On this page:

• How Health Star Ratings are displayed
• How Health Star Ratings are calculated
• What about daily intake labelling?
• ÌÇÐÄVlog verdict

But while the system is voluntary and has a few limitations, it will only be truly helpful for consumers if most (if not all) food and drink companies get on board and apply ratings to all applicable products.

How Health Star Ratings are displayed

There are three main elements of the HSR system graphic:

1. Health Star Rating (both as a star rating graphic and number, calculated per 100g/mL of the food)
2. Energy icon (per 100g/mL, pack or serve)
3. Nutrient icons – three ‘negative’ nutrients (sat fat, sugars, sodium) plus one optional ‘positive’ nutrient such as fibre or calcium (per 100g/mL, pack or serve)

Companies are encouraged to use as many elements of the graphic as possible, following a hierarchy of options laid out in the Style Guide, subject to available pack size and label space.

How Health Star Ratings can help

Making healthy food choices can be difficult, particularly when faced with the many claims frequently made on products. Products claiming to be low fat are often packed with sugar and high in kilojoules. And claims of added vitamins and minerals can be masking a product with few other redeeming nutritional features.ÌýÌý

The Health Star Rating system, which was developed by the government jointly with food companies, consumer groups and NGOs, addresses this.

The system ranks food products on a scale from half a star (least healthy) to five stars (most healthy), allowing you to make healthier choices at a glance. And the behind the system reflects the , the best, most current dietary advice available to consumers.

The system does have its limitations, however.

1. You can’t compare apples with oranges

Instead, HSRs should be used to compare like with like –Ìýthink similar products that are side-by-side on the supermarket shelf.

If you’re choosing a staple such as bread, for example, one with more stars should be a healthier option than the one next to it with less. And even when it comes to processed treats or snack foods like a bag of chips, you can still make healthier choices by choosing an equivalent product with more stars on its label.

Just don’t use the stars to compare chips with bread.

2. It won’t help you determine ‘naturalness’

Food additives are a major concern for many consumers, and one criticism of the system is that it doesn’t take them into account. A product like margarine which generally contains multiple ingredients including various additives can have a higher HSR than butter, which is minimally processed and has just a couple of ingredients, for example.

The HSR System, however, was designed to interpret nutrient information and give you an overall picture of the nutritional profile of a food, not to judge how ‘natural’ or ‘pure’ a product is.

Including additives in the algorithm that produces the ratings would be very difficult, as well as change the purpose. The best way to determine the naturalness of a product is by looking at the ingredients list.

3. It’s not applicable to all foods

The HSR system was designed to be used on packaged food products – a good rule of thumb is that if the food product has a nutrition information panel (NIP), it can have a health star rating.

Products exempt from NIP labelling, and therefore the expectation of HSR labelling, include:

• fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish that comprise a single ingredient or category of ingredients
• foods with inherently low nutritional contribution, such as herbs, spices, vinegar, salt, pepper, tea and coffee
• fresh, ‘value-added’ products, such as packaged fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry and fish, and pre-packaged rolls and sandwiches (although products can carry HSR labelling if label space permits and the products are of standardised composition, such as bulk-produced pre-packaged sandwiches, rolls or wraps)

Additionally, health star ratings shouldn’t be displayed on special purpose foods such as infant formula and food, toddler milks, formulated supplementary sports food or alcohol.

How Health Star Ratings are calculated

The rating is based on an algorithm which firstly takes into account kilojoules plus three ‘negative’ (‘bad’) nutrients – saturated fat, sodium and total sugars.

These four aspects of a food – kilojoules, saturated fat, sodium and sugars – are the basis for the rating because they’re associated with increasing the risk factors for chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

This is balanced against the ‘positive’ aspects of a food – its fruit, vegetable, nuts or legumes content (all valuable sources of a range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants), as well as the protein and dietary fibre content in some cases.

The data used for calculations is per 100g or 100mL of a food.

Why are HSR calculations based on per 100g/mL of food?

Research conducted to inform the HSR system found that consumers prefer nutrition information based on 100g/mL because of confusion over serving size. Moreover adults, children, males, females, more active or less active people may have different serving size requirements – serve sizes can over- or under-estimate the amount people should eat – meaning nutrition labelling based on serving sizes can be misleading.

A consistent measure like 100g/mL, on the other hand, allows consumers to compare products easily and accurately within categories – whether you’re choosing the healthiest fruit yoghurtÌýor the healthiest frozen lasagne.

What about daily intake labelling?

ÌÇÐÄVlog has long maintained that the industry-developed Daily Intake Guide (DIG), or % daily intake (%DI), thumbnail labelling fails to provide consumers with the necessary information to easily compare the nutritional content of similar products.

For starters it’s based on the daily energy intake of an ‘average adult’, so it’s not applicable to a range of consumer groups, including children. It’s also based on suggested serving sizes, which can be hugely inconsistent within product categories, making for unfair comparisons.

Our 2013 survey showed that 62% of Australians have either never heard of this scheme, or rarely use it to choose food products. And a national survey by research group IPSOS revealed that just 51% of the 3000 respondents found the DIG thumbnail graphic easy to understand, compared with 72% for the health star rating graphic.

Despite this, the Style Guide doesn’t object to its use, as long as it’s clear that it’s not linked to the HSR graphic.

ÌÇÐÄVlog verdict

HSRs aren’t the be-all and end-all of healthy eating. However, they can certainly help you make healthier choices, particularly when faced with a range of similar-looking products making a range of appealing nutrient claims.

Not only can the HSR system help consumers directly, it provides an indirect benefit by incentivising companies who choose to apply it to improve the nutritional profile of products in order to achieve more stars.

But the system will only succeed – and benefit consumers – if there’s take-up from the majority of food companies. ÌÇÐÄVlog applauds companies who are already on board, and we strongly encourage those companies that haven’t, to do so.

The post What is the Health Star Rating system? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• ÌÇÐÄVlog verdict
• What do nootropic drinks claim to do?
• Nootropic drinks taste test (best to worst)
• Two-day trial: Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink
• How much do nootropic drinks cost?
• Are nootropic drinks healthy?
• How we tested nootropic drinks

Nootropic drinks are a niche new addition to the beverage market that claim to improve your memory, focus and motivation.Ìý

Nexba, a popular kombucha brand, has jumped on the bandwagon with its own nootropic drinks range, while supermodel Bella Hadid has spruiked her own nootropic-style drink called Kin Spritz to tens of millions of Instagram followers.

But are these brain-boosting beverages all they’re cracked up to be?Ìý

We take a look at the ingredients of nootropics drinks and their associated claims, a panel of ÌÇÐÄVlog volunteers rate seven drinks on taste, and two staff members drink one brand across a couple of days to see if they notice any cognitive or mood difference.

ÌÇÐÄVlog verdict

If you’re looking to completely overhaul your life, nootropic drinks won’t be a quick fix.Ìý

It seems as though this is another body-hacking concept that’s a shortcut to implementing actual lifestyle habits, such as eating a healthy and varied diet, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep and doing plenty of exercise. These habits have overwhelmingly strong evidence to support healthy cognitive function and mental health.

But if you’re already living a healthy lifestyle and want a buzzy alternative to your usual afternoon tea or coffee, you may or may not get a small cognitive boost from Arepa, Shine+, Nexba and Kanguru nootropic drinks. If you end up trying any of them, .

