Search Results (16)

Packaged discretionary foods that are energy-dense and nutrient-poor are widely available in the current food environment, potentially contributing to overconsumption and excessive energy intake over time. Factors such as on-pack visual cues (for example, front-of-pack image and food units per serving) and structural features (for example, package transparency) have an important role in nudging consumers towards better portion control. As little is known regarding the presence of these features on packaged discretionary foods in the current retail context, this study aimed to examine the presence of such cues on packaged discretionary foods in Australian supermarkets. Six common packaged snacks were selected: ice-cream, chocolate, lollies, sweet biscuits, savoury biscuits and crisps. Data were collected by in-store visits and using retail websites. A total of 1930 products were included; the majority were share packs (n = 1419, 73.5%), followed by multipacks (n = 385, 19.9%) and single packs (n = 126, 6.5%). Less than half of the share pack products (47%) had front-of-pack images aligned with the manufacturer-suggested serving sizes on the Nutrition Information Panel. Structural features, including transparency, partitioning and resealability, were less common and identified in less than 30% of packaged snacks. Overall, the findings showed that on-pack visual cues and structural features are not commonly used for portion control in packaged discretionary foods in Australian retail settings. Opportunities exist to improve on-pack cues and guides to support better portion size decisions. Full article

Background/Objectives: The problems with following a gluten-free (GF) diet result from the high cost of GF products, their limited availability for celiac disease (CD) patients, and their disputable quality. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the frequency of buying and availability of GF cereal products in a population of Polish female CD patients. Methods: This study was conducted in a population of Polish female CD patients who were members of the Polish Celiac Society, and n = 547 respondents were included in this study. Participants were asked about the frequency of buying and problems with the availability of GF cereal products, which were compared by sub-groups stratified by age, place of residence, place of purchasing major grocery shopping and purchasing GF products online. Results: The majority of the studied female CD patients declared often purchasing GF flour, pasta, and bread, as well as never purchasing GF puff pastry, fried baked goods, dumplings, and crackers. The only product for which the majority of the studied participants declared problems with availability was dumplings. For younger respondents, a higher share declared often buying GF pasta (p = 0.0073), chips, crisps and puffs (p < 0.0001), and Asian-style noodles (p = 0.0269), as well as declared problems with the availability of GF wraps/tortillas (p = 0.0001), puff pastry (p = 0.0294), fried baked goods (p = 0.0008), biscuits/cookies (p = 0.0148), and Asian-style noodles (p = 0.0046) compared to older respondents, while for older respondents, a higher share declared often buying GF flour (p = 0.0358), and never buying GF wraps/tortillas (p = 0.0181). For respondents living in big cities, a higher share declared problems with the availability of GF pasta compared to respondents living in small towns/villages (p = 0.0245). For respondents purchasing major grocery shopping in hypermarkets, a higher share declared often buying GF biscuits/cookies compared to respondents purchasing in other shops (p = 0.0039), while for respondents purchasing in other shops, a higher share declared never buying puff pastry (p = 0.0076), dumplings (p = 0.0002), and wraps/tortillas (p = 0.0038), as well as declared problems with availability of GF puff pastry (p = 0.0246), biscuits/cookies (p = 0.0002), and breakfast cereals (p = 0.0011). For respondents not purchasing GF products online, a higher share declared never buying GF fried baked goods compared to respondents purchasing online at least occasionally (p = 0.0284), as well as a lower share declared problems with the availability of GF wraps/tortillas (45% vs. 33%, p = 0.0411). Conclusions: The population of Polish female CD patients seems quite diverse in terms of the chosen GF cereal products, with age, primary place of purchasing major grocery shopping and purchasing GF products online, but not the place of residence, as the major determinants. The declared problems with the availability of GF products are probably associated with two diverse mechanisms—either frequent purchasing (as individuals not purchasing may not be interested in such a product at all) or rare purchasing (which may result from poor availability). Increasing the availability of GF cereal products for a population of Polish female CD patients may allow them to obtain a more diverse diet. Full article

