‘And because I do not like dry steaks, mom, take a little sauce and flavor’. As this Spanish rumba says, in our country we use ‘salt-cellar’, in the full sense of the word. In fact, we consume 9,8 g of salt daily, which is almost twice the recommended amount. But we are not the only ones. Americans follow us closely eating an average of 8,5 g every day. World Health Organization (WHO) admits that we have a serious global problem, establishing salt reduction as a priority measure in preventing cardiovascular disease.
Each gram of common salt (sodium chloride or NaCl) provides us approximately 0,6 g of chlorine (Cl) and 0,4 g of sodium. Sodium, although is needed in small quantities, is clearly ‘the bad guy’. Sodium excess causes fluid retention (weight increase), heart problems and hypertension. WHO suggests that the quantity of salt that an adult should consume daily is 5 g, equivalent to approximately 2 g of sodium. Attention! 5 g is only a little teaspoon or a thimble.
We just have to look at the following table elaborated from the data about the salt content of a group of foodsof the ‘Plan Cuidate+’, created by the Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AESAN). So if we get four ham slices, we have made the day as far as salt is concerned. And if we eat it in a refrigerated sandwich, I do not think more… I just hope that WHO has calculated well because, according with them, it seems very easy to overcome the recommend intake daily. In addition, anyone dares to say to WHO something about the salt of a ham sandwich, because I imagine they would say: and who tells you to eat ham? Do not you know our recommendations about the processed meat consumption?
We are going to suppose that we try to reduce our salt consumption. In this case, it is not too easy, because the 72% of our salt consumption comes from processed food (prepared meals, fast food, snacks, cheese, cereals, etc.). This is what is known as ‘hidden salt’, and here is where manufacturers have to make an effort. In this sense, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in The United States of America is developing a guide in order to promote, voluntarily, the reformulation and development of new products reduced in sodium. To do this, from 2 June to 31 August, we can send them comments about sodium reduction
Little by little, our palate should get used to a less salty taste. Surely, everyone has seen that salty foods are able to modify our behavior: they are a generator of appetite and they stimulate our intake. We just have to eat pipes with salt and without salt. You can’t stop to eat the bag with salt until you finish it. (It is not an experiment with scientific rigor, but it serves to get an idea).
Every day in the supermarket, we have to face the decision to buy one product or another. Unconsciously, and according to experts, we dedicate about 6 seconds to choose. If we only look on nutritional aspects, manufacturers must be able to communicate that their products offer advantages in relation to others. Thus, by nutrition labeling, manufacturers inform us about nutrients that a food gives us (nutrition claims) and even gives us information about possible health effects (health claims).
From the consumers’ point of view, nutrition labelingwould allow to choose a product knowingly, favoring even some changes in their eating behavior. Until now, at European level, some models for nutritional information have been designed so that information arrive easily to consumers, such as the use of Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), the nutritional traffic light, different symbols or health logos, etc. However, it does not seem that we are getting it, because some labeling studies continue showing that this information is difficult to understand for almost the 44% of people.
Having in mind that in the UK more than two thirds of the population is overweight or obese, the Royal Society for Public Health insists on the urgent necessity to propose innovative measures, relating to the labeling, able not only to provide information, but to change the consumer behavior. And for this, they propose to inform about the calories of food from a totally different perspective. So, instead of indicating the calories of a food, the product provides us the information about the necessary physical activity indicated to spend those calories, it means ‘equivalent activity’.
At the beginning, I have to admit that I like this labeling proposal, because it offers an easy reference and understandable for all, and it encourages to think about the necessary balance between calories consumed and those that are spent. But the best thing is that this initiative uses positive reinforcement, so that encourages us to get started in physical activity rather than stop eating certain foods. In this way, I believe that it could be possible to influence in the eating behavior of consumer and their lifestyle. I think that now the message that my brain receives will be: ‘you will burn these sweet biscuits with the sweat of your brow’, instead of ‘if you eat these biscuits, they will live in your body forever’.
Other proposal for labeling, which comes from the same British company, is based on including photos with the amount of sugar or salt that a food carries. Of course, the impact of reading that you are ‘eating’ 60 grams of sugar with a drink is not the same as watching equivalent to 15 sugar cubes. Is it?
I want to call these brilliant and wonderful ideas of labeling ‘ideas of clear labeling’, and I hope to collect more of them in order to tell them us in this blog.
The photographer Peter Menzel few years ago visited different countries of the world in order to photograph families of those countries with the food they consume regularly for a week. A book was published based on this work, “Hungry Planet”, where tastes, preferences and food culture of these countries are reflected, but in addition we can see the reality of our world, in which millions of people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, while in other countries obesity rates grow as epidemic and food are wasted in large amounts.
The expense that a family does in your shopping basket is very different between countries reflecting Menzel. In some, like Chad, they survive as little more than a dollar a week, while in others, we eat with excess of calories and we are wasting big amounts of food. With our habits, we contribute to wasting much of the food we buy and consume in our homes.