What do nootropic drinks claim to do?

Let’s take a look at some of the active ingredients commonly found in nootropic drinks, what their claimed health benefits are, and whether there’s enough scientific proof to support these claims.

Ashwagandha

Claim: Improves memory and learning.

Evidence: May help with memory and learning. May help reduce stress and anxiety. More studies are needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýSavvy Brain Boost.

Berry Anthocyanins (a class of flavonoids)

Claim: Improves memory, attention and cognitive performance.

Evidence: An increase in memory in older people has been observed in small trials. May increase cognitive performance attention in children. More research is needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýArepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink, The Juice Lab Wellness Calm, Mojo Superbooch Calm-omile.

Chamomile

Claim: Calming.

Evidence: More research is needed for a calming effect. May be useful in the short term to assist with anxiety.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýThe Juice Lab Wellness Calm, Mojo Superbooch Calm-omile.

Enzogenol

Claim: Improves cognitive performance.

Evidence: May improve speed of response and recognition when also supplemented with vitamin C. More studies are needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýArepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink,ÌýNo Ugly Skin Collagen + Enzogenol Wellness Tonic.

Ginkgo biloba

Claim: Improves memory.

Evidence: May help with cognitive function. Increases in memory observed in a small trial of healthy adults. More studies are needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýNexba Focus, Nexba Gut, Nexba Glow, Shine+ Better Energy.

Ginseng

Claim: Improves cognitive function, learning and memory.

Evidence: No statistically significant differences in cognitive function and memory observed in studies. May help reduce anxiety and stress symptoms. More research is needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Kanguru Energy Blend.

Guarana

Claim: Improves cognitive function.

Evidence: May offer short-term additional stimulant effect when combined with caffeine, but more studies are needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýKanguru Energy Blend, Kanguru Wellness Blend.

L-theanine

Claim: Calming; improves focus.

Evidence: May increase focus when taken with caffeine. May help anxious people focus better. May help with relaxation. More research is needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient:ÌýArepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink, Shine+ Better Energy, Kanguru Energy Blend, Savvy Brain Boost.

Schisandra

Claim: Improves memory and focus.

Evidence: Some research done on rats and mice shows improvements in stress, memory and learning. More evidence is needed.

Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Kanguru Energy Blend.

Nootropic drinks taste test (best to worst)

1. The Juice Lab Wellness Calm

• Flavour: Sparkling blueberry with hemp and chamomile
• ÌÇÐÄVlog Score: 74%
• Price: $3.00 for 250mL
• Health Star Rating: 3
• Country of origin statement: Packed in Australia fromÌý30% Australian ingredients.Ìý
• What staff said:Ìý“A nice balance of appearance, flavour, mouthfeel and aftertaste. I would drink more of this one.ÌýIt didn’t have the ‘energy drink’ taste.”

2. Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink

• Flavour:ÌýBlackcurrant
• ÌÇÐÄVlog Expert Rating: 57%
• Price:Ìý$6.99 for 250mL
• Health Star Rating: 4
• Country of origin statement: Made in New Zealand.
• What staff said:Ìý“It tastes like kombucha, just a little off but not as disgusting as the other ones.ÌýInteresting fruity flavour, sweet but not too sweet.“

3. Shine+ Better Energy Nootropic Drink

• Flavour: Blueberry lemonadeÌý
• ÌÇÐÄVlogÌýScore:Ìý51%
• Price: $2.50 for 250mL ($9.95 pack of 4)
• Health Star Rating: 2.5
• Country of origin statement: Made in Australia from at least 93% Australian ingredients.
• What staff said:Ìý“Nice smell, but too sweet and felt a bit thick. Despite the radioactive yellow colour, it had a delightful ‘spritz’ feel”.

4. No Ugly Skin Collagen + Enzogenol Wellness TonicÌý

• Flavour: PineappleÌý
• ÌÇÐÄVlogÌýScore:Ìý49%
• Price: $4.99 for 250mL
• Health Star Rating: 2
• Country of origin statement:ÌýMade in New Zealand.
• What staff said:Ìý“It had a mild, natural flavour and colour, and no nasty aftertaste. It wasn’t a full-strength pineapple taste, which was disappointing.”

5. Nexba Focus Sparkling Nootropic

• Flavour: Passionfruit
• ÌÇÐÄVlogÌýScore: 46%
• Price: $4.40 for 330mL
• Health Star Rating: 3.5
• Country of origin statement: Made in Australia from at least 95% Australian ingredients.
• What staff said:Ìý“It didn’t leave a bad aftertaste, the smell was OK and it looked and tasted like some sort of juice. Taste was fresh and lightly sweet.”

6. Kanguru Energy BlendÌý

• Flavour: Mixed berry and pomegranate
• ÌÇÐÄVlogÌýScore:Ìý45%
• Price: $3.00 for 300mL
• Health Star Rating: 3
• Country of origin statement: Developed and packed in Australia using ingredients from multiple countries.
• What staff said:Ìý“It had a bittersweet taste which I liked, and not much of a chemical aftertaste, but it was quite strong. I probably wouldn’t be able to drink a whole bottle.”

7. Mojo Superbooch Calm-omile

• Flavour: Blueberry, lavender and chamomile
• ÌÇÐÄVlogÌýScore:Ìý42%
• Price: $3.50 for 450mL
• Health Star Rating: 2.5
• Country of origin statement: Made in Australia from at least 93% Australian ingredients.
• What staff said:Ìý“Not too sweet, more like a kombucha, no awful aftertaste, no artificial sweetener taste. Slight vinegar smells and flavour, which I don’t mind at all. But it wasn’t enough to make me like this one.”

Two-day trial: Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink

We were curious about whether nootropic drinks actually do what they claim to do, so we gave two willing staff the Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink to trial for two days to see whether they thought it improved their mental clarity, motivation and focus.Ìý

They each drank one 300mL bottle of Arepa at any time during the day and took an online survey immediately before drinking and 20–30 minutes after drinking the whole bottle. The survey reported on their subjective feelings of tiredness, motivation, happiness, focus and relaxation.

We chose the Arepa nootropic drink because it has the highest amount of L-theanine of the products we tasted, and the marketing for this product looks very convincing with claims that it was developed by neuroscientists. It’s also readily available in Coles and has a subscription service.

Arepa’s website claims this drink can:

• promote mental clarity and calm
• improve focus under mental fatigue
• support normal neurological function.Ìý

Here’s what our staff thought about it

After drinkingÌýArepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink, both people said they felt less tired, more motivated, and had a clearer mind.Ìý

“I really didn’t notice a big difference, although I found I felt tired later on in the day and fairly relaxed,” reported one ÌÇÐÄVlog staffer.

The other staff member also reported a lower mood after consuming the drink on both days.

Both triallists thought the flavour was OK, and neither disliked the drink overall.

“I quite like the Arepa drink, but it tastes pretty strong – a little bit goes a long way. For this test, I drank each bottle fairly quickly, over a few minutes or so, but it would probably be nicer in two or three servings across the day, maybe diluted a little, or with meals. It also [temporarily] stained my teeth and tongue!”

“The flavour isn’t too bad after a few sips and isn’t too sweet, and there’s no aftertasteÌýof sweeteners.”

How much do nootropic drinks cost?