Biscuits are characterized by their popular sweet taste, but they have a poor nutritional profile due to their high sugar and saturated fat content, along with low fibre levels. Their sweetness primarily comes from sucrose, which not only determines the flavour but also performs several technological functions, making it difficult to replace in pastry products. Commercial sweeteners and soluble fibres designed for pastry products are available. Therefore, it is necessary to test the feasibility of using these ingredients in biscuit formulations and assess their impact on biscuit quality. Concurrently, the correlation analysis of dough rheological parameters, structure, and instrumental texture parameters with sensory characteristics will help identify which parameters are strongly correlated and can be used to predict biscuit quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dough rheological properties, structure, texture, and sensory characteristics of biscuits in which sucrose was replaced by the commercial sweeteners Tagatesse, maltitol, and erythritol–stevia, with the addition of soluble fibres Nutriose^® FB (wheat fibre) and PromOat 35 (oat fibre). At the same time, a correlation analysis was conducted between dough rheological parameters (stickiness, work of adhesion, dough strength) and biscuit quality parameters, such as water activity, water content, colour, texture (pore area, pore shape, pore elongation), and instrumental texture properties (hardness, brittleness, number of acoustic emission (AE) events, AE event energy), with sensory discrimination evaluated through a consumer test. The use of wheat and oat fibres in combination with sucrose resulted in biscuits with lower apparent density, increased porosity, and weaker texture (fracturability, hardness, number of AE events), yet they had better sensory properties compared to biscuits containing sucrose alone. Replacing sucrose with sweeteners combined with fibres led to a deterioration in the sensory quality of the biscuits and a significant change in the dough’s rheological properties. Regardless of the type of sweetener, biscuits with wheat fibre were rated better than those with oat fibre. Of the tested sweeteners, only maltitol combined with wheat fibre resulted in a sensory quality similar to that of sucrose biscuits. Correlation analysis of all measured biscuit quality parameters showed that only the number of AE events had a strong positive correlation with all tested sensory attributes. Porosity was only correlated with sensory crispness, and fracturability was correlated with sweetness, taste, and overall acceptability. Therefore, it appears that the number of AE events recorded at the time of breaking may be a reliable parameter for predicting biscuit quality. Full article

This study aimed to explore the potential use of Aleppo pine seed flour as a nutritious ingredient in biscuit production. Aleppo pine seed flour was blended with wheat flour to create biscuits with varying proportions: 15%, 30%, and 45% Aleppo pine seed flour. The analysis of the chemical composition of the biscuits revealed that increasing the proportion of Aleppo pine seed flour led to higher levels of protein, fat, and ash, while the carbohydrate content decreased. Sensory evaluation showed that biscuits with 15% Aleppo pine seed flour and 85% wheat flour had favorable characteristics in terms of color, flavor, crispness, and overall appeal. These findings indicate that incorporating Aleppo pine seed flour into wheat flour can enhance the nutritional profile of biscuits, offering higher protein, fat, and mineral content. The study suggests that a blend containing 15% Aleppo pine seed flour is optimal for producing biscuits with desirable sensory properties, making it a promising alternative ingredient for healthier biscuit formulations. Overall, this research highlights the potential of Aleppo pine seed flour to improve the nutritional quality of biscuits without compromising their sensory qualities, paving the way for its use in health-conscious baking practices. Full article

This study assessed the nutritional profile of camellia oil through its fatty acid composition, highlighting its high oleic acid content (81.4%), followed by linoleic (7.99%) and palmitic acids (7.74%), demonstrating its excellence as an edible oil source. The impact of beeswax (BW) and glycerol monolaurate (GML) on camellia oil oleogels was investigated, revealing that increasing BW or GML concentrations enhanced hardness and springiness, with 10% BW oleogel exhibiting the highest hardness and springiness. FTIR results suggested that the structure of the oleogels was formed by interactions between molecules without altering the chemical composition. In biscuits, 10% BW oleogel provided superior crispness, expansion ratio, texture, and taste, whereas GML imparted a distinct odor. In sausages, no significant differences were observed in color, water retention, and pH between the control and replacement groups; however, the BW group scored higher than the GML group in the sensory evaluation. The findings suggest that the BW oleogel is an effective fat substitute in biscuits and sausages, promoting the application of camellia oil in food products. Full article

