For many years, the Australian Dietary Guidelines have encouraged us consumers to eat plenty of breads and cereals, preferably wholegrain varieties. In addition, based on the scientific studies finding that increased wholegrain intakes are associated with lower rates of heart disease and certain cancers, scientifically endorsed food health claims have been approved in the United States, UK and Sweden.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines encourage us to eat plenty of cereals, preferably wholegrain varieties (NHMRC 2003).
The NSW Cancer Council (2003) recommends healthy adults should aim to ensure that half their daily serves of breads & cereals are either wholegrain or wholemeal varieties. For most adults, this would mean 2 serves of wholegrain or wholemeal foods each day.
The recently revised United States Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid and Dietary Guidelines for Americans has placed greater emphasis on the importance of increasing wholegrain intakes (www.mypyramid.gov; http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/index.html). The revised recommendations encourage people to ensure that at least half of the daily grain serves be wholegrain varieties.
The World Health Organisation's Global Report on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Disease (2003) has endorsed the benefits of focussing on wholegrains. Increasing the intake of fibre from wholegrains was recommended as a way of reducing total energy intakes to control obesity. The evidence linking fibre and wholegrain cereal consumption with protecting against diabetes and cardiovascular disease was rated as 'probable'.
Although health claims are not currently approved in Australia and New Zealand, various regulatory authorities around the world have endorsed the use of scientifically substantiated health claims on wholegrain food products. In the United States, the Food & Drug Administration has approved food manufacturers to include a claim on wholegrain foods that contain 51% wholegrain ingredients linking the consumption of wholegrains with a reduced risk of heart disease and some cancers, as part of an overall healthy diet. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, a claim linking improved heart health with increased consumption of wholegrain foods was approved in 2002 (JHCI 2002)
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