Industry Warned Over Nutritional Content

[kenlove]

Industry warned over nutritional content of gluten-free products

Open Original Shared LinkBy Jane Byrne , 01-Oct-2010

Related topics: Open Original Shared Link

Baked goods and food manufacturers should focus on boosting the nutritional content of gluten-free products as well as enhancing texture and taste at the formulation stage, argues a leading nutritionist.

Shelley Case, dietitian and author of Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide was speaking during a panel discussion at this week

[Takala]

I don't agree with that dietician (or the author's, not sure who the statement is really attributed to) that corn starch is the major component of gluten free bread.

There are myriad gluten-free bread formulations. And recipes, using EGGS to add protein, yogurt to add calcium/protein, alternative higher protein, darker gluten free grains and seed/nut meals to add variety... this is a ridiculous article.

I've read this over and over again this summer/fall, from "experts" on how we are supposedly suffering. It's nothing more than posturing by various commercial interests. The last thing that we need is for gluten free baked items to become filled with really complex and obscure ingredients that are going to not be good for our delicate digestive tracks, but make the product resemble the white fluffy stuff that was killing us off before we stopped eating it.

Commercial products attempting to imitate "white" bread might be lacking in overall nutrition, but still, this is another dietician who is completely ignorant of how we really eat, and is assuming we are scarfing down massive quantities of bread substitutes the way a typical American does real white bread. They aren't so well nourished, either.

She may as well slam Asians as eating too much rice while she's at it.

[Takala]

I don't agree with that dietician (or the author's, not sure who the statement is really attributed to) that corn starch is the major component of gluten free bread.

There are myriad gluten-free bread formulations. And recipes, using EGGS to add protein, yogurt to add calcium/protein, alternative higher protein, darker gluten free grains and seed/nut meals to add variety... this is a ridiculous article.

I've read this over and over again this summer/fall, from "experts" on how we are supposedly suffering. It's nothing more than posturing by various commercial interests. The last thing that we need is for gluten free baked items to become filled with really complex and obscure ingredients that are going to not be good for our delicate digestive tracks, but make the product resemble the white fluffy stuff that was killing us off before we stopped eating it.

Commercial products attempting to imitate "white" bread might be lacking in overall nutrition, but still, this is another dietician who is completely ignorant of how we really eat, and is assuming we are scarfing down massive quantities of bread substitutes the way a typical American does real white bread. They aren't so well nourished, either.

She may as well slam Asians as eating too much rice while she's at it.

And let me add, does this person REALLY think we're all going to croak off of malnutrition if we manage to find a place serving an edible gluten free pizza crust made of rice/corn/tapioca/potato and indulge once in in a while ?!

[sb2178]

Well, honestly, the list of ingredients on many of the "replacement" foods is depressing. Lots of the ingredients have a low nutrient density. Nutritionally, a lot of them are more along the lines of non-fortified/enriched wonderbread than steel cut oats or sweet potatoes.

One serving a week wouldn't do any damage. But, if you're eating replacement waffles/muffins for breakfast, tapioca bread for lunch, and pizza crust for dinner, that's lot of calories that have lower level of important nutrients. The likelihood of having less than ideal nutrient status increases as you eat lower level of nutrients. Once a week won't kill you. Daily would slightly increase the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease as you would likely have less than ideal levels of nutrients like folate.

Buckwheat flour, by the way, is far more natural than most of what makes gluten-free products white and fluffy. It's a whole grain from a non-wheat plant that is actually used is many cultures. If you've ever eaten kasha, that is buckwheat. I'm not going to give my whole buckwheat is awesome lecture here, but pm me and I'll send you a link to a blog post. It is, however, entirely possible that the nutritionist is hired by the buckwheat council, though... ;-)

[Jestgar]

One serving a week wouldn't do any damage. But, if you're eating replacement waffles/muffins for breakfast, tapioca bread for lunch, and pizza crust for dinner, that's lot of calories that have lower level of important nutrients.

