Making the Most of the Whole Grain Opportunity

By Rebecca Williams

New research examining global whole grain intakes suggests that Australia is doing better than some countries for whole grain consumption⁽¹⁾. However we still have a long way to go to meet the amount of whole grain recommended for good health and chronic disease risk reduction.

According to the most recent National Nutrition Survey only 34% of grain food consumed came from whole grain or high fibre grain foods⁽²⁾. This aligns with GLNC’s own research, which shows that more than 40% of Australians eat less than one serve of whole grain food per day⁽³⁾. An intake of three serves of whole grain a day is recommended to promote health and reduce chronic disease risk^{(4, 5)}, however in Australia only one in three people meets this target⁽³⁾.

Whilst Australia is doing much better than the UK - where just 17% of people meet this target and the US where only 8% eat enough whole grain - we’re not doing nearly as well as countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway⁽¹⁾. Residents in these countries typically consume twice as much whole grain as the average Australian and may experience fewer instances of chronic disease as a result.

One of the reasons Australians are not meeting whole grain recommendations may be because they are confused about which foods are whole grain foods. The 2014 GLNC Consumption Study found that less than half of survey respondents were able to identify that oats and wholemeal pasta were a source of whole grain⁽³⁾. One of the contributing factors to consumer confusion may be that unlike other nutrients, the Food Standards Code does not regulate whole grain content claims, and consequently foods making whole grain claims may vary in the amount of whole grain they contain. Data from the 2016 GLNC product audit showed that the whole grain content of packaged breads with whole grain content claims on pack varied from around 8g to 60g of whole grain per serve⁽⁶⁾.

To ensure consumers are getting consistent information on whole grain content, the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council launched the Code of Practice for Whole Grain Ingredient Content Claims in 2013. The Code helps to regulate whole grain content claims through the establishment of a benchmark for the minimum amount of whole grain a product must contain to make a whole grain ingredient content claim.

A recent impact assessment revealed significant uptake of, and a high level of compliance with, the Code by food industry. This should instil confidence in the Australian public’s ability to identify foods which contain a significant amount of whole grain.

Since the Code was launched Registered Users of the Code have added over 100,000 tonnes or more than 400 Olympic swimming pools of whole grain to the Australian food supply through new and renovated products. This is great news as it means that with increasing innovation in the whole grain category, it’s easier than ever for Australians to choose foods that are high in whole grain. 

While food industry is doing its part to support consumer choice, quantified public health recommendations would encourage consumers to choose whole grain more often. Based on the evidence for better health outcomes, this recommendation should be to choose whole grain for at least three of your six serves of grain foods a day.

The average Australian would need an increase of just 1.5 serves of whole grain a day to meet the recommended three serves and reap the significant health benefits of higher whole grain intake. This could be as simple as swapping the white bread in your sandwich for a wholemeal variety, or opting for a whole grain breakfast cereal in the morning. If you're in need of some inspiration, why not check out some of the delicious whole grain recipes available on the GLNC website.

Registered Users of the GLNC Code of Practice in Australia and New Zealand include:

If you're interested in registering with the Whole Grain Code of Practice or simply want to find out more click here.

References

1. Mann KD, Pearce MS, Seal CJ. Providing evidence to support the development of whole grain dietary recommendations in the United Kingdom. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2016:1-9.

2. ABS. 2011-2012 Australian Health Survey: Consumption of food groups from the Australian Dietary Guidelines, 2011–12 — Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016.

3. GLNC. 2014 Australian Grains and Legumes Consumption and Attitudinal Report. Unpublished: 2014.

4. NHMRC. Australian Dietary Guidelines Providing the scientific evidence for healthier Australian diets. 2013 Accessed online January 2014.

5. Aune D, Keum N, Giovannucci E, Fadnes LT, Boffetta P, Greenwood DC, et al. Whole grain consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause and cause specific mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Bmj. 2016;353.

6. GLNC. GLNC 2015-2016 Grains and Legumes Product Audit. Unpublished: Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council 2016.

The Rise & Rise of the Snack Market: A Focus on Legumes

By Alexandra Locke

The Australian snacking market is worth more than $2 billion, with an annual growth rate of 4% and climbing (1). New technology and continuing consumer demand for healthy alternatives is fuelling innovation in the snacking arena. We take a look at the latest trends on snacks featuring legumes, the most innovative products in this space and where the opportunities lie for manufacturers to produce healthier snacks for our changing lifestyles.