Nootropic drinks range in price from $2.50–6.99 per can or bottle, which works out to between 78 cents and $2.33 per 100mL. The serving sizes we saw ranged from 250–500mL, and they’re packaged in cans and glass bottles which means most can be recycled or returned for a 10c refund (in participating states).

Are nootropic drinks high in caffeine?Ìý

Many nootropic drinks do contain caffeine, which is a common ingredient in energy drinks as well as other ingredients that claim to give you a boost, such as guarana and B vitamins. But others such as Mojo’s Calm-omile and The Juice Lab’s Wellness Calm are designed to have more of a calming effect rather than a stimulating one.

The legal caffeine limit, set by Australian food standards, for a standard 250mL energy drink in Australia is 80mg – about the same as an average cup of instant coffee. The recommended daily limit of caffeine for the general adult population is about 400mg.

Too much caffeine can cause headaches, increase anxiety, make you restless and impair your sleep.Ìý

We compared the caffeine content of nootropic drinks to a cup of coffee and a can of V Energy.Ìý

Caffeine content comparison

• V Energy: 78mg per 250mL.
• V Energy Sugarfree Blue: 155mg per 500mL.
• Caffeine-containing nootropic drink (small): 80mg per 250mL.
• Caffeine-containing nootropic drink (large): 160mg per 500mL.
• Instant coffee: 80–120mg per cup/serve.

The nootropic serving sizes we saw ranged from 250mL to around 500mL and they’re all intended to be drunk in one sitting. Caffeine content varies a lot between products: a 500mL can of Shine+ Charged, for example, provides 160mg of caffeine, while other brands contain none.ÌýÌý

Of the drinks we tasted, Kanguru Energy Blend has the highest amount of caffeine at 96mg per serve (300mL can), which is roughly 1/4 of your caffeine limit for the day. Shine+ Better Energy has 80mg per 250mL serve, while the other five drinks have no added caffeine.

What about coffee and tea, aren’t they nootropic drinks?

Technically, yes! They’re easy to drink, taste great and are easily accessible for most people. Caffeine, found in coffee and tea, is classified as a nootropic because it provides mental stimulation. Tea also contains L-theanine in amounts ranging from 5.1–6.5mg per gram or 10.2–13g per serve (1 tea bag = 2g).

Are nootropic drinks healthy?

Sugar content

Only two of the drinks we tasted, Nexba and Mojo, were sugar-free, while three contained less than 4g (1 teaspoon) of sugar per 100mL. The Juice Lab’s Wellness Calm had the highest amount of sugar at 5.5g per 100mL followed by Arepa with 4.9g per 100mL.Ìý

Just one 300mL bottle of Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink provides nearly 30% of an adult’s maximum daily sugar intake (12 teaspoons). However, both Arepa and The Juice Lab drinks contain large amounts of fruit juice, which was the contributing factor to their higher sugar content.

Health Star Rating

The Health Star Rating (HSR) was not listed on any of the nootropic drinks we looked at, so we calculated it based on the nutritional information on the product labels. The calculated HSR for each of these drinks ranked from 2–4 stars, with Arepa scoring 4 health stars and No Ugly Skin having the lowest rating of 2.

Can you drink too much?

Like with any other caffeinated beverage, those who are caffeine sensitive, pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid or limit these drinks. Other ingredients may also be unsuitable if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, may interact with some medications, and may have recommended daily intake limits.

While the Arepa drink doesn’t contain caffeine, the website still states to cap your intake at no more than four drinks per day. It’s always a good idea to adhere to the limits stated on the label.

What time of day is best to drink these drinks?

As many nootropic drinks contain caffeine and/or other additives designed to cause mental stimulation, it’s best to avoid drinking them six hours before bedtime (depending on the person). On the other hand, others contain additives designed to calm you down such as chamomile, so you might not want to drink these when you need to be most awake and focused.

How we tested nootropic drinks

Products

ÌÇÐÄVlog staff ventured into the supermarket and bought any ready-to-drink packaged drink that was marketed as a nootropic or claimed to provide cognitive benefits. We chose seven different products available from national supermarkets Woolworths, Coles, IGA and online. Price is as purchased in stores and online in May 2022.

Tasting

All up 26 willing ÌÇÐÄVlog staffers tasted the seven different nootropic drinks. Drink samples were put into coded containers immediately before the test, and our staff tasted the drink samples ‘blind’ (without knowing the brands) before rating them.Ìý

Scores

The ÌÇÐÄVlog Score is made up of 90% taste (flavour – 50% , aftertaste – 30%, appearance – 10%, mouthfeel – 10%, and smell – 10%) as well as 10% nutrition (based on the product’s Health Star Rating, calculated from the details in the nutrition information panel and converted to a percentage).

The post Are nootropic drinks a brain-enhancing elixir? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

Here are some things you may not know about added sugar, including the way your favourite products may mislead you, and where the sweet stuff might be lurking.

1. It’s hiding where you least expect it

We know there’s plenty of sugar lurking in sweet drinks, desserts and confectionery. But it’s also hiding out in places you wouldn’t expect, such as children’s and baby food, savoury foods and ‘health’ foods.

It’s easy to get caught up in the marketing hype of claims such as ‘all natural’ and ‘made with real fruit’, but the sugar content of these products means they’re far from healthy.

Even savoury foods including pasta sauce, ready meals and flavoured chips that don’t taste sweet can contain added sugars. And don’t be fooled by ‘health’ foods: even products claiming to be ‘all natural’, ‘organic’ or ‘gluten free’ can be full of added sugars.

Case in point: Kiddylicious Strawberry Fruit Wiggles. They’re so bad we awarded them a Shonky in the 2021 ÌÇÐÄVlog Shonky Awards.Ìý

Judging by the package, many parents would think them a good option for their children.ÌýAfter all, they have no artificial additives and are gluten-free. They’re even suitable for kids (make that babies) as young as 12 months, according to the label.Ìý

They’re described on the pack as “made with real fruit”, but more than two thirds (69%) of each one of these wriggly little jellies is sugar. And although the product doesn’t contain added refined sugar, it’s still mostly made up ofÌýconcentrated fruit sugars that are devoid of the fibre and nutrients found in real fruit.Ìý

2. Fruit products are still considered to be ‘added sugar’

“Everyone knows that fruit is good for you, so putting descriptions on a food packet that liken a product to real fruit has the potential to be misleading,” says ÌÇÐÄVlog food and nutrition expert Rachel Clemons.

“What we’re finding is that manufacturers are disguising their added sugars as fruit content. For many consumers, the words ‘fruit juice’, ‘fruit puree’ and even ‘fruit concentrate’ don’t necessarily ring added sugar alarm bells. They think of fruit as being healthy. Which it is, until it’s processed and its sugars extracted in the form of purées, concentrates and juice to use as sweeteners in commercialÌýproducts. This is when it becomes ‘added sugar’.”

3. Sugar goes by many names on packaging

Sugar is sugar, right? But it’s called many different things on an ingredients list: cane sugar, brown sugar, glucose, brown rice syrup, or any one of the 60-plus names that manufacturers use for added sugars.

And since added sugars can be scattered throughout the ingredients list under several different names rather than grouped together, it can be hard to tell that added sugar is one of the main ingredients.

