THE WHOLE GRAIN FOOD PRODUCTS IN THE MARKET-MISLEADING THE CONSUMER

The new mantra being touted for attracting the junk food wary consumers is to eat more foods made from "whole grains" and there are thousands of products now being marketed touting to contain more of whole grains. Though putting the logo on the label of "whole grain" is legal as per the letter of the law, its spirit is being violated by many processors by manipulating the recipe to include some whole grains. Unfortunately this is a skewed approach because most products contain more sugar and fat than normal products though they have marginally higher dietary fiber. If this is not perpetuating a fraud on the consumer, what else it is? In the absence mandatory restrictions on labeling such products as healthy, industry will get away by its new brazenness! It is a tragedy that there are many products being churned out by the industry claiming to be multi grain based ones, a close look at the proportion of "other" grains to the main one, usually wheat is minuscule. Here is a critical look at these unethical practices of the food industry which must be frowned upon!  

"The benefits of switching from refined to whole grain foods are well established, including lower risk of cardiovascular disease, weight gain, and type 2 diabetes, the journal Public Health Nutrition reports. "Given the significant prevalence of refined grains, starches, and sugars in modern diets, identifying a unified criterion to identify higher quality carbohydrates is a key priority in public health," said Rebecca Mozaffarian, study author from the social and behavioural sciences department at Harvard School of Public Health. Based on this evidence, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) 2010 dietary guidelines recommend that Americans consume at least three servings of whole grain products daily, and the new US national school lunch standards require that at least half of all meals be whole grain-rich. However, no single standard exists for defining any product as a "whole grain". From two major US grocers, researchers identified a total of 545 grain products in eight categories: breads, bagels, English muffins, cereals, crackers, cereal bars, granola bars, and chips. They collected nutrition content, ingredient lists, and the presence or absence of the Whole Grain Stamp on product packages from all of these products, according to a Harvard statement. They found that grain products with the Whole Grain Stamp, one of the most widely-used front-of-package symbols, were higher in fibre and lower in trans fats, but also contained significantly more sugar and calories compared to products without the Stamp. The three USDA recommended criteria also had mixed performance for identifying healthier grain products. Overall, the American Heart Association's standard (a ratio of total carbohydrate to fibre) proved to be the best indicator of overall healthfulness".

The suggestion that in stead of giving wide latitude to the industry in using such consumer attracting label claims, food safety agencies both national as well as international must work out a consensus on what constitutes a healthy whole grain food. The ratio of carbohydrate to sugar may be a criterion or ratio of carbohydrate to sugar as well as fat could be a better parameter. Alternately the dietary fiber content could be a major consideration while allowing such labeling practices. of course some clever players may add fiber from external sources which may not confer the same benefit as using whole grain flours which are much more diverse in terms of nutritional contents. Food scientists and nutritionists must put their heads together to help the consumers to choose healthy foods by evolving realistic standards for foods claiming to be manufactured from whole grains or from a blend of grains.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

VEGETARIAN FOODS-NEW STRATEGY OF MNCs TO EXPAND BUSINESS

What ever one may say about the functioning of MNCs in developing countries, it is an undeniable fact that many of them represent most modern innovating entrepreneurship. It is true that they have enormous financial muscle that helps them to "pocket" the national governments in pursuing a policy of benevolence towards them which is not shown towards the domestic players, especially the "Desi" entrepreneurs in the small and medium scale sector. Recent reports indicate that an out and out meat food products serving international fast food company is launching 100% vegetarian outlets, providing a clue regarding their approach in India which is considered a predominantly vegetarian country. It nothing but cold statistics which reflect the fact that there are more than 500 million vegetarians, some with considerable disposable income who will not even enter an outlet where meat products are served, no matter how clean the restaurant may be. If an entrepreneur wants to tap this market, it is nothing but a smart move. Here is a critique on this new trend in catering in India.

"McDonald's Corp., the fast food chain that brought the hamburger to the world, is opening what may be its first vegetarian-only restaurants. The world's biggest hamburger chain said Tuesday that the locations in India will serve only vegetarian food because of customer preferences in the region. The company could not immediately say when the restaurants would open or how many there would be. A 2006 poll found that about 40 percent of Indians do not eat meat, and McDonald's is eager to tap that 500-million-strong market. Already, McDonald's said its restaurants in India do not sell beef or pork, and that the kitchens are separated into sections for cooking vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. They have menu items that cater to local tastes, such as the Maharaja Mac, which is a Big Mac made with chicken patties instead of beef. It also offers a McAloo Tikki, a burger made with a spicy breaded potato patty, red onions, tomatoes and a "special vegetable sauce." The chain offers such localized options in countries around the world. The opening of the vegetarian-only restaurants "further speaks to McDonald's efforts to cater to local tastes," the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said. Without providing details, it said the restaurants will be in areas that are popular pilgrimage destinations. McDonald's said the new restaurants are the only ones it's aware of that will serve only vegetarian food. However, local franchises in India and other regions may already have meatless menus. For religious reasons, beef is not eaten by Hindus, who make up the majority of India's population of about 1.2 billion people. McDonald's has more than 33,500 locations around the world, but only about 250 are in India".

