Should ‘added sugars' be listed on the Nutrition Facts panel?

04-Aug-2014
Last updated on 04-Aug-2014 at 23:13 GMT

American Diabetes Association: 'While it is true that naturally occurring sugars and added sugars have the same physiological impact, the difference is significant when considering dietary quality'

A row is brewing over the merits of including ‘added sugars’ on the Nutrition Facts panel, with critics arguing that our bodies don’t distinguish between ‘naturally occurring’ and ‘added’ sugar - and neither should food labels - and supporters saying it will help consumers identify foods with more empty calories.

The FDA - which is pondering the biggest overhaul of food labels in 20 years (click HERE ) - acknowledges that biochemically, sugar is sugar - whether it occurs naturally in foods such as fruits or is added to a product such as soda.

However, it believes that highlighting the added variety will “help individuals identify foods that are nutrient-dense within calorie limits and aid in reducing excess discretionary calorie intake from added sugars”.

Naturally occurring and added sugars have the same physiological impact, but the difference is significant when considering dietary quality

The American Diabetes Association - along with hundreds of dietitians who have responded individually via comments to the docket (click HERE to read them all) - agrees, adding: “While it is true that naturally occurring sugars and added sugars have the same physiological impact, the difference is significant when considering dietary quality.

“Foods high in added sugars such as sodas and sweets are nutritionally inferior to foods high in naturally occurring sugar such as fruit and milk.

“Knowing how much added sugar a food or beverage contains is key in ensuring individuals are able to make dietary decisions to reduce their consumption.”

The American Heart Association also strongly supports the proposal on the grounds that added sugars are a “significant source of excess calories” , while Weight Watchers says “consumers need information that allows them to distinguish between naturally occurring sugars that are present in many nutrient rich foods, like milk, fruit, and vegetables, from sugars that provide no nutritional value.”

Bakers: It would be false and misleading to distinguish between added and naturally occurring sugar

However, other commentators have voiced strong concerns both about how the measure would work in practice (how easy would it be to calculate/define added sugar vs total sugar in a given product?) and whether it is misleading and unscientific to differentiate between ‘naturally occurring’ and ‘added’ sugar.

One of the proposal’s biggest critics is The American Bakers Association, which has filed a 31-page comment claiming it would be “false and misleading to imply, as a declaration of added sugars clearly would, that added sugars are distinguishable in any way from any other analytically quantifiable sugars from naturally-occurring sugars or from other sources in the product”.

The FDA, moreover, has failed to present any evidence to support its assertion that listing added sugars will help consumers make healthier choices, claims the ABA, which predicts a First Amendment challenge on the grounds that the measure would compel firms to include false and misleading information on labels.

Sugar Association: Sugars make many healthy foods palatable
The Sugar Association meanwhile, says what matters when it comes to weight management is calories, and calories from sugar are the same whether they are added or naturally occurring.
Similarly, an analysis of dietary intake data does not support claims made by the FDA or the American Heart Association that people with a diet higher in added sugars have lower micronutrient intakes, or a higher BMI, it claims.

It also observes that sugars aren’t just added to ‘junk’ foods, and that sugars make many healthy foods palatable - a point also made by The Cherry Marketing Institute and cranberry giant Ocean Spray, which say listing added sugar would unfairly discriminate against fruits that are nutrient dense but tart, and typically require some added sugar to improve palatability.

The ABA also claims that the measure will encourage manufacturers to reformulate by replacing sugars with fats or “bulking agents such as glycerol or maltodextrins” which “provide no nutritional benefit” and may increase a product’s overall calorie count.

ASN: Move could divert attention from calories
Even nutrition scientists are not all on the same page, says Dr Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, noting in her Food Politics blog (click HERE ) that The Union of Concerned Scientists is in favor, while The American Society for Nutrition is opposed.

According to the UCS - comprising high profile scientists, physicians, and public health officials - “Many food and beverage manufacturers add excessive amounts of sugar to their products, including those that they market as healthy options… Many people are unknowingly and unavoidably consuming excess sugar.”

But the ASN worries that highlighting added sugars on labels “may divert attention away from total calories and other important contributors to weight gain” and fears it may “create the perception that naturally occurring sugars are somehow more beneficial because they are ‘natural’.”
Says Dr Nestle: “I wonder how much of the ASN membership agrees with this position? I certainly don’t.”

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The HACCP seven principles

The HACCP seven principles

Principle 1:

Conduct a hazard analysis. Plans determine the food safety hazards and identify the preventive measures the plan can apply to control these hazards. A food safety hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption.

Principle 2:

Identify critical control points. A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a point, step, or procedure in a food manufacturing process at which control can be applied and, as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level.

Principle 3:

Establish critical limits for each critical control point. A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level.

Principle 4:

Establish critical control point monitoring requirements. Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure that the process is under control at each critical control point. In the United States, the FSIS is requiring that each monitoring procedure and its frequency be listed in the HACCP plan.

Principle 5:

Establish corrective actions. These are actions to be taken when monitoring indicates a deviation from an established critical limit. The final rule requires a plant's HACCP plan to identify the corrective actions to be taken if a critical limit is not met. Corrective actions are intended to ensure that no product injurious to health or otherwise adulterated as a result of the deviation enters commerce.

Principle 6:

Establish record keeping procedures. The HACCP regulation requires that all plants maintain certain documents, including its hazard analysis and written HACCP plan, and records documenting the monitoring of critical control points, critical limits, verification activities, and the handling of processing deviations.

Principle 7:

Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended. Validation ensures that the plants do what they were designed to do; that is, they are successful in ensuring the production of safe product. Plants will be required to validate their own HACCP plans.

FSIS will not approve HACCP plans in advance, but will review them for conformance with the final rule. Verification ensures the HACCP plan is adequate, that is, working as intended. Verification procedures may include such activities as review of HACCP plans, CCP records, critical limits and microbial sampling and analysis.

FSIS is requiring that the HACCP plan include verification tasks to be performed by plant personnel. Verification tasks would also be performed by FSIS inspectors. Both FSIS and industry will undertake microbial testing as one of several verification activities. Verification also includes 'validation' - the process of finding evidence for the accuracy of the HACCP system (e.g. scientific evidence for critical limitations)

Food Safety fallacies can lead to foodborne illnesses. Here are some common fallacies!

1. If it smells bad or looks bad, taste it to see if it is OK. ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Doing this can have serious consequences. The first rule of food safety is - If it looks bad or smells bad, DO NOT taste it, throw it out!

2. Let hot food cool before putting it in the refrigerator

The best way to handle this is to put the food in the refrigerator as soon as possible. The faster a food cools the less likely to spoil. By letting it cool at room temperature, the temperature drops slowly creating a situation favorable to microbial growth.

3. If a food gets moldy, just throw out the moldy portion. This is not recommended

Bread and cheese are the most common foods to become moldy. When mold grows on a product, what you see is only part of the mold.

When mold becomes visible on a product, you are seeing the highest concentration of mold. The mold is normally found throughout a product. Think of mold growing like a spider creating a web or roots to a plant

Moldy food products can cause health problems. Molds can produce toxic substances called mycotoxins. These substances can cause various health problems, especially if one has a compromised or weakened immune system.

For example, if someone is allergic to penicillin, eating moldy bread or cheese is not recommended because one of the molds which grow on bread and cheese is the penicillium species (this is where penicillin comes from)

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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Sugar is sugar, say bakers, our bodies don't distinguish between 'naturally occurring' and 'added' varieties

Should ‘added sugars' be listed on the Nutrition Facts panel?

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