Intrinsic vs added sugars

You’d think that the nutrition information panel would offer some clarity when you’re standing in the supermarket aisle, but it doesn’t distinguish between intrinsic and added sugars. Intrinsic sugars are naturally occurring sugars found in dairy and intact/whole fruits and vegetables. Added sugars are all sugars that are harmful to health, including highly processed fruit ingredients such as pastes and concentrates, added during processing or cooking.

So it’s easy to misread the nutrition information for foods such as plain yoghurt that are high in natural sugars (lactose), and assume that they’re unhealthy.

4. We’re eating too much of it

OK, so you probably already know this, but we’re all still eating way too much added sugar.Ìý

In fact, more than half of all Australians consume more added sugar than the amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), with kids and teenagers eating the most: almost three-quarters of 9–18 year-olds exceed the recommendations. Teenage boys eat a whopping 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day, with some eating as much as 38 teaspoons per day. That’s a lot of soft drinks and junk!

The reality is that we’re doing ourselves harm: added sugar is linked to a range of potentially damaging health outcomes: weight gain, dental cavities, type-2 diabetes and possibly even depression.

That’s why it’s so important for people to tell easily how much added sugar is in the food they’re eating.

5. Australia doesn’t have regulations around added sugar labelling

Other countries have wised up to the fact that added sugar labelling makes a difference to people’s health, but Australia is lagging behind. Even the US – home of all that is super-sized – introduced regulations that food labels must display the amount of added sugar in a product.

The American Heart Association estimates that the added sugars label could potentially prevent nearly one million cases of cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes in the US over the next 20 years, as well as lowering healthcare costs.

Here at ÌÇÐÄVlog, we’ve long lobbied for clear and meaningful added sugar labelling on foods, so that consumers can make informed decisions about the products they buy. Our work goes on.

The post 5 things you didn’t know about added sugar appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• Clean labelling tricks
• How to be a savvy shopper

What is ‘clean label’ food? Although it means a range of things to different people, it basically refers to food or drink products made from a small number of natural, wholesome, easily recognisable ingredients.

The clean label trend, according to industry, is one of the biggest trends in food today, although it’s not a new concept.

For years, the advice for people wanting to choose healthier, less processed food was to look for products that list whole foods as the first few ingredients, and be skeptical of foods with long lists of ingredients – particularly ingredients you don’t recognise.Ìý

Or, as Michael Pollan suggested in his book In Defence of Food, don’t “…eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.”

You can take this advice as a rule of thumb. But is a ‘clean’ label a guarantee of ‘clean’ food?

Cashing in on consumer craving for natural foods

In an ideal world, we’d be able to take food labels at face value. But at the same time as consumers are increasingly looking for foods with labels that promise a more natural product, free from processed nasties – so too are manufacturers upping their ‘clean labelling’ game in an attempt to match their products to these consumer preferences.Ìý

From a food manufacturer’s point of view it makes good business sense to present their products as squeaky clean, if that’s what consumers are looking for.

But, rather than reformulate a product to make it ‘cleaner’ – for example, removing artificial additives and replacing them with a natural alternative, it’s easier to be clever with the labelling so that the product appeals to the unsuspecting clean food consumer. There are even training courses that teach food manufacturers how to do just that (staying within the confines of the law, of course).

Prefer not to be sucked in by marketing? Here are five clean labelling tricks of the trade for you to keep an eye out for next time you’re food shopping.

Clean labelling tricks

1. Make the most of a health halo

‘Natural’, ‘organic’ and ‘plant-based’ are generally thought to be positive attributes. So it’s not surprising that these types of claims are frequently used by food manufacturers for their halo effect, to persuade consumers that a product is healthier or better than other similar products.Ìý

‘Organic’ sugar from a nutritional standpoint is still just sugar, however. And ‘plant-based’ burgers can be excessively salty and have little in common with the plants they are derived from.Ìý But the health halo created by these claims can still entice consumers into paying a premium. So approach these claims with skepticism..

2. Make claims about what’s not in the productÌý

‘Fat free’. ‘No added sugar’. ‘Free from artificial colours and flavours’.

We’ve all seen these sorts of claims on the front of a pack. The premise here is to make a big deal about what’s not in the product, in order to distract from what’s actually in it. But just because a product doesn’t contain sugar, fat, GMOs or artificial additives, it doesn’t mean the product is natural (or good for you, for that matter).Ìý

This yoghurt (pictured) has ‘no added sugar’ but it does contain a long list of other ingredients, including polydextrose, thickeners, gelatine and artificial sweeteners, acesulphame potassium and sucralose, in addition to the milk and live starter cultures that form the basis of yoghurt.

And these lollies (pictured) may contain ‘no artificial colours’ but they’re still just sugar with a bunch of other food additives.

3. Describe ingredients in the best possible light

Some ingredients can be labelled in different ways, so it’s to the manufacturers advantage to use the name that sounds the most natural, or at least innocuous. Food additives are a case in point.

If you’re buying strawberry jam, for example, are you more likely to choose the one with ‘pectin’ or the one that contains ‘gelling agent (440)’? They’re actually the same ingredient, but to many ‘pectin’ may seem more familiar and natural – something you might actually have in your pantry. The same goes for ascorbic acid, otherwise known as vitamin C.

Food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) is another example. MSG has a bad reputation for triggering asthma in some people, and as a result many people actively avoid it. Manufacturers can (and often do, as per this chicken soup, pictured) instead choose to label it as ‘flavour enhancer 621’, which is arguably less identifiable and therefore not as likely to sound alarm bells.

Ingredient lists can also be used as marketing. ‘Madagascan vanilla extract’ (if that’s what they’re using) has a nicer ring to it than ‘vanilla flavour’. And why not throw in the word natural where you can – ‘natural thickening agent (Xanthan gum)’, anyone?

4. Avoid listing ingredients if you don’t have to

Some ingredients don’t need to be declared in an ingredients list, such as the ingredients that make a flavouring – just the word ‘flavouring’ or ‘flavour’ is permitted.Ìý

But also exempt from being labelled are the individual ingredients that make up a compound ingredient, if that compound ingredient makes up less than 5% of the finished productÌý – a technicality of food labelling laws that’s often referred to as the 5% loophole. (The exception is if an ingredient that makes up a compound ingredient is a known allergen, or a food additive which has a technological function in the final food).

A compound ingredient is an ingredient made up of two or more ingredients. An example of one that could be less than 5% of the final food is the tomato sauce (consisting of tomatoes, capsicum, onions, water and herbs) on a frozen pizza.

Of course food companies can choose to label those ingredients too, but why would they if they’re trying to refine their ingredients list? This 5% rule is particularly helpful if the compound ingredient is one that contains multiple additives – the label will look much ‘cleaner’ without them on it!

5. Be creative when listing ingredientsÌý

Ingredients need to be listed in order of ingoing weight on a food label. But if a food contains a compound ingredient there are ways to manipulate the list so that individual ingredients are more or less prominent as desired.

Food manufacturers have two options when listing compound ingredients:

• declare the compound ingredient by name in its appropriate place in the statement of ingredients and then list the ingredients of the compound ingredient in brackets after its name, orÌý
• declare all of the ingredients of the compound ingredient separately as if they were individual ingredients of the final food.

For a clean label, food manufacturers can choose the approach which makes the ingredients list look most wholesome and simple.