Functional gluten-free biscuits enriched with commercial and landrace non-commercial chickpea flours were designed and compared with a traditional shortbread biscuit. They were analyzed in sensory attributes, amino acid profile, and antioxidant properties. Subsequently, the biscuits were digested in vitro to evaluate protein hydrolysis, amino acid bioaccessibility, phenolic compounds release, and antioxidant markers. The presence of chickpea flours provided golden color and heightened biscuit hardness and fracturability (especially in non-commercial), increasing crispness and reducing brittleness. The protein hydrolysis was similar among samples (≈15%), except for one of the non-commercial (≈20%). Amino acids such as arginine, phenylalanine, leucine, tyrosine, and lysine exhibited the highest bioaccessibilities. Incorporating chickpea flour improved the antioxidant activity and polyphenol content in undigested samples and bioaccesible fractions, with higher levels of p-coumaric and ferulic acids after digestion, regardless of the chickpea seed. Non-commercial flours increased the presence of resveratrol and/or catechin in the bioaccessible fraction. Antioxidant action assessed in the Caco-2 cell line showed that the protective effect against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation did not always correlate with the in vitro antioxidant capacity. Our data support that the inclusion of chickpea flours in the formulation of functional biscuits provides the consumer with products of added nutritional value with attractive organoleptic features. Full article

Weak-gluten wheat is the main raw material for crisp and soft foods such as cookies, cakes, and steamed breads in China. However, it remains challenging to find an appropriate fertilization regime to balance the yield and quality of wheat for special uses (such as cookie making). Here, four nitrogen (N) fertilizer treatments were compared in terms of effects on the yield-, grain-, flour-, and dough-related traits and cookie quality of nine weak-gluten wheat varieties. Compared with other treatments, the treatment M (which had 180 kg ha⁻¹ N fertilizers with basal fertilizer:tillering fertilizer:jointing fertilizer = 5:1:4) was a superior fertilization strategy as it could ensure a higher yield (4.46 kg block⁻¹) and proper traits related to cookie quality. Moreover, environmental conditions and wheat genotypes exhibited significant effects on many quality-related traits. The quality of Chinese crisp biscuits showed a significant association with unit weight, redness, and solvent retention capacity in lactic acid solution, while that of American cookies was influenced by thousand-grain weight, hardness, rate of yield flour, and formation time as indicated by the Mantel test. Additional Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that thousand-grain weight, hardness, and rate of yield flour can affect the quality of American cookies. Our findings demonstrate that it is necessary to comprehensively consider local conditions, variety selection, and optimal fertilization to achieve high-quality weak-gluten wheat for cookie making. Full article

Excessive consumption of highly processed foods, such as chips, crisps, biscuits and coffee, exposes the human to different doses of acrylamide. This chemical compound has a multidirectional, adverse effect on human and animal health, including the central and peripheral nervous systems. In this study, we examined the effect of different doses of acrylamide on the enteric nervous system (ENS) of the porcine jejunum. Namely, we took into account the quantitative changes of neurons located in the jejunum wall expressing substance P (SP), galanin (GAL), a neuronal form of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART). The obtained results indicate that acrylamide causes a statistically significant increase in the number of neurons immunoreactive to SP, GAL, VAChT and CART in all types of examined enteric plexuses and a significant drop in the population of nNOS-positive enteric neurons. Changes were significantly greater in the case of a high dose of acrylamide intoxication. Our results indicate that acrylamide is not indifferent to ENS neurons. A 28-day intoxication with this substance caused marked changes in the chemical coding of ENS neurons in the porcine jejunum. Full article

