Food labelling Flashcards
Why is food labelling important?
The provision of accurate and informative labels on foods is a major part of consumer protection and information.
Food allergy information should be clearly labelled.
All processed food is labelled.
Why is use by dates more important than best before?
Because it is a key date for safety. It can be found in products that go off quickly like milk, meat, fish, soft cheese, packet salads etc.
Why is organic food better for us?
- strict limits on chemical synthetic pesticide and synthetic fertiliser use, livestock antibiotics, food additives and processing aids.
- Prohibiting genetically modified organisms (GMO).
- Making use of renewable on-site resources, such as livestock manure for fertiliser.
- Wide crop rotation.
- Raising livestock in free-range, open air systems and providing them with organic feed.
List 2 reasons why GMO ingredients need to be listed and 2 whereby they do not
- Food allergies
- antibiotic resistance
- Products produced with GM technology e.g cheese produced with GM enzymes.
- Products like milk, meat and eggs from animals fed on GM.
Why are RNIs used?
To set the DRVs for protein, vitamins and minerals, and are an estimate of the amount that should meet the needs of most of the people in the group to which they apply.
What are the limitations of DRV in clinical practice?
- They are not minimum requirements or optimal intakes for individuals.
- They only target ‘most’ of the people and cannot account for individual variations in nutrient needs.
- The nutrient levels recommended are per person per day so in practice this should be interpreted over a longer period of time (due to dietary fluctuations).
- Lower intake of a particular nutrient on one day does not constitute a deficiency.
What are the two types of nutrient content changes that occur during preparation and processing food?
- Qualitative - primary ingredients of precooked foods differ of cooked foods i.e carcinogens are created when starchy foods are heated with absence of water e.g Acylamides.
- Quantitative - changes in amounts of specific nutrients occur during processing i.e folate losses during cooking.
What is a Glycaemic response?
Refers to how quickly glucose is absorbed after a person eats, how high blood glucose rises and how quickly it returns to normal.
What is GI?
Glycaemic Index is a method of classifying foods according to their effect on glycaemic response (according to their response to raise blood glucose).
What is Glycaemic Load?
It is a ranking system for carbohydrate content in food portions based on their glycaemic index and portion size.
Categorise low to high GI.
High GI - 70 or more
Intermediate - 56-69.
Low - 0-55
How do you calculate GL?
GI/100XP (proportion of available carb in food) X weight of food.
Categorise low to high GL.
High GL - 20 or more
Intermediate - 11-19
Low- 0-10
What factors affect GI?
- cooking method - the longer the cooking process the higher the GI.
- Processing method - more processed food higher the GI.
- Type of sugar in food (sucrose has a lower GI).
- Fat slows down carbohydrate digestion lowering GI.
- Increasing the acidity in a meal can lower it’s GI.
- Low GI diet can help people with diabetes.
Which two types of starch in foods have different effects on GI?
Amylose (harder to digest, legumes and basmati rice have a higher ratio of amylose and therefore lower GI).
Amylopectin