How to be a savvy shopper

To avoid choosing a food product that doesn’t live up to expectations, try the following:

• Take time to read the label. Rather than rely on front of pack visuals and claims, check that the ingredients list and nutrition information panel back these up.
• Know your additives nomenclature. If there’s a food additive you want to avoid, make sure to familiarise yourself with both its , as it can be labelled as either.
• Call out offending labels. If you think a food label is misleading or deceptive you can make a complaint about it to the relevant in the state where the food manufacturer/distributor is based, and they can take action if it doesn’t comply with the food standards code.

The post Does a ‘clean label’ mean better food? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• What does 'ultra-processed' mean?
• Other ingredients in ultra-processed foods
• Are ultra-processed foods bad for you?
• How 5 common whole foods become other foods

Much like ‘junk food’, ‘fast food’ and ‘convenience food’, the term ‘ultra-processed’ has made its way into our everyday lexicon to refer to food that’s unhealthy.Ìý

But what does it actually mean? How is ultra-processed food different from food that’s merely ‘processed’? And why is it so bad for you?

In this article we answer these questions, and we explore the food processing journeys for five popular foods: oats, chicken, peanuts, strawberries and tomatoes.

What does ‘ultra-processed’ mean?

There’s no standard definition of the term ultra-processed, but probably the best-known explanation comes from Nova, a food classification system developed by scientists in Brazil.Ìý

Nova classifies all foods and food products into four groups, and gives examples:Ìý

1. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods

Examples include nuts, seeds, rice and other grains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, eggs, fresh meat, fish and milk.

2. Processed culinary ingredients

Examples include oils, butter, salt, refined starches and sugar.

3. Processed foods

Examples include canned vegetables and legumes, salted or sugared nuts and seeds; salted, pickled, cured or smoked meats; canned fish, fruits in syrup, cheeses and freshly made bread.

4. Ultra-processed foods

Examples include carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, ice cream, chocolate, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads, biscuits, pastries, cakes, cereal bars, margarines and spreads, processed cheese, energy drinks, sugared fruit yoghurts and drinks, many pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets, sausages, burgers, hot dogs and other reconstituted meat products, and instant soups and noodles.

What is the Nova food classification system?Ìý

Nova is a system that the has promoted as a way of monitoring consumption of foods and their impact on the overall quality of a diet and their effects on health and disease.

Other ingredients in ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed foods, like processed foods, usually include one or more of the processed culinary ingredients above. But they also contain ingredients you’re less likely to have in your pantry.Ìý

Some of these are extracted from foods, such as casein, lactose, whey protein and gluten.Ìý

Others are obtained from further processing of food constituents, such as:

• hydrogenated oils, soya protein isolate, maltodextrin and high-fructose corn syrup
• additives such as food colours, flavour enhancers and non-sugar sweeteners
• processing aids such as anti-caking agents, emulsifiers and humectants.Ìý

A further distinction of ultra-processed foods is, of course, the processes they go through, such as hydrogenation, hydrolysation and extrusion, which wouldn’t happen in a domestic kitchen.

As the Brazilian researchers describe them: “These are not modified foods, but formulations mostly of cheap industrial sources of dietary energy and nutrients plus additives, using a series of processes (hence ‘ultra-processed’).”

Are ultra-processed foods bad for you?

Numerous studies have found that eating lots of ultra-processed foods is bad for your health. Research has linked a high intake with everything from obesity, depression and irritable bowel syndrome, to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and breast cancer.

Ultra-processed foods are often energy-dense, high in unhealthy types of fat, refined starches, added sugars and salt, and are poor sources of protein, dietary fibre and micronutrients.Ìý

They also tend to be attractively packaged, convenient and super tasty. As a result, it’s easy to eat too much of them, and they can displace natural or minimally processed (better for you) foods in our diet.

And our food supply is full of them. The in Sydney used an adapted version of the Nova classification framework to analyse 40,664 packaged foods in Australia. It found that about 60% would be classified as highly processed.

No wonder, then, that a key recommendation of the Brazilian dietary guidelines is to avoid ultra-processed foods and make natural or minimally processed foods the basis of your diet.

How 5 common whole foods become other foods

Food processing isn’t necessarily bad in itself. Any preparation we do to foods before we eat them – even peeling a carrot or barbecuing a sausage – is a form of processing.Ìý

And some processes have obvious benefits, such as freezing, fermentation and pasteurisation.Ìý

But, generally speaking, the further removed a food gets from its original state, the worse it is for you.Ìý

We take a look at oats, chicken, peanuts, strawberries and tomatoes on their journey from whole to ultra-processed, and see how this affects them nutritionally.

Oats

Wholegrain raw oats are harvested when the grain is fully grown and dry. Once you’ve removed the outer hull, you can use the oat kernels (groats) to make porridge, although they’ll take longer to cook than oats that have been processed further.

Rolled oats

These are made by steaming, flattening and drying oat kernels, a process that helps them cook faster. They still contain all three parts of the grain – bran, germ and endosperm – so they retain all their fibre and other nutrients.Ìý

The soluble fibre in oats means you digest them slowly, helping to keep your blood-glucose levels more stable. Soluble fibre also helps the body to reduce the amount of LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in your blood.Ìý

Steel-cut oats – oat kernels sliced into small pieces – are even less processed, but take a little longer to cook than rolled oats.

‘Quick’ or ‘instant’ oats

These are cut smaller, pressed thinner and steamed longer than rolled oats, which is why they cook faster. They’re still a whole grain but can be digested more quickly, which can affect your blood-sugar levels.Ìý

You can buy them plain, but more processed versions often contain added sugars (some more than 20%) and flavourings, among other ingredients. For more details see our porridge oats review.

Choc chip muesli bars

These are still a source of wholegrains and fibre. But their nutritional value plunges because of the various kinds of added sugars manufacturers pour into them during production to make them stick together.Ìý

Among the ingredients of the 11 bars we taste-tested in our choc chip muesli bar review, we found sugar, glucose, invert sugar, honey, raw sugar, glucose syrup, grape-juice concentrate, invert syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, partially inverted sugar syrup, molasses, brown sugar and caramelised sugar.

Chicken

During poultry processing, water is used for washing and chilling, and some water is absorbed by the skin or muscle tissue of carcasses.

Food standards stipulate that if chicken contains 5% or more water, it must be declared in the ingredients list (so we’re not unwittingly buying artificially plumped-up chicken).

Chicken mince

This is made by finely chopping muscle-meat trimmings with an electric mincer.Ìý

Store-bought mince should be 100% meat, no other ingredients added. But there are occasional reports of tests done by food-enforcement agencies that have detected the presence of the preservative, sulphur dioxide.Ìý

Manufacturers are allowed to add sulphur dioxide to a range of specified foods, including ham and sausages. But labelling is mandatory, and it’s illegal to add it to raw minced chicken, beef or lamb.

Chicken nuggets

Nuggets from the supermarket freezer are made from machine-formed chicken (usually breast or white meat, sometimes with skin added or marinated for extra flavour), dusted with flour, then battered or crumbed.Ìý

They contain oil and have often been generously salted. They may also contain a range of other ingredients, including maize starch, colours, soya protein isolate, thickener, hydrolysed vegetable protein, vegetable gums, acidity regulators, flavours, mineral salts and sugar.Ìý

You can make your own healthier chicken nuggets at home by chopping chicken breast or thigh fillets into chunks, coating in a seasoned flour, dunking in an egg or buttermilk mixture, and coating with bread crumbs.Ìý

Try seasoning the flour with herbs and spices rather than salt, and either cook them in an air fryer or oven bake them to minimise how much oil you need to use, if any. Use panko crumbs for a more golden colour.

