SUGAR IS NOT THE REAL CULPRIT IN FOOD ADDICTION? NEW FINDINGS

Overweight and obesity are the most worrying health issues of 21st century and no one knows for sure the real reason(s) behind such startling changes in human anatomy during the last two decades. Though this phenomenon was first noticed among populations in wealthy countries with high per capita income, it is no more true to say that this is a rich man's problem only because in almost all countries the ratio of over weight people to healthy ones is consistently increasing. To imagine that 25-50% of the population in a country can have abnormal body weight and shape is itself scary but this is the bitter truth the world has to face. The adverse economic, health and social consequences of high body mass index (BMI) values are very real which can sap the energy and resources of a country to a great extent. 

Over weight and obese population invariably are characterized by lower productivity in works place, higher disease rates and higher medical expenses to treat or prevent fatal consequences. In a country like the US billions of dollars are spent every year for treating obese people which is considered a drain on the public exchequer. The incidence of heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and other life threatening disorders is comparatively high among them reducing the life span and quality of life significantly. Another way of looking at this issue is that such undesirable human health problems have spawned a lot of economic activity with pharma companies and medical communities engaged in treating them! Thus it is hard to decide whether such transformation is part of the modern economic dispensation and one has to live with it! What a paradox indeed! 

As for food scientists, some blame has to be born by them because many products innovated by them ignore their health impact on the consumers while the industry, which mass produce them indiscriminately and promote them through high pressure advertisements, commercialism and often false claims, will have to take a major portion of the blame squarely on their shoulders. The so called junk foods loaded with empty calories are the staple among low income consumers because they are priced low to make them attractive. It is also a paradox that healthy foods like fresh foods, vegetables and similar ones are priced sky high making them beyond their reach. 

In the evolution of food industry, new technologies and high capacity equipment to manufacture newer products continuously have progressively enabled them to reduce the cost of processing and increase its capacity and capability to cater precisely to the palates of the consumers. High fat foods and those containing high sugar levels are invariably tasty and often addictive enough to capture more and more consumers almost on a permanent basis. This has made the industry less and less careful in marketing healthy foods. The profitability of the industry is also very high when it comes to making junk foods. Consumers have witnessed the endless charade among health experts regarding the real culprit for the damage to human health and among the health food makers making tall claims regarding their offerings like low calorie foods, low fat foods, low sodium foods etc. Health supplements containing many ingredients with doubtful and unproven benefits are flooding the market with no one certain about their credentials and credibility. 

There are hundreds of treatise regarding the addictive attributes of sugar whether it is sucrose, glucose or HFCS. This has spawned an entire industry offering low calorie foods and low sugar products playing upon the fears of the consumer. If people are developing tendency to over eat, sugar has been implicated while some believed it is a disease. Now comes the report that it is not sugar to which people are addicted as being propagated during the last three decades. The addiction is attributed to eating itself rather than to any particular ingredient. It is believed with some scientific certainty that only the psychological compulsion to eat due to the pleasure and satisfaction it generates when eating food is responsible for this phenomenon.  Over-eating is more a behavioral disorder and is similar to the compulsion with gamblers to back to the slotting machines and the card tables again and again in spite of losing heavily.

If the above findings are true, where lies the solution for tackling the obesity epidemic? Can industry be really blamed for making products with high palatability and acceptability since it is their mission to give consumers the very best and win the fierce competition in the market. If they are forced to compromise on the sensory aspects, can they survive in the market?:No matter how bland a food is, compulsive eaters with food addiction will invariably reach for the food when the urge to eat develops. Alcohol products and tobacco items are examples where no amount of policing, control, price escalation and government intervention has worked in the past in any part of the world. What is needed is education, persuasion, treatment of food addicts and industry initiative to improve the nutritional quality of their products with least compromise on sensory aspects. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

RISING FOOD 'ILLITERACY-NEED FOR A 'BOTTOM-UP' APPROACH

Successive five year plans laid priority on increasing the literacy rate and reducing poverty in the country. But all the plans and programs undertaken to achieve universal literacy were largely to make the population read and write so that they can be well informed about the developments around them and draw them into the main stream as stake holders in the country's progress. The objectives are laudable and fairly good success has been achieved so far. Are we satisfied with this? Is our education system making citizens narrow focused and single target pursuers, not capable of seeing and understanding developments outside their area of interest? Are the citizens becoming illiterate in some areas, critical to build a responsible society? There are 30 ministries in 30 states 'supposed' to look after the responsibility of education and a central ministry at Delhi with the same mandate. Unfortunately the education system as it is now is producing engineers, doctors and managers who seek fortunes outside the country. What about our own requirements?

Two most important needs are to 'educate' the children at an early stage about the critical importance of good food and sound eating and the 'sacredness' of civic responsibilities an honest citizen has to shoulder for the welfare of the society. While adequate literacy about food will keep at bay the scourge of many health ailments and diseases, civic literacy will create an environment congenial for good living. Lack of emphasis on civics at the primary education level is manifesting in utter disregard for fellow citizens, development of selfishness, disrespect to elders and peers, reckless behavior, dishonesty, violent behavior, frequent disruption of public activities, lack of respect to the laws of the country etc commonly noticed amongst many youngsters. This blog does not want to elaborate on these traits but will touch upon the food illiteracy.