I used the pictures of Menzel in this occasion to close this post the serie about food waste in particular, to speaking about food waste in households.
The 42% of food are thrown out in household according to UE, and Spain is the seventh country that more food waste to 7,7 million tons. In 2013 a study was published by Hispacoop and supported by the National Institute of Consumption in which it was noted that in Spain the average waste per household is 1,3 kg/week. The group of breads, cereals, pastries and others foods (19,3%), fruits and vegetables (16,9%), milk yogurts, cheeses and other dairy products (13,3%) and pasta are the most waste food, among all these groups account for 62.6% of wasted food in households.
Leftovers, main reason Leftovers meals are the main reason why food is thrown away in the household (86.5%), not to calculate the portions not plan well or menu beforehand.
We have to recover recipes and seek to take advantage of these leftovers, our recipe book is full of dishes that are born like recipes of leftovers: “croquetas”, “ropa vieja”, the delicious “torrijas”, etc. All of them have appeared of wit of chefs, cooks and especially housewives who have sought the way to harness remains of bread, meat, vegetables and give them a second chance like delicious dishes.
The deterioration of food by poor storage or excess in storage has been reflected as the next reason to reject food in Spanish households. We tend to save the leftovers of the meal, with the intention to use it for a later meal, but then we do not plan well, or we let spoil this leftovers, to finally end up in the rubbish bin.
Planning, kitchen and reused To reduce this waste in our homes we should start by good planning. We have to think the weekly menu, and the food we need for this menu, and what we are going to do with leftovers. Knowing the weekly menu will help us to know previously what quantities and ingredients we need to do it.
In this way we will not buy too much and thus we will avoid some of these foods end up damaged, or buy food we already have in the pantry. When we make the purchase it must look at the expiration date or preferred consumption of food, ensuring that falls within our planning.
At the time of cooking we should adjust the amounts of ingredients to the number of people, using kitchen utensils to help us calculate the portions always in the same way. It can be calculated for cooking more quantity if you have a clear intention, and freeze the leftovers for a later meal planned, but this must be taken into account.
‘Did you know that cocoa increases mental activity? We are going to discover and prove scientifically the incredible power of what we have in the pantry’.
With these words, the Spanish cooker Alberto Chicote started ‘Superfoods’, his special TV program, on March28. When it started, I said to myself: I won’t miss it! I have to admit that I had some uncomfortable moments, and I thought: Oh my god! They are getting on top!
According to the ratings, the program was a success. And, on the one hand, I am glad because it shows the Spanish interest in eating in a healthy way (beyond football or ‘big brother’). Secondly, I am glad because it evidences the huge potential of television to increase the nutrition knowledge.
We must learn how to communicate science in an educational and funny way (as Chicote), but always under the strict sight of scientific evidences. After living a few crazy years proclaiming the miraculous effects of food, the publication of Regulation (EC) 1924/2006, related to nutrition declarations and health properties of food, the scene has changed radically, prohibiting attribute to any food a beneficial effect without scientific basis and without being expressly authorized.
In this case, I dedicate today’s post to check briefly the science behind the effects that the program attributed to the 10 ‘Superfoods’. Chicote ensured that:
‘The extra virgin olive oil strengthens bones and eliminates fats’. ‘Cocoa strengthens teeth and streamlines the mind’. ‘Blue fish is good against stresses’. ‘Coffee prevents fatigue driving’. ‘Oranges slow aging’. ‘Pasta increases athletic performance’. ‘The tomato prevents sunburn’. ‘Broccoli protects your eyesight of the sun’. ‘Legumes reduce cholesterol’.
On the one hand, the following table lists the so-called ‘superfoods’ and their benefits reported on television. And on the other hand, it includes the active ingredients that provide these foods, the beneficial effects scientifically accepted by the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and it today is authorized to inform European consumers about the benefits.
Indeed, there is scientific evidence that selected foods have certain beneficial effects. However, the word ‘Superfood’ is not the right word, because it could give the idea that they are ‘miraculous’, and then we start doing strange things such as ‘broccoli diet’ or eating 2kg of oranges every day in order to get eternal youth.
Looking at the table, we can conclude that:
It is very curious that this program shows some effects of these foods which do not count with the scientific evidences, instead of the recognized healthy effects.
In the case of pulses, because of their phystosterols contents, we could admit that ‘they help to maintain normal cholesterol levels’, but not ‘reduce cholesterol’.
Scientifically, effects on our concentration related to the caffeine consume are demonstrated. However, Europe is not authorized to publicize these effects to avoid excessive consumption of coffee or caffeinated beverages. For more information of caffeine, you can check the following EFSA’s poster.
On 26 September it was celebrated in Madrid the “4th Meeting point against food waste” organized by AECOC, where the waste problem was analyzed from different perspectives and pooling actual experiences of prevention and reduction.
Social enterprises as “Espigoladors”, which employs people at risk of social exclusion, transferred their experience in preventing waste through the use of fruits and vegetables discarded in the field (by size, defects, appearance) for the production and sale of jams and creams, contributing in a sustainable way to reducing waste, creating jobs and getting an economic benefit.