The improper dietary behaviors of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are associated with lockdowns and reduced physical activity, are a complex problem, potentially resulting in increased risk of diet-related diseases, including overweight and obesity and their consequences. The aim of the study was to assess the food habits during the COVID-19 pandemic and to define their association with physical activity and body mass changes in a Polish population of primary school adolescents within the Diet and Activity of Youth During COVID-19 (DAY-19) Study. The DAY-19 Study was conducted in June 2020 in a national cohort of 1334 primary school students aged 10–16 years, recruited based on a stratified random sampling of schools (sampling counties from voivodeships and schools from counties). The Adolescent Food Habits Checklist (AFHC) was used to assess food habits, associated with food purchase, preparation, and consumption, which in the studied group were analyzed separately for the period before (retrospective data) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (prospective data). The recognizable physical activity changes and recognizable body mass changes were also assessed (retrospective data) and respondents were classified as those declaring that their physical activity and body mass decreased, remained stable, or increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was observed that during the COVID-19 pandemic the majority of food habits changed in a statistically significant way (p < 0.05). Within food purchase habits, the number of respondents who declared choosing a low-fat lunch away from home decreased, often buying pastries or cakes decreased, and buying a low-fat crisps brand increased (p < 0.05). Within food preparation habits, the number of respondents who declared trying to keep overall fat intake down increased, trying to keep overall sugar intake down increased, eating at least one serving of vegetables or salad with evening meal increased, and usually including some chocolate and/or biscuits in a packed lunch decreased (p < 0.05). Within food consumption habits, the number of respondents who declared making sure that they eat at least one serving of fruit a day increased, eating at least three servings of fruit most days increased, making sure that they eat at least one serving of vegetables or salad a day increased, trying to ensure that they eat plenty of fruit and vegetables increased, often choosing a fruit when they have a snack between meals increased, eating at least three servings of fruit most days increased, and generally trying to have a healthy diet increased (p < 0.05). It was concluded that in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant remote education, adolescents in Poland presented different food habits than before, while the majority of changes were positive. The positive food purchase, preparation, and consumption habits were observed mainly in sub-groups of adolescents declaring decreased body mass or increased physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. It may be suggested that physical activity may support positive changes of dietary behaviors and while combined positive changes of diet and increased physical activity, they may effectively promote body mass reduction in adolescents. Full article

The aim of the study was to estimate the dietary exposure to acrylamide (AA) from the consumption of various processed food and to assess the associated health risks in different age groups in Korea. Potato crisps and French fries presented the highest mean levels of AA (546 and 372 μg/kg, respectively) followed by coffee (353 μg/kg) and tea products (245 μg/kg). The mean AA dietary exposure values for toddlers (≤2 years), children (3–6 years), children (7–12 years), adolescents (13–19 years), adults (20–64 years), and seniors (≥65 years) were estimated to be 0.15, 0.13, 0.06, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.06 μg/kg body weight (BW)/day, respectively. Based on the benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BMDL₁₀) of 0.18 and 0.31 mg/kg BW/day, the calculated mean and 95th percentile values for the margin of exposure were below 10,000 for the all age groups suggesting possible health concern for Koreans. Biscuits, crisps, and coffee were the primary foods contributing to dietary AA exposure among these in the Korean populations. In children, considering the health risk of AA dietary exposure, especially from biscuits and crisps, there is a need to further control and modify dietary habits to ensure lower AA exposure. Full article

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most commonly found mycotoxin in scabbed wheat. In order to reduce the DON concentration in scabbed wheat with superheated steam (SS) and explore the feasibility to use the processed wheat as crisp biscuit materials, wheat kernels were treated with SS to study the effects of SS processing on DON concentration and the quality of wheat. Furthermore, the wheat treated with SS were used to make crisp biscuits and the texture qualities of biscuits were measured. The results showed that DON in wheat kernels could be reduced by SS effectively. Besides, the reduction rate raised significantly with the increase of steam temperature and processing time and it was also affected significantly by steam velocity. The reduction rate in wheat kernels and wheat flour could reach 77.4% and 60.5% respectively. In addition, SS processing might lead to partial denaturation of protein and partial gelatinization of starch, thus affecting the rheological properties of dough and pasting properties of wheat flour. Furthermore, the qualities of crisp biscuits were improved at certain conditions of SS processing. Full article

