Diet Bytes December 2005

By Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

A sign for healthy eaters

This month, food labelling has received lots of coverage in the papers and on TV, thanks to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) revealing new proposals for a food labelling scheme to be included on the front of the packaging for certain foods.

The new scheme is intended to help make it easier for people to choose a healthy diet by providing ‘at-a-glance’ information about the nutritional content of certain products. After a year of ongoing research with consumers, the FSA is now confident it’s discovered the format that will be most likely to help consumers make healthier food choices quickly, easily and accurately. The new format is based on a ‘multiple traffic lights’ system. It might sound complicated, but quite simply it provides consumers with colour-coded information for the amount of total fats, saturated fat, sugars and salt contained within a product. The colours correspond to those of traffic lights – red for high, amber for medium and green for low. In the first instance, this style of voluntary labelling will be recommended for processed and pre-packed foods such as ready meals, breakfast cereals, pizzas, pies and sausages – foods that tend to be eaten frequently or in large amounts and that people find most difficult to assess in terms of their nutrition content.

The FSA now plans to consult with consumers and the food industry on the suitability of the multiple traffic lights scheme until 8 February 2006. Then the findings will be analysed and a recommendation put to the FSA’s Board for agreement. For a look at the proposed format, log on to: www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive
/2005/nov/trafficlightvis

WLR says

We’ve always been supportive of the plan to have clearer labelling on the front of packaging to make it easier for consumers to opt for healthier choices. We’ve also been keen for one standard format to be developed that all manufacturers and brands can use. This will help to avoid confusion and ensure that the same criteria are used for defining, for example, ‘high’, ‘medium’ or ‘low’ levels of fat, regardless of the product or brand. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that this labelling scheme – should it be approved by the FSA’s board in the early part of next year – will only be voluntary and so individual manufacturers may make the decision not to use the chart – or go on to develop their own.

Furthermore, while this new labelling provides ‘at-a-glance’ information, it’s worth remembering this should still be used in conjunction with more detailed nutrition information that tends to appear on the side or back of packaging. For anyone who wants to lose weight, this is where they will find calorie information per 100g of the product – and in many cases per serving. Ultimately, if you want to shift those pounds, it’s important to cut calories. If a chart on the front of the packaging reveals a product is low in fat and sugar, it’s likely to be a good choice in terms of its calorie content. Nevertheless, it’s always worth checking this first before popping it into your shopping trolley.

Don’t take the Atkins diet to heart

After years of debating whether the Atkins diet really does cause heart problems, new research reveals this is indeed the case. A study carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford and supported by the British Heart Foundation found that high-fat, low-carb diets affect energy storage in the heart. After just two weeks of following the Atkins diet, many aspects of heart function remained unchanged. However, participants were shocked to find that the energy stores in their hearts were significantly reduced. Fortunately, the changes were reversed within two weeks after returning to a normal diet – just as well considering a severe form of energy depletion is one of the features of heart failure. Professor Kieran Clarke who led the research said, “Our study gives us some interesting insights into how extreme diets like Atkins might be affecting us. Extreme, unbalanced diets are a major insult on the body’s metabolism and, as this study indicates, may have direct effects on the heart. We would certainly not recommend high-fat, low-carb diets to anyone who wants to lose weight and look after their heart.”

WLR says

This research confirms our hearts are directly affected by an unbalanced diet and provides yet more evidence to suggest that eating a healthy diet and taking regular exercise is a far more effective and safe way to lose weight.

Nevertheless, devotees of the Atkins diet should be reassured that this piece of research by no means suggests that high-fat, low-carb diets will give them heart failure. This was a very small and short-term piece of research and more work needs to be done in this area before any definite conclusions can be made.

Extra pressure for cola drinks

The link between caffeine intake and high blood pressure and high cholesterol has been debated for many years and to date, study results have remained fairly inconclusive. But now two new studies suggest that caffeine itself is probably not linked to an increase in blood pressure or cholesterol.