Innovation in packaging it has also been discussed and how can reduce the waste, or in the case presented by Pepsico, how through a program of valorization of its by-products is achieved zero waste in one of its production plants snacks.
Several posts have been dedicated about food waste in this blog, trying to find solutions for the waste reduction and its valorization. We have discussed the need for prevention as a tool to reduce waste throughout the food chain, but besides preventing, what can it be done to decrease the amount of waste generated by the food industry?
The food industry is one of the main generators of waste organic nature in our country, mainly composed of those parts of the raw materials are not useful in the development process and can represent up to 85% by weight of the raw material received.
Few years ago these organic wastes were leaded to animal feed industry or agronomic valorization. But in recent decades, in the face of need for food industry to value their by-products, the R & D and the work of the research teams, are aimed at finding innovative and tangible solutions with economic return and high value-added .
Companies are slowly changing their outlook towards the environment, gradually transforming its working methods towards more sustainable manufacturing processes, but while optimizing their resources, reduce waste and obtain an economic benefit.
Trends in R & D in terms of the valorization of by-products go in parallel to trends in the food industry in the manufacture of new foods. Thus, many food by-products are source for obtaining compounds with high added value as antioxidants, fiber, essential fatty acids, antimicrobials, minerals, etc., which can later be included in production processes to obtaining new foods of high added value and in many cases with functional properties.
The food industry is not the only one who can benefit from using these products. Currently, there are cosmetics or pharmaceuticals in the market incorporating different compounds such as antioxidants or polyphenols, which have been obtained from by-products valorization.
The CARTIF experience in this research field has been wide, and it has developed several projects where the objective has been to obtain compounds with high added value from by-products of the food industry. The DIANA project led by several companies and accompanied by research centers, where the goal was to obtain from different products like coffee, grape marc, algae, etc., compounds with high added value for their incorporation into different food matrices and provide various improvements, thanks to these compounds.
The LACTISHOE project works in a very different meaning, because from whey as a by-product of the cheese industry and through and hybrid membrane-fermentation reactor, that it will produce lactic acid. Then, it will perform the lactic acid microencapsulation, and then it will be incorporated in the templates and in the lining of shoes, giving them beneficial properties for the foot.
Waste generation by food industries is an inherent consequence of their activity, but the search for sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives is a necessity that faces all companies, not forgetting that both have an economic benefit through the valorization of their by-products.
Given that the food and beverage industry in Spain comprises about 22% of industrial GDP and is formed by 30.000 companies (of which 96% are SMEs), it is not strange that our country avails one of the most important exhibitions in Europe: Alimentaria.
This biennial meeting is undoubtedly a professional showcase and a benchmark event in the food sector. With nearly 4.000 exhibitors from 63 different countries, it allows to know the news, and current and future trends in food, in addition to doing business.
In ALIMENTARIA 2016, held last week, it highlights the strong internationalization of companies and products as a vector of change (or overcoming of the famous ‘crisis’) and an increase in the market of organic products and food products elaborated through sustainable processes.
Some of the main areas in ALIMENTARIA 2016 are Intercarn, Interlact, Intervin, Multifoods o Restaurama. In them, we have seen many new products, always from our point of view as researchers in food field.
We have found pearls of olive oil, almond oil, vinegar and juice.
Chorizo, Catalan sausage and salami for vegetarians; without meat, but with egg white as a protein source.
Going on with meat, we have found shoulder blade or rack of young lamb semielaborated, which is finished in the oven inside a container without staining and leaving the meat in its point and with crispy crust. Easier and cleaner, ¡impossible!
Omelets stuffed with black pudding, Catalan sausage or goat cheese.
Salt of all flavors and colors.
About drinks, in addition to the multitude of wineries with delicious wines and precious labels and bottles, we have found several drinks based on extracts. Drinks made from beans and strawberries, vegetable drinks, rice drinks with coconut or almonds, craft beer with aloe…
Pizza flour charcoal. That is; black pizza bases in order to stand out the rest of foods. And with the purifying benefits of charcoal, of course.
Wide variety of healthier snacks based on peas, beans, broccoli, mango, banana, pineapple or apple textured. And, as a novelty, snacks based on beef jerky with different flavors (spices, chili, curry).
Sauces and chutneys: carob with dates, apple or pineapple mustard, honey with ginger or cinnamon, cocoa butter or jam with wine, oil or vinegar…
Personally, I want to highlight a delicious mango gazpacho.
And finally, one of the foods with hardest presence was quinoa. Quinoa flour, cereals, biscuits, bars, quinoa ready to eat with vegetables, and a long etcetera.
Today’s consumer looks for pleasure in food, but, without doubt, the trend that marks the development of new products is the health concern. This factor includes feeling good, getting fit, improving health and not growing old.
CARTIF collaborates with several food companies in this field, developing new products, improving existing ones, changing ingredients, valorazing subproducts, in order to suit a demanding and competitive market which is constantly in movement.
