Fortification contributed greatly to vitamin and mineral intakes in the United States, 1989-1991.

The objective of this work was to quantify the contribution of fortification (defined here as adding nutrients beyond traditional enrichment standards) to dietary nutrient intakes in the United States. A list of fortified foods was developed that was relevant at the time of the analyses, and prefortification (naturally occurring) nutrients in the fortified foods were determined from industry-supplied data. Using dietary data from the 1989-1991 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII), intakes of nine nutrients were determined both as reported in the CSFII (i.e., postfortification) and also by using prefortification nutrient levels for the identified fortified foods. We report data for the total population age >/= 1 y based on respondents (n = 11,710) with 3 d of dietary data, as well as select age/gender subgroups. All data were weighted. Fortification substantially increased the intakes of all nutrients examined except calcium, in all age/gender groups but especially in children. In numerous cases, fortification was responsible for boosting median or 25th percentile intakes from below to above the RDA. The breakfast cereal category was responsible for nearly all the intake of nutrients from fortified foods, except vitamin C for which juice-type beverages made as great or a greater contribution. These data from 1989 to 1991 serve as a useful baseline with which to compare contributions of fortification as the practice expands. The large contribution of fortification even in 1989-1991 suggests that continued monitoring of fortification practices, using methods such as those presented here, is important.

Potential of wheat-based breakfast cereals as a source of dietary antioxidants.

Whole wheat- and wheat bran-based ready-to-eat breakfast cereals could be important sources of dietary antioxidants. Of the antioxidants in wheat, free and esterified phenolic acids seem to have the greatest potential to be beneficial to health. Phenolic acids from breakfast cereals possess strong antioxidant activity in vitro at concentrations that would be obtained from a normal serving of whole wheat cereal. In addition, acid conditions and enzymic hydrolysis increase the solubility and activity of wheat phenolics suggesting that the digestive process could be important in altering the antioxidant potential of wheat-based foods. Current research on the antioxidant activity of wheat phenolics suggests that further research is warranted to determine the potential benefits of these dietary antioxidants. In addition, identification of both biological (e.g. digestion) and food processing conditions that impact the distribution, stability and activity of wheat antioxidants is needed in order to be able to produce food products with maximum health benefits.

A proposal for the establishment of scientific criteria for health claims for functional foods.

Functional foods are defined and used differently in different nations. Health claims for these foods influence consumer behavior and potentially affect public health. In an increasingly global economy, health claims for functional foods should meet internationally agreed upon scientific criteria. The concept of health claims as it exists internationally is discussed, and suggestions to assist consumers, government, industry, and academia in deciding on a scientific and ethical basis for international agreement on health claims for functional foods are offered.

Optimizing the diet with whole grains.

Dietary recommendations may be perceived by the general population as causing a shift to less food and perhaps to less aesthetically pleasing foods often resulting in noncompliance. Technology can play a key role in this scenario by creating new formulated foods as well as by utilizing technology to modify whole foods or foods containing whole foods and enhancing both their health benefits and acceptability. At present we have evidence for a positive role in health of nutrients and many nonnutrients in foods, such as whole grains. However, all the linkages between dietary components and disease are not clear. Therefore, it is critical to design not only appealing formulated foods, but to also ensure adequate consumption of whole foods in order to obtain those compounds we know to be linked to good health, as well as those yet-unknown compounds or interactions in food that are also linked to good health. In all cases, the technical and functional properties of food, as well as the nutritional, must be considered in order to optimize acceptability and assist in achieving compliance in meeting dietary recommendations.

Color as a factor in food choice.