Chicken soup mix

Dry-mix soup is a combination of desiccated ingredients – primarily salt, occasionally noodles, in many cases added sugar, flavour enhancers and vegetable oil, and a token proportion of vegetables and chicken.Ìý

The meatiest products in our chicken soup reviewÌýcontain 11% chicken. Nine of the 53 products we compared contain none at all – they’re just chicken-flavoured.Ìý

Peanuts

Peanuts, like other nuts, are a good source of protein (about 25%), healthy fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Once peanut plants are pulled out of the ground, they’re left to dry for a few days before the peanut pods are separated from the plant.

Roasted peanuts

Before packaging, peanuts are shelled, blanched to remove the skins, roasted in oil and often salted. Nutritionally, they’re similar to fresh peanuts in the shell, except for that added sodium.

Peanut butter

Some peanut butter sold in supermarkets is minimally processed – just ground peanuts, with or without salt – so you’ll need to stir it first.Ìý

But many brands on the shelf include additional oils (often hydrogenated), emulsifiers and stabilisers to stop the peanut butter separating. And about half contain added sugars. Our peanut butter review has more.

Peanut butter protein bars

Products vary, but in many protein bars the peanut butter is little more than flavouring.Ìý

Much of the protein in Aussie Bodies and Clif peanut-butter bars, for example, is from soy protein isolate, which is protein in powder form that has been extracted from the soybean and concentrated.Ìý

The first ingredient in the Clif bar is actually sugar, in the form of rice syrup, and the ingredients list of the Aussie Bodies bar is littered with non-nutritive sweeteners and other additives.

Strawberries

Once picked, strawberries don’t continue to ripen, so they need to be picked ripe. They contain dietary fibre and are a source of vitamins, particularly vitamin C, and minerals such as potassium.

Frozen strawberries

The benefit of freezing is that it preserves the nutritional value of a food, so frozen strawberries are pretty much as good for you as fresh ones are.Ìý

But strawberries also have a high water content and when they’re frozen this water expands. This ruptures their cell walls, so that when they defrost, they have trouble holding their shape and become soft and mushy. That’s why it’s best to eat them while they’re still partially frozen.

Strawberry jam

Whether it’s homemade or store bought, strawberry jam – essentially a 50:50 combo of strawberries and sugar, combined and heated until the mixture reaches a setting point – wouldn’t be considered healthy.Ìý

But at home you’d typically make jam using just fruit, sugar and lemon juice (possibly adding pectin to ensure it sets), whereas the ingredient list of a store-bought jam might also include firming agents or mineral salt such as calcium chloride, acidity regulators such as citric acid, glucose or fructose syrups, and non-nutritive sweeteners. See our strawberry jam review for details.

Strawberry roll up

To make a fruit leather, you pre-cook, purée then roll out the mixture to form a thin layer, before drying and cutting it out.Ìý

This might seem fairly wholesome – it’s 100% fruit, after all – but dried fruit is high in kilojoules, can stick to the teeth and increases the risk of dental decay, so it’s not something you should eat regularly.

Highly processed fruit roll-ups are even worse. The ingredients list of Uncle Tobys Strawberry Flavour Roll Ups, for example, reads: maltodextrin, concentrated fruit purée, sugar, soluble corn fibre, modified starch (1442), sunflower oil, apple juice concentrate, emulsifier (471), natural flavour, food acid (malic, citric), colours (anthocyanin, carbon black, turmeric) and vegetable gums (410, 415). Strawberry purée is just 1% of the total.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, niacin and lycopene (a plant nutrient with antioxidant properties), contain a variety of minerals that are beneficial to your health, and are a source of dietary fibre.Ìý

You can eat them raw or cooked, and in fact the lycopene content of tomatoes goes up when you heat them.

Canned tomatoes

Ripened tomatoes are picked, have their skins removed (usually through steaming or plunging in hot water), then sealed in a can with tomato juice or purée. The can is then held at temperature until the contents are sterilised, and the tomatoes get cooked in the process.Ìý

They’re often 100% tomatoes, but some canned tomatoes also contain salt and additives that include thickener and calcium chloride (a firming agent), so check the label.

Sundried tomatoes

You can make these at home by slicing tomatoes in half, seasoning them with salt and cooking them slowly on a low heat in the oven, or in a food dehydrator. To make them last longer, refrigerate or freeze them, or store them in a jar of olive oil with fresh or dried herbs.Ìý

Compared with fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes in oil have a higher sugar content, fewer vitamins (dehydrating leads to loss of water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C) and significantly more kilojoules.Ìý

Store-bought sundried tomatoes often have added sugar and preservatives too.Ìý

Tomato sauce

Although they’re made largely of tomato concentrate (plus sugars, salt, vinegar and various spices), tomato sauces can pack a lot of sugar and sodium into a tiny serving.Ìý

In our supermarket tomato sauce review, most of the 22 sauces were at least 20% sugar, and several contained more than 1200mg sodium per 100g.Ìý

Heinz Organic Tomato Ketchup, for instance, lists tomato concentrate as its first ingredient, but its second and third ingredients are sugar and salt.

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On this page:

• What is hemp?
• Nutrients in hemp
• Hemp health benefits
• Who should eat it?
• Which packaged food products offer the best hemp value?
• How to cook with hemp oil and seeds
• Hemp, chia and linseed compared

Since being legalised for consumption in Australia in late 2017, hemp has been appearing in more and more food products.Ìý

Not only can you buy hemp seeds, hemp oil or hemp flour to add to your own food, but these ingredients can also be found in a range of different packaged foods from burger patties, muffins, corn chips and soup sold in Coles and Woolies, through to flavoured water on the shelves of Dan Murphy’s.

Hemp has a reputation for containing a swathe of beneficial nutrients, and foods listing hemp as an ingredient tend to be of the healthy-sounding variety – such as protein bars, energy balls and kefir.

So does hemp live up to the hype?

What is hemp?

Hemp is a versatile crop grown worldwide, including in Australia. As well as its role as a food ingredient, its uses include the production of textiles, biodegradable plastics, paper, paint and biofuel.

Like marijuana, it belongs to the cannabis plant species (Cannabis sativa). The hemp permitted in food, however, is referred to as low-THC hemp – meaning it contains little or no THC (delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the cannabinoid in marijuana that has psychoactive properties – so you won’t get high from eating it.

Hemp has a distinctly nutty flavour, and its seeds and oil can be used in foods in the same way you would use other nuts, seeds and their oils.

Nutrients in hemp

Hemp seeds have an impressive nutritional resumé. They are:

• Protein rich.ÌýHemp seeds are about 30% plant protein, and contain the full suite of essential amino acids.
• A source of good-for-you polyunsaturated fats.ÌýHemp seeds are about 50% fat, roughly 80% of which is the polyunsaturated variety, including the plant omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid (LA).
• A source of dietary fibre.ÌýHemp seeds are about 5% fibre
• Packed with vitamins and minerals.ÌýHemp seeds contain vitamin E, B-group vitamins such as folate and thiamine, along with minerals including phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and iron.Ìý

Packs of hemp seeds typically suggest a serving size of 20–30g – about two to three tablespoons.Ìý

Values in the nutrition information panel on different packs can vary, but on average – according to the US Department of Agriculture FoodData Central – a 30g serve of hemp seeds gives you:

• 9.5g protein (about 17% of an adult’s recommended daily intake)
• 2.6g ALA omega-3 fatty acids ALA intake (247%)
• 1.2g dietary fibre (4%)
• 2.4mg iron (18%)

The many products that have hemp seeds added as an ingredient contain significantly less hemp than 30g. See Hemp products compared.