There is a famous saying that one should "behave like Romans when in Rome", just for the etiquette but here the consideration is more than that and that is to modify the strategy to suit Indian conditions. If reports from China are to be believed almost all MNCs pitching their tent there are bending backward to modify their food preparations to suit the culinary preferences of population there. Even in India products like snacks are being flavored with traditional spice mixes which cannot be found in any other countries. Similarly even internationally established soft drinks are being redesigned to make them more acceptable to Indian palate. Probably this may be a win-win situation for both the industry and the Indian consumer. One only hopes that the traditional Punjabi Dabas and Udipi Hotels will not become targets for these MNCs which can spell doom to millions of small food vendors. Indian entrepreneurs must be wise to such possibilities and improve their service in order not to loose their business to the new type of MNCs in future.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

CONSUMERS CORRUPTED?-THE NEW MARKETING STRATEGY

There is no quarrel with the market strategists that their task is to lure customers for the products churned out by their company. But the means they employ to better the bottom line of the financial health of their masters may often conflict with the principles of ethics. The latest is the attempt to rope in house wives for product promotion by many food industry giants through blogs published by them. Of course there cannot be any bar on any blogger promoting a product as long as the opinion is not for financial gain and at least in the US guidelines are being framed for advertising on the blogs to prevent such ethical questions being raised.

"But recently, these bloggers say, food companies have upped the ante, bombarding them with free trips to corporate kitchens and mountains of edible swag. Starbucks, eager to get working parents drinking its Via instant coffee, sent limousines to shuttle bloggers in New York City for a private lunch with executives. They left with bags stuffed with coffee and offers of bottomless future refills. Fast-food purveyor Taco Bell flew a group of bloggers from Maryland, Michigan and Missouri to California for a retreat this spring, paid for their lodging and let them spend the day creating new taco and burrito concoctions. Kraft Foods curried favor with mommy bloggers by bringing some to Los Angeles for the Grilled Cheese Invitational, in an effort to get online parents hungry for cheese. The rationale is pure economics. The food industry -- from restaurants to supermarkets and manufacturers -- has seen sales slide during the recession and is looking for new ways to reach customers. And the people online they want are parents".

If what is being done by the industry is not crass corruption of the consumer, what else it is? After all blogs are meant to share the views and experiences of people in different walks of life and it can be a powerful tool for education if properly harnessed. As far as India is concerned, this may not be an issue because blogging is relatively a minor activity with a small audience but with computer usage and broadband access gaining popularity it may still become a powerful medium for communication.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

SELLING RAW MILK- RETURNING TO OLD WORLD PRACTICES!

Selling raw milk is a common phenomenon in India as the reach of organized dairies is limited to urban areas. Even in cities like Mumbai fresh milk is delivered to hundreds of households in the morning by the owners of small dairy farms located in the outskirts and there does not seem to be any problem regarding the safety of milk supplied fresh. Probably the prevailing practice of "cooking" the milk achieves sterilization and as long as the acidity is within limits, milk is unlikely to be spoiled at the consumer end. But in many developed countries practically 100% of milk consumed is supplied after pasteurization by the organized dairies and consumers have developed taste and convenience in using such milk directly without additional heating at home before consumption.

Ban on selling fresh milk, in place in some of the countries, is based on the experience that such products tend to carry pathogenic infections having serious health consequences but economic compulsions seem to be forcing a return to the old practice of selling fresh milk, discouraged till recently."With dairy farmers struggling to make ends meet worldwide, many are turning to selling raw milk – straight from the cow and unpasteurized. In Pennsylvania, the nation's largest raw-milk permitting state, 122 farms have permits. Another 35 are in the permitting process right now. Some farmers are selling 1,000 gallons a week at $3 a gallon. That's powerful incentive".

Excess milk production combined with progressively reducing procurement price offered by milk processors is forcing some of the milk producers to sell directly, though their outreach is some what limited compared to the large retailing net work that distributes packed milk in pasteurized form through the super markets. In a country like USA where "local produce movement" is getting stronger day by day, selling fresh milk locally may sound logical as such products carry lower "carbon loads". Whether Americans will emulate Indians in using the ubiquitous milk "cooker" or domestic pasteurizers of smaller capacity is going to be a part of the kitchen appliances in that country, to make the milk safer, remains to be seen.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com