By Karen Uhlenhuth, The Kansas City Star
If you're still eating all the wrong foods, it'll only get
harder for you to blame it on ignorance. Nutritional information is
a growth industry, and one place where it's popping up with
increasing frequency is the grocery-store shelf.
Earlier this month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration opted
to allow food manufacturers to make claims on certain products
about the healthful benefits of whole grains.
Labels on foods that consist, by weight, of at least 51 percent
whole grains now may state the following: ``Diets rich in whole
grain foods and other plant foods, and low in total fat, saturated
fat and cholesterol, may help reduce the risk of heart disease and
certain cancers.''
Since 1993 the FDA has authorized food manufacturers to make 10
different health claims about products that meet certain
specifications. The permitted claims refer, for example, to the
benefits of diets high in calcium, soluble fiber and folate, and
low in fat, sodium and sugar.
In the next few weeks, labels on some General Mills products
will incorporate the whole grains statement, which is the 11th
health claim to appear on food packaging. General Mills sought
permission from the FDA to make the claim. It applies to all food
manufacturers, as long as the product in question meets
specifications.
Customers have demonstrated that their purchasing decisions are
affected by information about the connection between diet and
health, according to Tom Johnson, spokesman for General Mills in
Minneapolis. Whenever there is a news report about research
indicating that whole grains help to ward off disease and maintain
good health, sales of Cheerios and Wheaties increase, Johnson said.
``We know that people view television commercials with a fair
amount of skepticism. They know they're being pitched to, that the
company just wants them to buy their product,'' Johnson said.
``What's more impactful is to provide them news they can use.''
That is to say, they put more stock in information from a
presumably neutral source, such as a government agency. Consumers
``don't have to take our word for it'' on health claims OK'd by the
FDA, he noted.
Although she believes that nutrition labels -- those breakdowns
on amounts of fat, sodium, protein and other nutrients -- have
improved somewhat, Leslie Bonci believes many people still are
``incredibly confused by them.''
More accessible, and more helpful, she believes, are the simpler
health claims such as the one regarding whole grains.
``It's giving people a reason to use it, rather than just
numeric information'' that they may not know how to interpret.
Americans as a whole fall short of the recommended levels of
grain consumption by about 30 percent, according to the American
Dietetic Association. The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises
eating between six and 11 servings daily.
There are good reasons to eat not only grains, but also whole
grains, noted Bonci, who is the director of sports medicine
nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a
spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
They are a source of some phytochemicals (plant chemicals) that
are emerging as important defenses against cancer. Whole grains are
a good source of lignin, which seems to offer some protection
against breast cancer. Also contained in whole grains is phytic
acid, which binds to excess iron. Excess iron causes cholesterol to
adhere to artery walls and increases the incidence of cell
mutations that can lead to cancerous growths.
Whole grains are also a source of selenium, another
anti-oxidant. It is thought possibly to be active against the
development of prostate cancer, Bonci said.
``It's not found in that many foods,'' Bonci said. ``A few nuts
have selenium. Turkey does as well. But if you're looking for a
daily source of selenium, whole grains are one of the best ways.''
The new whole-grain health claim may help shoppers distinguish
between breads that are mostly whole-grain and those that are
mostly refined flour. Brown-colored bread does not necessarily
contain whole grains. It may just be molasses you're seeing.
Bonci recommends picking bread in which the first listed
ingredient is whole wheat, whole rye or some other whole grain.
Another of the virtues of whole grains is the nondigestible
fiber they contain, Bonci said. Wheat has a lot of insoluble fiber,
which helps with bowel health. Oats, rye and barley are better
sources of soluble fiber, which lowers the blood cholesterol level
by binding to the fat and carrying it away.
``You don't have to eat a heck of a lot,'' to do yourself a lot
of good, Bonci said. ``It would behoove people to try to
incorporate both of those things into their diet every day.''
