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Food industry rubbishes WHO fat report
Sell the feeling, not the fact
Sprite splashes out on Tropical Sprite
Remix
Here, felix
Diabetes drug has anti-ageing effects
Health
Food
industry rubbishes WHO fat report
Over-prescriptive, unworkable in
its severity, and containing too many negative messages.
That’s the opinion of UK Food and
Drink Federation (FDF) on the draft report on diet, nutrition and the
prevention of chronic diseases from the World Health Organisation and Food
& Agricultural Organisations, due out soon.
The FDF, voice of the UK food and
drink manufacturing industry, provided comments to the WHO/FAO expert
consultation on and said it “looks forward to reading the full report
with interest”.
The report recommends a diet rich
in carbohydrates, low in sugars and saturated fats, and an hour’s
moderate exercise a day.
Commenting on the draft report, FDF
said it was concerned that it contained many sweeping statements, which
were not clearly based on scientific evidence.
“It was in general
over-prescriptive; unworkable in its severity; and contained too many
negative messages. Such
negative messages based on restriction rather than educated choice, have
been shown to be counterproductive in achieving healthy lifestyle goals,
even when more clearly derived from the balance of scientific evidence
than these.”
Meanwhile, the US Sugar Association
has threatened to get Congress to stop subsidies worth $406 million a
year, a quarter of its budget, to the WHO unless it withdraws the report.
This is because the report
recommends that people get no more than 10 percent of their daily energy
intake (about 200 calories a day) from added sugars. This amounts to just
more than a packet of M&Ms or 480ml of fizzy soft drink. A recent
National Academy of Sciences report suggests people can get up to a
quarter of their energy from added sugars without harm.
This is the equivalent of three
packets of M&Ms from added sugars.
The report's science is sound, says
Pekka Puska, who directs WHO's chronic disease unit, according to a report
in the Washington Post. It quoted Puska saying US sugar producers
are attacking the new report "because of their own commercial
interests."
The Report’s specific
recommendations on daily diet include limiting fat to between 15 and 30
percent of total energy intake, and saturated fats to less than 10
percent. It suggests that carbohydrates should provide the bulk of energy
requirements – between 55 and 75 percent of daily intake, but that free
(ie added) sugars should remain beneath 10 percent. Daily intake of salt,
which should be iodised, should be restricted to less than five grams a
day, while the intake of fruit and vegetables should be at least 400
grams. The recommended protein intake is 10-to-15 per cent.
It also notes that physical
activity is a key factor in determining the amount of energy spent each
day and is fundamental to energy balance and weight control. One hour per
day of moderate-intensity activity, such as walking, on most days of the
week, is needed to maintain a healthy body weight.
“We have known for a long time
that foods high in saturated fats, sugars, and salt, are unhealthy; that
we are, globally, increasing our intake of energy-dense, nutritionally
poor food as our lives become increasingly sedentary,” says WHO boss Dr
Gro Brundtland.
“These factors – together with
tobacco use – are the leading causes of the great surge we have seen in
the incidence of chronic diseases. What is new, is that we are laying down
the foundation for a global policy response.”
Marketing
Sell
the feeling, not the fact
New research into consumer
attitudes to diet supplements shows it is better to appeal to consumers’
hearts than their heads.
The study, by Irish dairy firm
Glanbia, found that few consumers understand terms like functional foods.
But there is considerable public awareness mixed with some scepticism and
confusion, that foods and diet affect health negatively and positively.
“Further evidence of this
awareness can be seen at food manufacturer and retailer levels in terms of
growing consumer demand for and interest in health and lifestyle enhancing
foods,” it says.
The findings also suggest that
consumers generally react more positively to soft, lifestyle oriented
health messages than to hard science and health messages with disease
connotations. “Emotions have a greater effect on food choice than
logic,” it says.
The findings also provide insights
into what influences health professionals when providing advice on health
and nutrition to patients.
For details contact Patrick
O'Donnovan, E paodonovan@glanbia.ie.
Launches
Sprite
launches Tropical Sprite Remix
 Coca-Cola
Company yesterday kicked off the US-wide rollout of its newest soft drink,
Sprite Remix, a tropical version of the popular Sprite brand by sending
the first shipment by boat to the Florida Keys.
Many of the town's residents were
on hand to greet the Sprite Remix boat as it pulled up to the docks of the
Tropical Cafe, appropriately renamed the Tropical Sprite Remix Cafe for
the day.
"In music, a 'remix' means
taking the strengths of an original song and adding elements to create a
new sound," said Chris Lowe, chief marketing officer, Coca-Cola North
America. "That same idea was applied to the creation of Sprite Remix.
By taking the world's favourite lemon-lime soft drink and adding a
tropical 'remix,' the result is a crisp, refreshing new way for people to
enjoy the great taste of Sprite."
Sprite Remix will initially be
available in 20-ounce (567ml) bottles, before expanding into 12-ounce
(340ml) cans, multi-packs and one- and two-litre bottles later this spring
and summer. Packaging graphics for Sprite Remix will have a unique graphic
treatment of the signature Sprite logo.
Here, felix
 US-based
cat food maker Hill's Pet Nutrition has entered the Italian market with a
single-serve, easy-open 85 gram aluminium can from Crown Holdings.
"Our research reveals that
convenience and serving size are key criteria for consumer purchasing
decisions, both in the US and Europe," said Hill's marketing manager
for global business development Iwan Tamm.
The foods, which are available from
specialist pet shops, come in liver & chicken, seafood, and turkey
flavours, as well as kitten, adult, senior and "light" formulas.
The up-market product is sold in
the US as Hill's Science Diet.
Applications
Diabetes
drug has anti-ageing effects
 Metaformin,
a drug used to treat diabetes, may also produce anti-ageing effects
similar to those of caloric restriction (CR).
Researchers at BioMarker
Pharmaceuticals have discovered that metformin can mimic changes in gene
expression found in calorically-restricted mice. CR is an experimental
method that retards ageing, prevents age-related diseases, prolongs youth,
and extends life span. Metformin has also been found to extend life span
in mice by one-fifth.
A report on BioMarker's research
can be found at www.lef.org, or www.biomarkerinc.com. |