But who can afford to do that? The replacement foods are so much more expensive than the cheap wheat 'originals' that you save money by having eggs for breakfast over a waffle

[Takala]

But, if you're eating replacement waffles/muffins for breakfast, tapioca bread for lunch, and pizza crust for dinner, that's lot of calories that have lower level of important nutrients. The likelihood of having less than ideal nutrient status increases as you eat lower level of nutrients.

_____________

That isn't typical, I don't think. There's an awful lot of home baking going on. Nobody actually eats tapioca bread, they try it once. Or, like in South America, they add a lot of cheese and egg to it, which certainly adds to the protein/calcium. And nobody eats pizza for dinner every night. Again, you're assuming that, given the choices, a celiac or gluten intolerant person would eat the same way as a glutenoid. A glutenoid eating wheat waffles, muffins, wheat bread sandwiches for lunch and pizza for dinner all the time isn't exactly well nourished, either, if they are eating white bread or the fake "whole grained" objects which are still unbleached white flour with a little bit of other brannie-seedy stuff top dressed on top, and some caramel coloring, and skipping the fruits and vegetables.

The commercially made, shipped gluten-free products sold in the health food aisle or at the specialty grocery with the big mark- ups like Whole Foods are expensive. Few people could, even if their guts could handle it, eat that sort of overpriced gluten free commercial product in such large quantities all the time. It's far less expensive and more nutritious to make one's own gluten free baked goods. Or make the occasional pilgrimage to the gluten free bakery to stock up.

Technically buckwheat is not a grain, which comes from a grass type of plant, but a gluten free seed, just like some of the other higher protein, gluten free seeds which we mostly shorthand and call "grains" or "flours" instead of seed meals. And the goal of producing a better gluten free baked product that uses more of the higher protein seeds/meals in gluten free baking is noble, but again, the commercial bakers are wanting to produce something that looks nice and has nice texture because that is more likely to sell out faster than something that is dense, brown, chewy, tasty, more complex, higher protein, sort of homely looking, and a real nuisance to get the batter to come out correctly unless you use the same sized pan made of the same material. Or learn how to tweak the baking technique and time. Then there is the staleness - shelf life problem. I use almond and amaranth a lot, with olive oil, it seems to keep in the refrigerator very well once baked and cooled, but apparently the other gluten free mixtures mold up fast unless frozen. I think other's taste buds are either different, or they're more trained to like white fluffy stuff.

Also, I think, another problem is going to be the diligent pursuit of not letting these ingredients get cross contaminated by careless food distributors in the system. Plus, then there is the allergy or cross reaction problem, when a commercial bakery starts to use ingredients that a small percentage of the celiac population consistently reacts to negatively. Or can taste. I don't mind bean flour and dislike flax, which makes me the opposite of most. That's the downside of using more variety, so a bakery would still probably want to offer more than one formula.

And no way would they want to do an exotic gluten-free pizza crust- they'd have a lot of cross reactions.

[Emilushka]

_____________

Nobody actually eats tapioca bread, they try it once. Or, like in South America, they add a lot of cheese and egg to it, which certainly adds to the protein/calcium.

Oh ... you mean I won't like the loaf I have on my shelf, waiting for me to try? :-(

I did like the Rice Almond bread ...

[mushroom]

. Plus, then there is the allergy or cross reaction problem, when a commercial bakery starts to use ingredients that a small percentage of the celiac population consistently reacts to negatively.

This, I think, may be the crux of the problem. I find myself on the wrong side of the mainstream gluten free eaters because I can't eat soy or potato, and either one or the other is found in most gluten free breads (except the dreaded EnerG tapioca). How many others would not be able to eat the breads because of the addition of garfava, amaranth, quinoa, etc. I do have a local bakery which makes a variety of breads including a good buckwheat bread, and they are willing to bake me a batch without potato starch if I call a day ahead But whenever I go to a restaurant I cannot have the gluten free bread because it all has potato or soy in it I do bake most of my own bread and sometimes take it with me to restaurants. I use a lot of sorghum and buckwheat.)