From birth, nature teaches us to make judgements on our environment based in large measure on color. As such, it plays a key role in food choice by influencing taste thresholds, sweetness perception, food preference, pleasantness, and acceptability. Its role is elusive and difficult to quantify, however, which at times has placed color in a secondary role to the other sensory characteristics, a position not entirely consistent with the facts. Color, in a quantitative sense, has been shown to be able to replace sugar and still maintain sweetness perception in flavored foods. It interferes with judgments of flavor intensity and identification and in so doing has been shown to dramatically influence the pleasantness and acceptability of foods. Studies in the literature have used cross-sectional population panels to study these effects, but a recent investigation of color-sensory interactions in beverages has compared the response of a college age group with the response of a panel consisting of a more mature population. Interestingly, the older group showed significant differences from the college age group in their response to the effects of color on several sensory parameters as well as showing a direct correlation between beverage consumption and color. Color is often taken for granted, but this position must be reevaluated in view of such studies and the need to create more appealing foods for different segments of our society.

Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) evaluation of 4-hexylresorcinol for use as a processing aid for prevention of melanosis in shrimp.

4-Hexylresorcinol (C12H18O2) is proposed for use as a processing aid for prevention of melanosis ("black spot") in shrimp and as an alternative to the currently approved sulfites. A safety evaluation was conducted to affirm, based upon scientific procedures, the generally recognized as safe ("GRAS") status of 4-hexylresorcinol for proposed use. The GRAS safety evaluation compiled, reviewed, and analyzed data on the following areas: chemical identity, analytical methodology, historical and proposed uses, functionality, and safety. The publicly available safety data on 4-hexylresorcinol cover a broad range of potential toxicity concerns including acute and subacute toxicity, subchronic toxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and allergenicity. These studies, along with the aforementioned data, demonstrate that 4-hexylresorcinol presents no risk of toxicity at the levels proposed for treatment of shrimp, and the use of 4-hexylresorcinol as a processing aid to prevent melanosis in shrimp is GRAS.

The influence of zinc, magnesium, and iron on calcium uptake in brush border membrane vesicles.

The effects of adding increasing concentrations of magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe) on calcium (Ca) uptake into rat brush border membrane vesicles was measured. At ratios of 1:1, based on the RDA, none of these minerals were found to significantly decrease calcium uptake. Mg, however, inhibited Ca uptake at an RDA ratio of 3:1 (Mg:Ca). At higher RDA ratios (Zn:Ca 10:1), Zn also decreased Ca uptake. In a comparison of the molar ratios of the above cations, Zn inhibited Ca uptake the most (0.12:1), possibly by competing directly at high-affinity Ca binding sites. Fe did not decrease Ca uptake but rather demonstrated an enhancing effect at high concentrations (20:1). When mixtures of the above divalent cations were studied, the effects on Ca uptake could largely be explained by the actions of the ions individually.

The effects of postharvest treatment and chemical interactions on the bioavailability of ascorbic acid, thiamin, vitamin A, carotenoids, and minerals.

All recent health recommendations include admonitions to reduce calories, maintain desirable weight, reduce fat, increase complex carbohydrates, and ensure an adequate intake of nutrients. Such recommendations require that we know not only nutrient composition of foods, but also potential losses and decreased bioavailability due to postharvest treatment and chemical interactions. This article discusses in some detail the reactions of concern that cause such changes and their potential alleviation with several key nutrients. The nutrients discussed were chosen as a result of the conclusions of the Joint Nutrition Monitoring Report of the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Obviously other choices could have been made, but the authors felt that the nutrients chosen--ascorbic acid, thiamin, vitamin A, carotenoids, calcium, and iron--were representative of a key profile of nutrients whose reactivity makes them vulnerable to losses in bioavailability, as well as being noted in the Joint Nutrition Monitoring Report.

Zinc and Calcium Solubility from Instant Tea and Coffee With and Without the Addition of Milk.

The effect of tea and coffee, with and without milk, on the solubility of added zinc and calcium after a sequential pH change to 2 and 6 was investigated. The addition of milk did not decrease the solubility of endogenous zinc or calcium in tea but did in coffee. Liquid tea decreased (P<0.01) the solubility of added zinc but not of added calcium. However, the addition of milk to tea containing added zinc and calcium decreased (P<0.01) the solubility of both elements. This decrease reached a plateau after 100 or 150 ml of milk was added to 100 or 50 ml of tea, respectively. In coffee, when the minerals were added, the solubility of zinc did not depend on the presence of milk, whereas the solubility of calcium decreased proportionally to the amount of milk added (P<0.05).