Hemp health benefits

With these stellar nutrition credentials, it’s not surprising that there are a range of health benefits claimed for hemp seeds and other hemp ingredients. So do those claims stand up to scrutiny?

Lisa Donaldson, accredited practising dietitian (APD) and spokesperson for the , told us “Health-related claims surrounding the benefits of consuming hemp seed include decreasing food cravings and intolerances, inflammation and blood pressure as well as improving digestion, immunity and energy levels (just to name a few!).

“However, there has been limited research conducted on humans to support these claims.”

What does the research show?

Donaldson mentions a small trial among 20 adults with atopic dermatitis. It found that having 20 mL/day of hemp-seed oil for eight weeks resulted in decreased subjective ratings of skin itchiness and dryness, dermal medication reliance and trans-epidermal water loss.

Another human research trial she points to found that supplementing the diet with about 20 g/day of hemp-seed oil, combined with evening primrose oil, was associated with improvements in a range of outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis, including relapse rate and movement ability.

According to Catherine Saxelby, accredited nutritionist and dietitian and founder of , “the most beneficial attribute of hemp is probably the high omega-3 content of its oil. However, the plant form of omega-3 isn’t well absorbed (particularly when compared to fish oil).”

So while the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids for cardiovascular health are well documented, the results of published research looking at the impact of hemp oil on cardiovascular risk factors are mixed.ÌýÌý

Who should eat it?

Anyone might want to add hemp to their food repertoire, but both Donaldson and Saxelby agree that hemp seeds are a particularly good choice for people following a vegan diet.

“Hemp expands [vegans’] list of protein-containing foods – especially as it can be used in a variety of different formats (including seeds and flour)”, explains Donaldson.

Saxelby points out that “hemp is free from soy, dairy and gluten so can also be beneficial for those with related allergies or intolerances, or allergies to other seeds (say linseeds).”

But this doesn’t necessarily mean you should add a big bag of hemp seeds to the trolley next time you’re out shopping.Ìý

“Hemp products may help you to reach daily intake recommendations of certain nutrients,” Donaldson says. “However, there are a variety of other inexpensive foods readily available in the market which will help you to achieve a similar outcome, therefore it all comes down to personal and taste preference.”

Which packaged food products offer the best hemp value?

If you’re still keen to up your intake of hemp, there’s no shortage of products around that boast hemp seeds as a feature. But be aware that the actual amount of hemp that’s in these products, can vary widely.

We took a snapshot of what’s on offer in supermarkets. The amount of hemp seed in the 20 products we found ranged from a token 0.24g per serve (The Collective Blueberry Hemp Kefir) up to a weightier 11.9g per serve (Tom & Luke Snackaballs Hemp Protein Triple Berry).

Most of these products contain a range of healthy-sounding ingredients, of which hemp is just one. But if the hemp is what’s appealing to you, the following products offer the best hemp value, with more than 8g hemp seeds per serve and costing less than 30c per gram of hemp:

• Tom & Luke Snackaballs Hemp Protein Triple Berry (11.9g hemp seeds per serve, $0.20 per gram of hemp)
• Grounded Garden Burger with Tofu & Hemp (8.8g, $0.28)

For products whose hemp content is significantly lower, it’s possible its addition is merely a marketing ploy to cash in on the “health halo” of so-called superfoods.

How to cook with hemp oil and seeds

The most cost effective way to include hemp in your diet is to buy hemp seeds and add them to food yourself. Hemp seeds cost between $0.04 and $0.08 per gram in the bags that we priced, which compares favourably to even the cheapest of the hemp-containing packaged products we priced in our snapshot.

You can also buy hemp as flaked seeds (sold as’ hemp hearts’), hemp flour, hemp oil, hemp milk and protein powder. Just bear in mind that, like most ingredients, the more ‘whole’ a food remains, the more nutrients it retainsÌý– the fibre content in particular will be lower in some of these formats than in whole hemp seeds.Ìý

Hemp has a nutty flavour, and can be used in a variety of ways, so you can just choose a format that works with the recipe you want to use.

A Google search will turn up endless recipes for cooking with hemp, but some suggestions from Donaldson and Saxelby include :

• Sprinkle some hemp seeds or hearts over your morning oats, muesli or yoghurt with fruit
• Blend up a smoothie with yoghurt, berries and hemp protein powder
• Scatter hemp seeds or hearts over a salad
• Experiment with hemp flour in baking recipes (use ¼ hemp flour combined with ¾ regular flour as a starting point)
• Add hemp seeds to a muesli bar recipe
• Drizzle hemp oil over a salad or use in a pesto (it’s not recommended for cooking because of its low smoke point, meaning it burns at a low temperature).Ìý

Hemp, chia and linseed compared

Hemp appears to be following the same trajectory to superfood status as chia. So how similar are their nutritional offerings? How do they compare with linseed (flaxseed), which is often sitting nearby on the supermarket shelves? And is one better for you than the others?

The chart below gives a breakdown, but in short:

• Hemp seeds are the protein heavyweights of the bunch
• Linseeds have the upper hand when it comes to omega-3 fatty acids
• Chia seeds pack a punch with fibre, and are a significant source of calcium

That said, they can all be useful additions to your diet because they offer a range of beneficial nutrients, in varying quantities – it’s not simply a case of picking the healthiest.

Why variety is vital

Nuts and seeds more broadly are rich in energy (kilojoules), offer protein and dietary fibre, and contain significant amounts of unsaturated fats, as well as a range of other nutrients. That’s why they play an important role in our diets, particularly those that are plant-based.

As Donaldson sums it up: “it’s best to choose a variety of healthy foods in the diet rather than focusing on one food because:

• All nutritious foods have their own unique contribution towards good health.

• A single food is not able to give you all the nutrients you need to stay healthy.

• A single food is not able to compensate for an otherwise unhealthy diet.”

The post Hemp in food – healthy, or just hip? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

Artificial sweeteners seem like an easy way to have your cake without looking like you’ve eaten it too.Ìý

But sweeteners have a problematic history, and the science is still out on whether they cause certain negative health effects. (Spoiler alert: experts are pretty certain they don’t cause cancer.)Ìý

How much sugar is OK?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that free sugars (known as ‘added sugars’ in Australia) make up less than 10% of your total energy intake. For an average adult consuming 8700kJ per day, that’s about 51g, or 13 teaspoons. Children generally have lower energy requirements, so should eat less than this.

Australians have trouble sticking to these recommendations. The average Aussie consumes 60g of sugar each day – around 14 teaspoons. Teenage boys have the highest intake, averaging 22 teaspoons per day, with some eating a whopping 38 teaspoons.

