Invited commentary Functional foods or functionally marketed foods? A critique of, and alternatives to, the category of 'functional foods' The term 'functional foods' is a relatively new food category or concept, originating in the 1980s and becoming more widely used over the past decade (1). The 'functional foods' concept has been notoriously hard to define. Discussions of functional foods oft...

The symposium "Putting the Whole Grain Puzzle Together: Health Benefits Associated with Whole Grains" sponsored by the ASN brought together researchers to review the evidence regarding the health benefits associated with whole grains. Current scientific evidence indicates that whole grains play an important role in lowering the risk of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes,...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) cost Americans hundreds in billions of dollars. High cholesterol levels, which are closely related to diet habits, are a major contributor to CVD. In this paper we study whether changes in food prices are related to cholesterol levels and whether taxes or subsidies of particular foods would be effective in lowering cholesterol levels ...

BACKGROUND Bread types with high contents of whole grains and rye are associated with beneficial health effects. Consumer characteristics of different bread consumption patterns are however not well known. OBJECTIVE To compare bread consumption patterns among Swedish adults in relation to selected socio-demographic, geographic, and lifestyle-related factors. For selected consumer groups, the ...

Ultra-processed foods, as defined by the NOVA classification, are industrial formulations made from substances extracted or derived food, containing little to no whole food in their composition. These foods typically enhanced with flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other additives that alter sensory attributes of final product. The ingredients processes used ultra- processed manufacture ai...

Multi-pulsed high hydrostatic pressure (mpHHP) treatment of foods has been investigated for more than two decades. It was reported that the mpHHP treatment, with few exceptions, is more effective than the classical or single-pulsed HHP (spHHP) treatment for inactivation of microorganisms in fruit juice, dairy products, liquid whole egg, meat products, and sea foods. Moreover, the mpHHP treatmen...

INTRODUCTION The US Department of Agriculture has stocking criteria for healthy foods among Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP)-authorized retailers. Increased access to healthy food could improve diet quality among SNAP participants, which has implications for chronic disease prevention. The objective of this study was to quantify healthy foods stocked in small-size to mid-size ret...

Cereal-based foods are key components of the diet and they dominate most food-based dietary recommendations in order to achieve targets for intake of carbohydrate, protein and dietary fibre. Processing (milling) of grains to produce refined grain products removes key nutrients and phytochemicals from the flour and although in some countries nutrients may be replaced with mandatory fortification...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to pilot-test a school-based intervention designed to increase consumption of whole grains by 4th and 5th grade children. DESIGN This multi-component school-based pilot intervention utilised a quasi-experimental study design (intervention and comparison schools) that consisted of a five-lesson classroom curriculum based on Social Cognitive Theory, sc...