Solubility of inorganic iron as affected by proteolytic digestion.

The effects of enzymatic digestion on the iron-solubilizing properties of chicken muscle were examined. A water-soluble extract, an acid-soluble extract, and an acid-insoluble fraction were subjected to a simulated gastrointestinal digestion using pancreatin and/or pepsin: The solubility of added Fe was significantly affected only by the acid-insoluble fraction and increased linearly as pepsin digestion progressed from 0 to 4 h. A maximum was reached when this treatment was followed by a 1-h pancreatin digestion. Pepsin digestion products with molecular weight (MW) less than 10,000 solubilized significantly more Fe than those with MW greater than or equal to 10,000. In contrast pancreatin digestion products of MW less than 10,000 were not effective Fe-solubilizing agents. The influence of chicken breast muscle on added Fe solubility appears to be related to the production of digestion intermediates that can act as ligands in the formation of soluble Fe complexes.

Effect of Acid Pretreatment on the Stability of EDTA, Cysteine, Lactic and Succinic Acid Complexes of Various Iron Sources in a Wheat Flake Cereal.

An in vitro incubation at pH 2 of EDTA, cysteine, lactic or succinic acids with each of five iron sources, [hydrogen (HRI) and electrolytically reduced elemental iron (ERI), ferric chloride (FeCl3), ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) and ferric orthophosphate (FOP)] at a 10:1 molar ratio (ligand:iron) was evaluated for its effect on iron solubilization in a wheat flake cereal subjected to a sequential gastrointestinal pH treatment from endogenous pH (E) to 2 to 6. Incubation significantly enhanced the iron solubilizing potential of EDTA at each pH with HRI and ERI, while lactic and succinic acids were similarly effective with FeSO4 and FeCl3 at pH 2. The reducing potential of cysteine, along with its role as a ligand, generated substantial amounts of Fe+ 2 (pH 2) at the apparent expense of complexed iron. However, with the exception of ERI (pH E), incubation did not increase cysteine's effectiveness in producing more soluble iron (ionic + complexed). This indicates that pH was the major solubilizing factor. Due to FOP's relative insolubility, incubation proved ineffective in all instances. These in vitro results indicate that acid incubation to form a ligand-iron complex has the potential to improve bioavailability of iron.

Effect of Sucrose, Fructose and Aspartame on Fortificant Iron Solubility in a Wheat Flake Cereal.

The iron solubilizing effect of three sweeteners (sucrose, fructose and aspartame) in a processed wheat flake cereal fortified with either ferric orthophosphate, hydrogen-reduced or electrolytically-reduced elemental iron was evaluated at various stages during a simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Added sweetener had little influence on soluble iron over controls, regardless of pH, iron or sweetener source, although effects may have been masked by various cereal components known to complex iron.

Effects of Iron Alone and in Combination with Calcium, Zinc and Copper on the Mineral-Binding Capacity of Wheat Bran.

The addition of various combinations of iron, calcium, zinc and copper to soft white wheat bran (SWWB) and hard red spring wheat bran (HRSWB) was shown to effect both the solubility of added minerals and those occurring endogenously. The addition of equimolar concentrations of Fe and Zn resulted in a significant decrease in soluble iron of 5.4% and 9.0% for SWWB and HRSWB, respectively, and a significant decrease in soluble magnesium, compared to wheat bran systems with iron alone. However, when equimolar concentrations of Fe and Cu were added to the wheat bran systems, there was no significant effect on Fe solubility and a significant increase in Mg solubility. Further, the addition of Fe and Ca (160 mg) to the wheat bran systems caused a significant decrease in soluble iron of 12.0% for SWWB and 17.4% for HRSWB, and a significant increase in Mg solubility. These results suggest that there are mineral-specific binding sites in wheat bran.