Australians now snack four times as much as 10 years ago (2), with this growth being driven by our ever-changing and increasingly busy lifestyles. And it’s the younger generation driving the trend in snacking, where consumers are shying away from traditional mealtimes and instead consuming more small snacks throughout the day.

Consuming food on-the-go is no longer seen as an anomaly, but a necessity with 96% of Australians regularly consuming snack foods (3). Snacking allows us to fuel ourselves in a way that fits in with our modern, fragmented lifestyles and consumers are increasingly demanding healthier, more innovative options. And this is where the unlikely legume fits in.

Although previously an often overlooked food group, the popularity of legumes continues to grow in all food sectors, helped along by their exemplary health benefits. With 40% of Australians citing that one of their top health priorities is to consume more fresh fruit and vegetables and 23% looking to eat healthier snacks (4), it seems only natural that snacking and legumes have combined to take advantage of this niche.

“Snacking is no longer about a specific product category but rather about a set of behaviours – a way of eating and drinking – a kind of occasion. In other words, anything and everything can be a snack – and increasingly is.” 
Food & Drink News

With 2016 being the International Year of the Pulse, it’s fitting that this year has seen an increase in legume based snacks. And there are many benefits associated with eating legumes; they’re an economical source of plant-based protein, inexpensive, a good source of fibre which helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer and they’re great for the environment too as they help to promote soil health.

With this push for new snack products, innovation is increasing on a daily basis - lentils are being puffed, chickpeas are being roasted, salted and served as a snack and lupins are being ground into flour. In fact, the number of new snacks containing legumes launched around the world increased by an astounding 54% between 2014 and 2015 (5)

We’ve taken a look at some of the top products emerging in legume based snacking.

• Partner Foods has developed a range of roasted legumes including roasted and seasoned chickpeas and fava beans, Chic Nuts and Fav-va Nuts, which come in small portion controlled packs, providing a healthy snack at any time of the day.

• Taking the Pea is another example of a company cashing in on the savoury snack trend with their range of crunchy flavoured peas, promoting their high fibre and protein content to young consumers.

• Simple is the new natural and it doesn’t come much more simple than The Good Beans’ roasted, seasoned chickpeas.

• Luke’s Organic range of corn chips includes a red lentil variety - a great way of getting plant-protein into the diets of those who may otherwise overlook the humble legume.

• One of the more innovative products comes from Chaat Co who have produced a savoury yoghurt based snack topped with lentil puffs.

• Many café’s and restaurants are now using chickpea flour to create gluten free snack products and pea protein to up the protein content of their bite-size snacks.

• And there’s an increasing number of manufacturers using legume flours in their snack products, including chickpea and lupin flour – Good Thins snacks are made with chickpea flour.

As the snacking category continues to grow in both definition and financial growth, there are multiple opportunities to be had for manufacturers. Discerning consumers are looking for a number of attributes with their snacking choices…

• Nutrient dense
• Small, individual serving sizes
• Rapid hand-to-mouth format
• Fresh ingredients
• An emphasis on less processed ingredients
• Plant protein based
• Most importantly, consumers want new and different products!

And there are plenty of options for product growth, with companies competing in this growing market by adapting existing lines with new ingredients, such as new varieties of puffed legumes and products made with lentil or lupin flours. As well as new innovation, such as savoury yoghurt with bean puffs or high protein smoothies made with chickpeas.

One thing’s for sure, anything goes and the market is wide open for new products and innovation.

To make your own legume based snacks, visit the GLNC website for a range of delicious recipes.

References
1. IBIS World. AU Snack Food Manufacturing. 2015
2. Australian Food News. Australian's Snacking Ten Times as Much as Ten Years Ago. 2015
3  Australian Food News. Australia's Snacking Habits Revealed. 2014
4. IPSOS, Food Chats. 2016
5. Innova Market Insights. Pulses are Still on Beat. IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo 2016.

Should We Eat Wheat?

Should We Eat Wheat?

Australians are increasingly mindful of the effect food has on health. In some cases this is a good thing as shown in a recent report where 40% of people stated one of their food priorities for the next 12 months was to eat more fruit and vegetables. Great news.