It is often said that what is learned in childhood becomes a part of life that ensues and if so the best time to inculcate the values of correct practices vis-a-vis food consumption is at the nursery and primary levels. In many house holds the parents are not in a position to train their children in scientific eating practices because their own past did not qualify them to take up this role. That is where the school comes into picture. Some of the fundamentals of food that must be dinned into the young minds include information on variety of foods, food composition, role of nutrients, nutrient deficiency consequences, balanced foods, cooking of foods and consequences, food hazards, personal hygiene and sanitation, diseases and consequences, good eating habits etc. Though it looks like a syllabus for a food science course, the basic information can be packaged in simple language and demonstration models for easy understanding and retention. There are many Universities with training programs in food, nutrition, diets and related subjects and each school should have at least one trained food counselor, trained in these institutions, for imparting the knowledge to the pupils in that school.

In 2005, AFST(I) did an exercise in Hyderabad to organize such a program for school students from nearby rural areas with the help of UNICEF which showed that, given sufficient resources, universal food literacy can be achieved. Agencies like NCERT of GOI must evolve model syllabus for teachers to follow uniformly through out the country in English as well as all regional languages. There are some pockets of excellence here and there, largely private initiatives but it has to be a national movement to achieve the objective of making every citizen in the country capable of selecting the right food and consume them in a manner, "Generally Recognized As Good And Safe". There is a saying that "Army Marches on Its Stomach" but we may as well change the slogan to "The Country Progresses on Its Stomach With Right Food"!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

NUTRITION EDUCATION-NEED OF THE HOUR

Inadequate understanding of the basic concepts of food and nutrition can be cited as one of the major reasons for many of the diseases and health disorders both amongst the poor as well as the rich. Food consumption habits which are formed early in life get ingrained into the life styles of people as they grow and it becomes impossible to change them unless forced due to unavoidable circumstances later in life. India has the typical example of how the population in the south was forced to shift to wheat slowly during sixties and seventies because of large scale shortage of rice which is the staple. The yeomen effort by GOI to make rice like products from tapioca and supplement the natural rice supply to cater to the palates of southern population had to be abandoned because of less than satisfactory consumer acceptability. It took more than two decades of promotion and easy supply to popularize wheat and to day wheat based products like chapathi and allied products and bread have become significant components of regular diet in majority of households in this region. However even to day the preferred choice for many, especially from earlier generation is rice given an option. Another example is that of South Korea which historically was a rice eating country with wheat practically not consumed before the Korean war and arrival of American troops in late forties. Exposed to the influence of the Americans and through a subtle campaign for promoting imported American wheat, that country imports large quantity of wheat from USA with very little local production. Thus critical importance of eating nutritionally balanced food early in life cannot be overstated

In India nutrition labeling is being made compulsory on all packed foods presumably to enable the consumer to understand the value of food purchased or to have multiple options in buying any food in the market. However what is not clear is how many consumers can understand the significance of nutrients like proteins, sodium, potassium, trans fats, dietary fiber or carbohydrates, all of which have important roles to play in maintaining good health. Some awareness seems to be existing regarding cholesterol though many have little clue regarding the exact implications of this component on human health. Many misapprehensions exist regarding bad effects of consuming oils like that from coconut and palm fruits, many falsely imagining they are rich sources of cholesterol. There are so many other misapprehensions and erroneous beliefs that will be difficult to erase unless nutrition education becomes an integral part of formal childhood education system. While positive aspects of nutrition is slowly gaining attention at some of the educational institutions, the importance of hygiene and sanitation also needs to stressed to prevent negative consequences of infection and infestation of foods.

Association of Food Scientists and Technologists(India), during their annual Convention in Hyderabad in 2006 made a beginning with assistance from UNICEF in experimenting with a model for educating children from rural areas regarding the concepts of nutrition and food but it was not pursued further to evolve a national consensus for organizing programs on a wider scale. Country is not short of experts and surely they will be willing to contribute intellectually to put in place a practical education program right from the first grade level. Education being a state subject, it is imperative that the program is made in consultation with the authorities there if to be implemented all over the country. NCERT also needs to be roped in as the educationists in this organization have lot of expertize and experience in the field.

Industry can work at a different level to educate the parents who after all have great influence on the behavior of their children. It may be too much to expect that industry would abandon their business for the sake of education but an enlightened parent is always a better client to appreciate the quality and safety of the foods the industry produces and markets. A simple way to spread nutrition information is to introduce slogans that will catch the notice of the consumers and remind them often, becoming a part of their day to day activities. How can this be done? Many foods are packed in cartons and the outside is invariably printed attractively carrying essential information on the contents. However inside of the carton presents a great opportunity for the industry to print information regarding nutrition and the design should be such that consumers will keep them at least for some time for the message to sink in. Or calendar type cards can be included in the pack containing such information. Industry can also create separate sections on nutrition in their web sites highlighting nutritional information. Same is true with commercial advertisements where at least one or two fundamental messages can be included. There are so many other ways of putting across messages targeting the consumers and over a period of time greater awareness is generated amongst the population.

Industry associations like AIFPA, PFNDAI, etc, food technology professionals in AFST(I), IDA, etc, nutritionists from organizations like Nutrition Society, Society of Biochemists, NIN etc, representatives from Health Ministry and Food Processing Ministry(MFPI) administrators can make the above possible if a concerted effort is made. Years ago when the MFPI was born, one of the priority areas was promotion of processed foods though nothing concrete has been done during the last two decades of its existence. It is better late than never and this is the time for earnest action to achieve universal nutritional literacy in the country.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/