Dietary Guidelines: Small Steps to Big Food Changes

Newswise — While dieters may demand to see change overnight, when it comes to food, nutrition and the adaptation of the U.S. dietary guidelines into the mainstream, patience and small successes may prove to be the reality. This is according to corporate food experts appearing here at the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting.

Frances Coletta, director of product nutrition for Sara Lee, declared that the company's move toward incorporating more whole grains into traditional products is based upon realization that "man does not live by cheesecake alone." The company famous for pastries and desserts introduced 16 whole grain bread, bagels and buns between 2002 and 2005.

"We have increased the number of whole grain offerings and put them into a number of venues," Coletta said.

Consumers may not subsist on cheesecake, but they're sold on white bread. According to Coletta, research shows 85 percent of consumers are not fully committed to eating whole grain bread as compared to white bread, despite apparently realizing the nutritional benefits.

"This tells us a lot of people are eating a lot of white bread. And we decided to do something about it."

In response, the company is rolling out what it refers to as "transitional bread" that fulfills the desire for soft, fluffy bread that retains the taste of white bread while packing healthy whole grains.

Hope Hale, nutrition scientist for The Schwan Food Company, compared the government's plea for Americans to reduce sodium intake to that of the whole grain movement.

"(Sodium reduction) is like whole grain. We should look at scenarios such as dropping just 10 percent from product, and see what kind of impact would that have," she said. Hale emphasized that the most important step companies need to take is partner with others.

"We need partnerships; between companies, manufacturers, researchers and producers," she said. "We all need to work on issues ranging from sensory perception to product development, seasoning alternatives, consumer knowledge and consumer satisfaction."

One company that eschewed small changes is Frito-Lay. In response to the content of trans fatty acids in its products, Frito Lay removed trans fats altogether from its core brands and has added trans fat information to its labels.

"It took a lot of work to ensure that products wouldn't change in taste, but not only did we lower trans fats, but saturated fats, as well," Brown said.

The IFT Annual Meeting + Food Expo®, running now through July 20, is the world's single largest annual scientific meeting and technical exposition of its kind. Rated among the largest shows in America*, the meeting delivers comprehensive, cutting-edge research and opinion from food science-, technology-, marketing- and business-leaders.

More information on each conference is available online at http://www.am-fe.ift.org.

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Founded in 1939, and with world headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, the Institute of Food Technologists is a not-for-profit international scientific society with 26,000 members working in food science, technology and related professions in industry, academia and government. As the society for food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public discussion of food issues. For more on IFT, see www.ift.org.