However, sometimes the temptation to label food as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is too strong and people go in search of a single food that is the cause of all modern health problems.

Grains are not immune to this, and in recent times wheat has come into the spotlight. Some people, no doubt with all the best intentions, have become suspicious that eating wheat may be causing health issues. So, what are they concerned about and are their concerns valid?

Does eating wheat lead to obesity?

The key to this piece of the puzzle is to consider the quality of the food, not just the wheat it is made with. It’s true, wheat is found in many foods that if eaten in large quantities may lead to weight gain. Foods such as pies and sausage rolls, pizza, cakes and biscuits. However, wheat is also an important ingredient in core gain foods that provide essential nutrients in our diet. These are foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, pasta and couscous. Research in Australia has shown that people who eat the recommended six serves of these core grain foods, including those made from both refined and whole grain wheat, have similar BMI and waist circumference to those who eat the least amount of core grain foods. A large number of studies also show that people who eat more whole grain and high fibre core grain foods are less likely to be obese and less likely to gain weight over time. So it is the quality of the wheat-based foods that is important rather than the wheat itself.

Has wheat changed over time, causing increased rates of coeliac disease?

There is speculation that modern varieties of wheat contain higher levels of gluten than older varieties and this change is responsible for the apparent increase in coeliac disease during the second half of the 20th century. In an age of rapid technological advances it is no wonder people question the effect of technology on the food we eat. However, we cannot let suspicion take the place of evidence. Results from a comprehensive study examining data from the 20th and 21st centuries does not support the theory that wheat breeding has increased the gluten content of wheat.

There is also the suggestion that modern wheat is ‘created by genetic research’ and this has led to the inclusion of an unnatural protein, gliadin, which is responsible for stimulating appetite and causing weight gain.  In fact, gliadins are present in all wheat lines and in related wild species. Seeds of certain ancient types of wheat have even greater amounts of total gliadin than modern varieties.

Gluten should be avoided by everyone

Some theories suggest that even in healthy people gluten causes damage to the lining of the gut, increasing permeability of the gut wall and that this leads to an autoimmune response that can cause damage to the neurological system. The effect of gluten on the gut wall is well known in people with coeliac disease. However, there is no evidence to suggest this is true for people without coeliac disease.

In fact, research on the leaky gut concept suggests it may be caused by substances which damage the gut lining including an infection, alcohol, medications, or alternatively can be associated with inflammation, untreated coeliac disease or due to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Other than in the case of untreated coeliac disease grain foods and legumes are not identified as causes of leaky gut. 

In contrast to the suggestion that grains and grain foods cause a ‘leaky gut’, there is evidence shows fibre-rich grains contain prebiotic fibres which provide a surface for beneficial bacteria to thrive on producing short chain fatty acids, such as butyrate which has a demonstrated ability to enhance the intestinal barrier function

The Bottom Line – Should we Eat Wheat?

Stories from friends or even doctors about positive health changes resulting from cutting out a food can be very compelling. In fact, research from GLNC shows that family and friends are the second strongest influence over people’s health decisions after their GP. However as Oscar Wilde once said,  “The truth is rarely pure and never simple”. 

People are right to be making decisions about what they eat based on the effect on their health. But the key is not to make quick decisions based on the experience of a few people. Instead, we need to do the more difficult thing: think carefully about the information we receive and consider all the well-designed research, both negative and positive.

So, what does the whole picture tell us about wheat? It tells us that there are a number of reasons to eat wheat-based core foods, especially whole grain and high fibre choices: you’re more likely to be a healthier weight and get the essential nutrients you need, and you’re less likely to develop type 2 diabetes or heart disease than if you cut them out. In contrast, there is very limited evidence of the negative effects other than some compelling personal stories and anecdotes from doctors about patients.

The choice is yours.

References

IPSOS. FoodChats Annual Report 2015 – 2016. http://ipsos.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Food-CHATs-report-abridged.2016.pdf

Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council (GLNC). Grains for Health. 2016. http://www.glnc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Grains-for-Health-Report-FINAL.pdf

Kasarda DD. Can an increase in celiac disease be attributed to an increase in the gluten content of wheat as a consequence of wheat breeding? J Agric Food Chem. Feb 13 2013;61(6):1155-1159.