Consumption of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFAs) is a well-established health risk factor that correlates with the increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The recommended TFA intake is as low as possible, within the context of a nutritionally adequate diet. Different countries have introduced different measures to minimize the exposure of their population to TFAs. Previous data have shown that TFA content has significantly decreased in Western European countries, while this was not the case in many Central-Eastern European countries, including Slovenia. In the absence of regulatory requirements, a number of awareness campaigns were launched in Slovenia since 2015, with the common goal of lowering the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO), which are considered a major source of TFAs. To determine if this goal had been reached, we performed an assessment of the exposure of the population to prepacked foods containing PHOs in years 2015 and 2017. Altogether, data on the composition of 22,629 prepacked foods was collected from food labels, using a specifically developed smartphone application. Furthermore, the food categories with the most frequent use of PHOs were identified. The proportion of PHO-containing products was determined for each specific food category, and adjusted with the market share data. The results showed that in 2015, vegetable cream substitutes, soups, and biscuits were the categories with the highest penetration of declared PHO content. In 2017, the proportion of products with PHO decreased considerably. In vegetable cream substitutes the percentage of PHO containing items dropped from 30 down to 4%, in soups it decreased from 21 to 5%, in biscuits from 17 to 8%, and in crisps and snacks from 10 to 4%. However, PHO content remained notable among cakes, muffins, pastries, and biscuits. We can conclude that the voluntary guidelines and regular public communication of the risks related to the TFA consumption has had a considerable effect on the food supply, but did not result in sufficient removal of PHOs from foods. Full article

Interventions are required to reduce children’s consumption of discretionary foods and drinks. To intervene we need to identify appropriate discretionary choice targets. This study aimed to determine the main discretionary choice contributors to energy and key nutrient intakes in children aged 2–18 years. Secondary analyses were performed with population weighted, single 24 h dietary recall data from the 2011–2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Cakes, muffins, and slices; sweet biscuits; potato crisps and similar snacks; and, processed meats and sugar-sweetened drinks were relatively commonly consumed and were within the top three to five contributors to per capita energy, saturated fat, sodium, and/or added sugars. Per consumer intake identified cereal-based takeaway foods; cakes, muffins and slices; meat pies and other savoury pastries; and, processed meats as top contributors to energy, saturated fat, and sodium across most age groups. Subgroups of sugar-sweetened drinks and cakes, muffins and slices were consistently key contributors to added sugars intake. This study identified optimal targets for interventions to reduce discretionary choices intake, likely to have the biggest impact on moderating energy intake while also reducing intakes of saturated fat, sodium and/or added sugars. Full article

The goal of the present study was to quantify the rate and extent of polyphenols released in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) from natural (NS) and blanched (BS) almond skins. A dynamic gastric model of digestion which provides a realistic simulation of the human stomach was used. In order to establish the effect of a food matrix on polyphenols bioaccessibility, NS and BS were either digested in water (WT) or incorporated into home-made biscuits (HB), crisp-bread (CB) and full-fat milk (FM). Phenolic acids were the most bioaccessible class (68.5% release from NS and 64.7% from BS). WT increased the release of flavan-3-ols (p < 0.05) and flavonols (p < 0.05) from NS after gastric plus duodenal digestion, whereas CB and HB were better vehicles for BS. FM lowered the % recovery of polyphenols, the free total phenols and the antioxidant status in the digestion medium, indicating that phenolic compounds could bind protein present in the food matrix. The release of bioactives from almond skins could explain the beneficial effects associated with almond consumption. Full article

A gluten-free diet (GFD) is currently the only available treatment for patients with celiac disease (CD). Several clinical trials have demonstrated that most celiac patients can tolerate a medium-high quantity of oats without any negative clinical effects; however, the inclusion of oats in GFD is still a matter of debate. In this study, Italian children with CD were enrolled in a 15-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial. Participants were randomized in two groups following either A-B treatment (6 months of diet “A”, 3 months of standard GFD, 6 months of diet “B”), or B-A treatment (6 months of diet “B”, 3 months of standard GFD, 6 months of diet “A”). A and B diets included gluten-free (GF) products (flour, pasta, biscuits, cakes and crisp toasts) with either purified oats or placebo. Clinical data (Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rate Scale [GSRS] score) and intestinal permeability tests (IPT), were measured through the study period. Although the study is still blinded, no significant differences were found in GSRS score or the urinary lactulose/mannitol (L/M) ratio between the two groups after 6 months of treatment. These preliminary results suggest that the addition of non-contaminated oats from selected varieties in the treatment of children with CD does not determine changes in intestinal permeability and gastrointestinal symptoms. Full article