calcium, Iron
• Optionals: Polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, potassium, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, sugar alcohol, other carbohydrate

Free. This term means that a product contains no amount of, or only trivial or "physiologically inconsequential" amounts of, one or more of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories. For example, "calorie-free" means fewer than 5 calories per serving, and "sugar-free" and "fat-free" both mean less than 0.5 g per serving. Synonyms for "free" include "without," "no" and "zero." A synonym for fat-free milk is "skim".

Serving Size

• Servings size is defined by law
• May differ if in a single serving container
• Examples:

• Salad Dressing 30 g
• Egg 50 g 1 large medium
• Milk 240 ml 8 oz
• Ice Cream 1/2 cup

Low

• low-fat: 3 g or less per serving
• low-saturated fat: 1 g or less per serving
• low-sodium: 140 mg or less per serving
• very low sodium: 35 mg or less per serving
• low-cholesterol: 20 mg or less and 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving
• low-calorie: 40 calories or less per serving.
• Synonyms for low include "little," "few," "low source of," and "contains a small amount of."

Lean

• Lean and extra lean. These terms can be used to describe the fat content of meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats.
• Lean: less than 10 g fat, 4.5 g or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.
• Extra lean: less than 5 g fat, less than 2 g saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.

High or Good

• High. This term can be used if the food contains 20 percent or more of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient in a serving.
• Good source. This term means that one serving of a food contains 10 to 19 percent of the Value for a particular nutrient.

Reduced

Reduced. This term means that a nutritionally altered product contains at least 25 percent less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular, or reference, product. However, a reduced claim can't be made on a product if its reference food already meets the requirement for a "low" claim.

Healthy

A "healthy" food must be low in fat and saturated fat and contain limited amounts of cholesterol and sodium. In addition, if it' s a single-item food, it must provide at least 10 percent of one or more of vitamins A or C, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber. Exempt from this "10-percent" rule are certain raw, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and certain cereal-grain products.

Allowed Health Claims

Calcium Prevents Osteoporosis

Sample Claim: "Regular exercise and a healthy diet with enough calcium helps teen and young adult white and Asian women maintain good bone health and may reduce their high risk of osteoporosis later in life."

Dietary Lipids Cause Cancer

Sample Claim: "Development of cancer depends on many factors. A diet low in total fat may reduce the risk of some cancers."

Sodium Causes hypertension

Sample Claim: "Diets low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure, a disease associated with many factors.”

Cholesterol Cause coronary heart disease

Sample Claim: "While many factors affect heart disease, diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of this disease."

Fiber containing grains, fruits & vegetables Prevent cancer

Sample Claim: "Low-fat diets rich in fiber-containing grain products, fruits, and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer, a disease associated with many factors."

Fiber (soluble) containing grains, fruits & vegetables Prevent coronary heart disease

Sample Claim: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and rich in fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain some types of dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, may reduce the risk of heart disease, a disease associated with many factors."

Fruits & vegetables Prevent cancer

Sample Claim: "Low-fat diets rich in fruits and vegetables (foods that are low in fat and may contain dietary fiber, vitamin A, or vitamin C) may reduce the risk of some types of cancer, a disease associated with many factors. [name of the food] is high in vitamins A and C, and it is a good source of dietary fiber."

Folate Neural tube defects

Sample Claim: "Healthful diets with adequate folate may reduce a woman's risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord birth defect."

Dietary sugar alcohols Dental carries

Sample Claim: Full claim: "Frequent between-meal consumption of foods high in sugars and starches promotes tooth decay. The sugar alcohols in this food do not promote tooth decay."

Soluble fiber from oat Coronary heart disease

Sample Claim: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 3 g of soluble fiber from whole oats per day may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of this whole-oats product provides ___ grams of this soluble fiber."

Soy protein Coronary heart disease

Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of (name of food) provides ____ grams of soy protein.

Plant sterol esters Coronary heart disease

Foods containing at least 0.65 grams per serving of plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. A serving of [name of the food] supplies ____ grams of plant sterol esters.

Potassium and the Risk of High Blood Pressure and Stroke

"Diets containing foods that are a good source of potassium and that are low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke."

Disqualifying nutrients

Old Nutrition Label

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING

CURRENT LABEL

NUTRACEUTICALS/FUNCTIONAL FOODS

Question: Is a Twinkie healthier than a salad?

A salad with blue cheese dressing has about the same number of calories and more calories from fat than a twinkie.

My salad contains:

Tofu (soy), tomatoes, broccolli and leafy greens.

The basic nutritional functions of food are to:

1. Provide energy
2. .Maintain or repair body parts
3. .Support growth

There are traditional and emerging concepts of what constitutes good nutrition:

Traditional Concept

- provide adequate quantities of essential nutrients

Emerging Concept

• certain foods provide essential nutrients but also
• contain complex mixtures of physiologically active
• substances that can reduce chronic disease
• - non-nutrients

Example: Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk for cancer and heart disease! But how do we know this?

Epidemiological studies have helped researchers identify dietary factors that may influence the development of chronic disease.

Epidemiology is defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases in

human populations.

For example: Epidemiological studies demonstrate that prostate cancer rates are higher in men in the United states as compared to those in Japan. Why is this?

Diet seems to be an important factor in the differences in cancer rates between populations.

Important concept: A healthy diet can be helpful in preventing disease! This is not a new concept as illustrated by the following quotes:

Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food – Hippocrates

The doctor of the future will give no medicine,
but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame,
in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."
 -Thomas Edison

This concept (food as medicine) has lead to the use of the term functional foods or nutraceuticals.

Functional foods are defined as: foods, food ingredients or supplements that demonstrate health benefits beyond basic nutritional functions.

A good example of a functional food is the B-vitamin folate. We have already discussed that folate is a vitamin that is necessary for proper nutrition. However, folate can also provide health benefits beyond that of basic nutrition. For example, it can also prevent birth defects (neural tube defects).

Additional examples of functional foods are listed below:

1.Plant-Based

- soy

-tomatoes

-broccoli

2. Animal-Based

-Yogurt

We will now look at some specific examples of functional foods and some health benefits associated with their consumption.

Soybean:

Introduced in Asia over 5000 years ago. They are 40% protein and this is a complete protein (provides all essential amino acids).

Soy isoflavones

• -non-nutritive
• -similar structure to estrogen
• -phytoestrogens
• -act as a weak estrogen
• -act as an anti-estrogen

Potential health benefits associated with soy consumption:

help alleviate the symptoms of menopause

help maintain healthy bones

.inhibit the growth of certain cancer cells

lower cholesterol levels

- alter metabolism

.reduce the risk of heart disease

Foods that contain 6.25 mg of soy/serving can display the following health claim:

“25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reducethe risk of heart disease.”

Tomatoes:

Contain lycopene. Lycopene is a carotenoid that provides the red pigment in tomatoes. Consumption of tomato products is associated with a decreased risk for prostate cancer. It is thought that lycopene may be responsible for this decreased risk.

Important concept: Not all components in fruits and vegetables are beneficial. Some can be harmful.

Mushrooms:

Some mushrooms contain amatoxins, which are liver toxins

5 exposures / 100,000 people - US

Usually fatal

The following quote illustrates the potential harmful effects of mushroom consumption:

“There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters but there are no old and bold mushroom hunters”

Lecture summary:

Functional foods

-Many are non-nutrients ?

-Specific compounds for specific foods

-Decreased disease risk

-Health-claims

-Changing view of good nutrition

-Toxicity is an issue

Your mom was right, “Eat your fruits and vegetables, not Twinkies”. It is recommended that you eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables / day. Most people do not meet this recommendation

 

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