THE WHOLE GRAIN FOOD PRODUCTS IN THE MARKET-MISLEADING THE CONSUMER

The new mantra being touted for attracting the junk food wary consumers is to eat more foods made from "whole grains" and there are thousands of products now being marketed touting to contain more of whole grains. Though putting the logo on the label of "whole grain" is legal as per the letter of the law, its spirit is being violated by many processors by manipulating the recipe to include some whole grains. Unfortunately this is a skewed approach because most products contain more sugar and fat than normal products though they have marginally higher dietary fiber. If this is not perpetuating a fraud on the consumer, what else it is? In the absence mandatory restrictions on labeling such products as healthy, industry will get away by its new brazenness! It is a tragedy that there are many products being churned out by the industry claiming to be multi grain based ones, a close look at the proportion of "other" grains to the main one, usually wheat is minuscule. Here is a critical look at these unethical practices of the food industry which must be frowned upon!  

"The benefits of switching from refined to whole grain foods are well established, including lower risk of cardiovascular disease, weight gain, and type 2 diabetes, the journal Public Health Nutrition reports. "Given the significant prevalence of refined grains, starches, and sugars in modern diets, identifying a unified criterion to identify higher quality carbohydrates is a key priority in public health," said Rebecca Mozaffarian, study author from the social and behavioural sciences department at Harvard School of Public Health. Based on this evidence, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) 2010 dietary guidelines recommend that Americans consume at least three servings of whole grain products daily, and the new US national school lunch standards require that at least half of all meals be whole grain-rich. However, no single standard exists for defining any product as a "whole grain". From two major US grocers, researchers identified a total of 545 grain products in eight categories: breads, bagels, English muffins, cereals, crackers, cereal bars, granola bars, and chips. They collected nutrition content, ingredient lists, and the presence or absence of the Whole Grain Stamp on product packages from all of these products, according to a Harvard statement. They found that grain products with the Whole Grain Stamp, one of the most widely-used front-of-package symbols, were higher in fibre and lower in trans fats, but also contained significantly more sugar and calories compared to products without the Stamp. The three USDA recommended criteria also had mixed performance for identifying healthier grain products. Overall, the American Heart Association's standard (a ratio of total carbohydrate to fibre) proved to be the best indicator of overall healthfulness".

The suggestion that in stead of giving wide latitude to the industry in using such consumer attracting label claims, food safety agencies both national as well as international must work out a consensus on what constitutes a healthy whole grain food. The ratio of carbohydrate to sugar may be a criterion or ratio of carbohydrate to sugar as well as fat could be a better parameter. Alternately the dietary fiber content could be a major consideration while allowing such labeling practices. of course some clever players may add fiber from external sources which may not confer the same benefit as using whole grain flours which are much more diverse in terms of nutritional contents. Food scientists and nutritionists must put their heads together to help the consumers to choose healthy foods by evolving realistic standards for foods claiming to be manufactured from whole grains or from a blend of grains.

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

VEGETARIAN FOODS-NEW STRATEGY OF MNCs TO EXPAND BUSINESS

What ever one may say about the functioning of MNCs in developing countries, it is an undeniable fact that many of them represent most modern innovating entrepreneurship. It is true that they have enormous financial muscle that helps them to "pocket" the national governments in pursuing a policy of benevolence towards them which is not shown towards the domestic players, especially the "Desi" entrepreneurs in the small and medium scale sector. Recent reports indicate that an out and out meat food products serving international fast food company is launching 100% vegetarian outlets, providing a clue regarding their approach in India which is considered a predominantly vegetarian country. It nothing but cold statistics which reflect the fact that there are more than 500 million vegetarians, some with considerable disposable income who will not even enter an outlet where meat products are served, no matter how clean the restaurant may be. If an entrepreneur wants to tap this market, it is nothing but a smart move. Here is a critique on this new trend in catering in India.

"McDonald's Corp., the fast food chain that brought the hamburger to the world, is opening what may be its first vegetarian-only restaurants. The world's biggest hamburger chain said Tuesday that the locations in India will serve only vegetarian food because of customer preferences in the region. The company could not immediately say when the restaurants would open or how many there would be. A 2006 poll found that about 40 percent of Indians do not eat meat, and McDonald's is eager to tap that 500-million-strong market. Already, McDonald's said its restaurants in India do not sell beef or pork, and that the kitchens are separated into sections for cooking vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. They have menu items that cater to local tastes, such as the Maharaja Mac, which is a Big Mac made with chicken patties instead of beef. It also offers a McAloo Tikki, a burger made with a spicy breaded potato patty, red onions, tomatoes and a "special vegetable sauce." The chain offers such localized options in countries around the world. The opening of the vegetarian-only restaurants "further speaks to McDonald's efforts to cater to local tastes," the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said. Without providing details, it said the restaurants will be in areas that are popular pilgrimage destinations. McDonald's said the new restaurants are the only ones it's aware of that will serve only vegetarian food. However, local franchises in India and other regions may already have meatless menus. For religious reasons, beef is not eaten by Hindus, who make up the majority of India's population of about 1.2 billion people. McDonald's has more than 33,500 locations around the world, but only about 250 are in India".

There is a famous saying that one should "behave like Romans when in Rome", just for the etiquette but here the consideration is more than that and that is to modify the strategy to suit Indian conditions. If reports from China are to be believed almost all MNCs pitching their tent there are bending backward to modify their food preparations to suit the culinary preferences of population there. Even in India products like snacks are being flavored with traditional spice mixes which cannot be found in any other countries. Similarly even internationally established soft drinks are being redesigned to make them more acceptable to Indian palate. Probably this may be a win-win situation for both the industry and the Indian consumer. One only hopes that the traditional Punjabi Dabas and Udipi Hotels will not become targets for these MNCs which can spell doom to millions of small food vendors. Indian entrepreneurs must be wise to such possibilities and improve their service in order not to loose their business to the new type of MNCs in future.

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