Food Processing - August 2008 - (Page 7)

By dave Fusaro, editor in Chief e d i t o r ’ s p l at e Getting satiated at iFt Between satiety-inducing ingredients and a Wii workout, we may beat obesity yet. atiety seemed to be a big buzz word at this year’s Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo. I’ve always been fascinated by the word, not in scientific terms, but in the marketing and psychological aspects. To me, satiety approaches the ultimate solution of the growing obesity problem: People, you gotta stop eating so much! Back when the Nutrition Facts panel first appeared, removing fat seemed to be the universal solution to an obesity problem that wasn’t yet recognized. Calories in vs. calories burned is a simple truism, but for some reason a difficult message to get across to Americans … although the Food Guide Pyramid tried, starting in its first iteration in 1992. Then there was Atkins and the demonization of carbs. I can’t recall people ever being so passionate over a diet, although its “eat the bacon, skip the vegetables” message may have had a lot to do with its popularity. The Atkins Diet was laid to rest just in time for the 2005 version of the Food Guide Pyramid, “MyPyramid,” which for the first time suggested that exercise, not just avoidance of certain foods, could be a critical missing factor. That important point was getting lost on a young generation that was “visiting” each other over computer screens and playing together via video game controllers. All those diet solutions had their points. All would have worked (and they are working for some) if only people had stuck to them. But the message was seemingly “we, the food industry, will take out the bad fat for you … the bad carbs … even the bad calories, or at least many of them.” But the “eat less, exercise more” message was just too much for most people to handle. But satiety nips this problem where it starts: overeating. With fewer calories going in, even the same amount of calories being burned should equal weight loss. InterHealth Nutraceuticals has had steady success with its Super Citrimax, an extract of some exotic plant, Garcinia cambogia, that contains high levels of hydroxycitric acid bound to calcium and potassium. Somehow, the stuff suppresses appetite. At the IFT show, the company was quoting clinical studies that showed people taking 500mg of Super Citrimax voluntarily consumed less food daily, and especially ate fewer snacks. Fuze and SoBe put it in some of their drinks. DSM Nutrition was showing Fabuless, an oil-in-water emulsion the fine oil droplets of which are made from palm foodprocessing.com s oil, coated with galactolipids from oat oil. Oat oil is naturally rich in so-called polar lipids, such as galactolipids. Thanks to them, Fabuless triggers the natural appetite control mechanism. By delaying the hunger signals that would normally be sent hours after a meal, consumers feel more satisfied than they would have been and consequently eat less. Tate & Lyle was promoting “that feeling of fullness” as a key benefit of its Promitor dietary fibers, both corn fibers and resistant starch. Dairy Management Inc. developed a peach-flavored drink with whey protein and fiber to help promote satiety. Whey proteins are being added to numerous products, not just in dairy, to improve the sense of fullness. A new-to-IFT Korean company, Bionutrigen, is working with a number of fruit and vegetable extracts to promote satiety as well as to hasten calorie-burning. There probably were more satiety-inducing products at IFT that didn’t catch my eye. And of course, anyone with a whole-grain/high-fiber message was on the bandwagon. Also of interest at the IFT Expo was Fortitech’s use of the video game system Nintendo Wii as a promotional tool. The game “Guitar Hero” is great fun and was quite an attraction at the show. But it’s more interesting to note the evolution of this video game. Video games long have been considered one of the major causes of obesity, especially among children. Nintendo, at least, is trying to become a solution. The Wii games are so interactive that most cannot be played sitting down, and some are quite strenuous. There’s also an entire suite of Wii Fit games, essentially exercise programs, plus the Wii Balance Board, “the world’s first game accessory capable of measuring your weight and body balance.” Wii is getting kids and even adults off the couch and at least into action in the family room. With more video games of this type and more ingredients that keep us away from going back for seconds, we may beat this obestity epidemic yet. dave Fusaro, editor in Chief e-mail: dfusaro@putman.net August 2008 food processing • 7 http://foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - August 2008

Food Processing - August 2008 Contents Editor’s Plate NewsBites Special Report Rollout Food Biz Kids The Top 100 Ingredients Show Report Plant Operations MRO Q&A Case History New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.