New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that while drinking large amounts of cola can increase the risk of high blood pressure in women, the same is not found with coffee. The large-scale study used data from the world-famous Nurses Health Studies and looked at the diets and incidence of high blood pressure in almost 33,000 women. The researchers discovered that whilst coffee consumption didn’t lead to an increased risk of high blood pressure, associations were found with both sugared and diet cola drinks. This indicates that it’s probably not actually caffeine that’s responsible for the increase in blood pressure. The authors say, “We speculate that it is not caffeine but perhaps some other compound contained in soda-type soft drinks that may be responsible for the increased risk in hypertension.”

Meanwhile, a much smaller US study has also discovered that caffeine may not be responsible for increasing blood cholesterol. Researchers from Atlanta discovered that drinking large amounts of decaffeinated coffee actually increased blood cholesterol while regular coffee had little impact. The researchers studied the effects of coffee on 187 people for three months and found that those participants drinking 3-6 cups of decaff coffee every day had increased levels of several markers for heart disease, especially if they were overweight.

WLR says

Many slimmers beat hunger by filling up on large amounts of diet cola and black coffee. Furthermore, many switch to decaff products thinking they’re a healthier option. However, both of these studies indicate that it may not be caffeine that’s linked with potential health problems after all.

It’s far too early to draw any firm conclusions about the findings from these two studies and more research needs to be carried out looking at the effects of cola drinks and coffee on health. In the meantime, we suggest it’s fine to enjoy small amounts of diet cola and coffee – either regular or decaffeinated – as part of an overall balanced diet.

Throwing away vital vitamins

It looks like fresh veg are back on the shopping list for many of us thanks to the rise in popularity of farmer’s markets, organic products and celebrity chefs encouraging us to experiment with new ingredients. According to a new survey from Bird’s Eye, eight out of 10 of us are now stocking up on fresh veg in an effort to be healthier. However, almost half of us eat them when they’re past their sell by date and likely to be drained of vital vitamins. Worst still, four out of 10 of us frequently end up throwing away mouldy veggies – amounting to a staggering £114 worth of fresh veg being binned per household every year!

WLR says

It’s disappointing to hear we’re throwing away so many vegetables, especially when many of us are still struggling to eat the recommended five servings of fruit and veg every day. In general, the longer fresh veg are left on the supermarket shelves or in the fridge, the fewer vitamins they are likely to contain. Follow our top tips to ensure your fruit and veggies pack in as many nutrients as possible – and end up in your tummy rather than the bin…

• Plan meals and snacks – work out exactly how much fruit and veg you will need for the week and then buy accordingly.
• Go for the chop – they might need no be peeled and chopped but loose veggies tend to have a longer shelf life than pre-prepared bags of veggies.
• Do a shelf check – rummage through the shelves and look for pre-packed produce with the longest shelf life. Often, you’ll find veggies at the back have a longer sell-by date than those at the front. Stagger the dates, too. For example, if you’re buying three bags of salad, choose three different sell-by dates and eat the salad with the closest sell by date first and so on.
• Go fruit picking – chose loose fruits with varying degrees of ripeness and then eat the ripest first and leave the least ripe for later in the week.
• Chill out – don’t be afraid to buy frozen fruit and veg. It still counts towards your five a day and often contains more vitamins than fresh as it’s frozen within hours of being picked. Good options include peas, broccoli, cauliflower, sweetcorn, beans, carrots, summer fruits and blueberries.
• Get canned – canned fruit and veg also count towards the recommended five a day. Choose veggies that are canned without salt or sugar and fruit that’s in juice rather than syrup.

Supermarket sweep

Price promotions such as ‘Buy one, get one free’ or ‘Get three for the price of two’ are designed to get us to spend more when we go shopping. But according to a new report, it seems they’re also designed to add inches to our waistlines. Research by the National Consumer Council reveals there are twice as many supermarket price promotions for fatty and sugary foods compared to healthier options such as fruit and veg. For example, only 14% of Tesco’s promotions were for fruit and veg, compared with 35% for fatty and sugary foods.

WLR says

Always stay strong when it comes to doing your weekly shop. Remember, supermarket deals are designed to lure you into spending more money on products that you don’t really want. You might think you’ve got a bargain and saved £s, but in reality all you have is a few thousand extra calories that will pile on the lbs! if you can’t resist a ‘bargain’ only take up special offers on healthier foods such as fruit, veg, chicken, lean meat, low-fat dairy products, low-fat spreads and wholegrain cereals and breads. You have been warned!

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