I know there are people on this board who cannot eat rice products, many like me who do not eat nightshades, many, many soy sensitives, others who can't eat tapioca or have problems with quinoa (me) - how can you possibly cater to us all, except a dedicated bakery making different combinations of bread? Even my gluten free bakery has its basic formula, and then just adds other things to it, the basic being rice, potato and tapioca.

[sb2178]

yeah, i meant the food pyramid "whole grain" category, not botanical designation. Sort of like tomatoes as a vegetable...

There are definitely people on here who make replacement products a regular part of their diet, especially for lunch. Especially when first diagnosed, I think people tend toward replacements. And change is hard. Replacements are becoming more readily available, and affordable, so considering overall nutrition is valuable. Should be thought about! I'm not a major faux eater, partly because that just makes my grocery bill outrageous. I do eat my fair share of fake pasta, and pancakes though. I liked the good dense German rye bread that doesn't seem to translate, anyway. I'm just happy that someone is calling for better nutrition in gluten-free products because people who were/are experiencing malabsorption should definitely not be fed bread that is only slightly better than plain cornstarch. We need our minerals and vitamins! Even if you are making your own bread, again, there is no reason to not aim for higher nutrient densities.

There are also many people who do not have extensive lists of foods they cannot eat. Contamination is always an issue, but if they are already eating gluten-free products, there is no reason to not aim for more nutritious options as well as wonderbread. As to highly sensitive folk, well, make your own really seems to be the safest solution. So, you can add more eggs, more seeds, use more high fiber flours, etc. yourself to get a nutrient profile you want.

[VioletBlue]

I have two concerns about this "warning". For starters anyone who eats bread looking for protien iron calcium and other vital nutrients deserves what they get. Bread should not be a significant source for those things, not even wheat bread. Now if you go dumping ten thousand additives into it the way the mainstream food industry does, maybe, but IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY. A so called dietician ought to be counseling people to eat whole foods, not look for what their body needs in overly processed bread products.

Secondly, many Celiacs have additional allergies and food intolerances. The more crap you dump into a product the higher the likelyhood that fewer people will be able to eat it. Yeah, dump a load of soy protein into a loaf of bread to beef up the protein content and watch how many people suddenly have to pass on your protein fortified gluten-free bread. Again this dietician doesn't seem to understand the struggles some gluten-free people are dealing with.

And does she REALLY think that manufacturers are going to run out and track down buckwheat flour, or more likely, are they going to find the cheapest thing they can find to bulk up the bread. This is just more evidence to me that most dieticians don't have a clue when it comes to what a truly healthy diet should be.

[Takala]

I am getting curious about buckwheat and will try some soon to see if I react or not, on a day where I don't have to do anything the next day.

This is the opposite of how most people think, and what the commercial food manufacturers don't get. There's nothing worse than eating a multi ingredient item, and you cannot figure out what it was that set off some sort of reaction.

[kenlove]

I have never had any problem with buckwheat when I know its 100% buckwheat --- I just dont trust most of it from North America and tend to buy mine in Japan where I can watch it milled in small AG coop places that only do buckwheat (Soba) I've also had Bobs now that he has a gluten-free facility and the bags are marked gluten-free.

I NEVER buy stuff in healthfood store plastic tubes. Always made me sick...

I am getting curious about buckwheat and will try some soon to see if I react or not, on a day where I don't have to do anything the next day.

This is the opposite of how most people think, and what the commercial food manufacturers don't get. There's nothing worse than eating a multi ingredient item, and you cannot figure out what it was that set off some sort of reaction.

[Frances03]

Wow. I appreciated the original article's intent to point out the TRUTHFUL lacking nutritional quality in mainstream gluten-free products. I dont see any problem with that at all. But the poster following that has made many sweeping generalizations and assumptions that are just baseless opinions and paranoia. I'm sorry I wasted my time reading any further than the original post.