Most sugar comes from energy-dense, nutrient-poor ‘discretionary’ foods and drinks – aka ‘sometimes foods’. Aside from crowding nutritious foods out of our diets, sugar is linked to a range of potential negative health outcomes: weight gain, dental cavities, type 2 diabetes and possibly even depression.

Sugar in drinks our biggest source

Since just over half our added sugar intake comes from drinks, reducing our consumption of these is a good place to start.

“The reason for starting with drinks is that the body doesn’t register any fullness (satiety) from drinks that contain sugar, so people don’t eat less of something else when they consume them. For comparison, if you eat an extra slice of bread, you’re likely to eat a little less of something else,” says nutrition expert Dr Rosemary Stanton.

But before you reach for a diet soft drink instead of your usual sugary one, bear in mind that artificially sweetened drinks are still not great for your teeth. Whatever they’re sweetened with, soft drinks are still very acidic and can erode tooth enamel.

What are artificial sweeteners?

Artificial sweeteners, also known as non-nutritive sweeteners, are chemical additives that are sweeter than sugar but contain zero kilojoules/calories.Ìý

The most commonly used artificial sweeteners in Australia are Acesulphame K (additive number 950), Alitame (956), Aspartamine (951, e.g. Equal), Cyclamate (952), Neotame (961), Saccharin (954, e.g. Sweetex) and Sucralose (955, e.g. Splenda).Ìý

Other types of sweeteners include nutritive sweeteners which contain less energy than sugar but are not kilojoule-free (e.g. Fructose, Xylitol and Maltodextin) and natural sweeteners like Stevia, which is derived from a plant and contains no energy.

Are artificial sweeteners bad for you?

Concerns around artificial sweeteners tend to focus on whether they can cause cancer, weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular problems.Ìý

But government food regulators have repeatedly found artificial sweeteners to be safe, and the Cancer Council says there’s no clear evidence that artificial sweeteners cause cancer in humans.Ìý

A concluded there is no strong evidence linking artificial sweeteners to any positive or negative health outcomes – although the authors did note that there’s not enough evidence to rule out potential harm from long-term use, and further studies are needed.

Cancer and artificial sweeteners – what does the research say?

Since the first artificial sweetener, saccharin, was discovered in 1879, artificial sweeteners have been dogged by controversy. Aspartame in particular has been the subject of many studies, a conspiracy theory or two, and a particularly pervasive hoax. (Google ‘Nancy Markle’ if you’re up for an interesting read.) It’s been accused of causing a range of health effects, ranging from nausea and dizziness to cancer and multiple sclerosis.

While some studies have linked artificial sweeteners and cancer, many more studies have found them to be safe. Aspartame, for example, is one of the most exhaustively studied sweeteners, with more than 100 studies supporting its safety. Several studies claiming links with negative health effects have since been found to have significant flaws. However, negative press is difficult to shake, and artificial sweeteners have developed a bad name in some circles.

The dose makes the poison

Safety studies of artificial sweeteners generally involve administering massive doses to animals – doses far higher than people would consume.

From there, regulators set the acceptable daily intake (ADI) levels: the estimated maximum a person can safely consume every single day for an entire lifetime without appreciable risks to health. ADIs are about 100 times less than the smallest amount that might cause health concerns, and even people with the highest daily sweetener consumption generally don’t hit the ADI.

In Australia, the ADI for aspartame is 40mg per kilogram of body weight per day. A 375mL can of diet soft drink contains around 200mg aspartame, so a 75kg adult would need to drink almost 15 cans or 5.6L per day to exceed the ADI – a fairly unlikely scenario.

Research bias

If you’re tempted to get all science-y on artificial sweeteners and do your own digging, take what you read with a grain of salt. Part of the reason scientists can’t agree may have to do with who’s paying their bills.

“Reviews funded by artificial sweetener companies are about 17 times more likely to have results reporting that artificial sweetener use is associated with lower weight, or weight loss,” says Professor Lisa Bero from the University of Sydney, who co-authored a 2016 paper on research bias.

Research funded by competing industries (such as the sugar industry, which has a vested interest in people not using artificial sweeteners) is likely to draw unfavourable conclusions about artificial sweeteners, so you even need to be wary of research that’s anti-sweetener.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), the Australian food regulator, rigorously examines raw data from safety studies before approving anything for use. It also considers other research and consults government agencies and the public. FSANZ keeps an eye on what its international counterparts are doing, and says it will amend the ADI if new information comes to light.

Can artificial sweeteners help you lose weight?

It’s hard to say. One found that switching to low-calorie sweeteners results in modest weight loss and may help people manage their weight.Ìý

But a found that people who regularly consume sweeteners (both stevia and artificial sweeteners) may have a higher risk of weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular events.

AÌý that found there’s no strong evidence that artificial sweeteners have any effect on weight loss.Ìý

So while there’s still no consensus on the link between artificial sweeteners and weight loss, one may explain how artificial sweeteners could possibly lead to weight gain. ItÌýfound that sucralose significantly increased fruit flies’ calorie intake from other sources. The study concluded that artificial sweeteners could lead to glucose intolerance by interfering with gut bacteria, and that artificial sweeteners contribute to weight gain by causing people to eat more.

“We found that inside the brain’s reward centres, sweet sensation is integrated with energy content. When sweetness versus energy is out of balance for a period of time, the brain recalibrates and increases total calories consumed,” says Professor Greg Neely from the University of Sydney.

Artificial sweeteners and blood sugar

Unlike sugar, artificial sweeteners do not raise blood sugars in the short term. A 2018 study reviewing 29 research articles found that artificial sweeteners had no effect on blood sugars in the minutes and hours directly after consumption. Ìý

But new research is emerging that suggests regular consumption of artificial sweeteners may have negative effects on blood sugar regulation in the long term.

A 2020 study by a group of Yale researchers found that consuming the artificial sweetener sucralose and a carbohydrate at the same time alters the way the brain responds to glucose and can result in high blood sugar, a condition that increases the risk of diabetes. This effect was not present when the sweetener was consumed on its own. While further studies are needed, the researchers say their findings indicate that consumption of sucralose with a carbohydrate may disrupt the gut-brain system that controls glucose metabolism.

Other researchers have also suggested that artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body’s natural systems for regulating blood sugars, resulting in negative long-term effects.

A number of studies have found a link between the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages and type two diabetes, although there isn’t enough evidence to conclude that artificial sweeteners cause diabetes.

What are the side effects of artificial sweeteners?

While message boards and comment sections are full of claims that artificial sweeteners cause a range of immediate side effects from dizziness to depression, there’s not a lot of evidence to back this up.Ìý

However, there is some evidence that the artificial sweetener Aspartame may cause or exacerbate migraines and headaches for some people.

Nutritive sweeteners including Isomalt and the sugar alcohols Lactilol, Mannitol, Maltitol, Xylitol and Sorbitol may also have a laxative effect and cause wind and diarrhoea, especially when large quantities are consumed.

Diet Coke a pain in the arm?

“I switched from drinking Coke to Diet Coke when weight gain became an issue,” says ÌÇÐÄVlog member Kim, “and spent about 20 years drinking more and more Diet Coke per day until I was consuming over four litres of the stuff daily. My initial weight loss reversed and I got fatter and fatter over the years.”

Kim says she does overeat, but that this tendency has increased over time – which could be a cause of the weight gain or possibly the result of so much artificial sweetener, or a combination of both.

When Kim took a two-week break from Diet Coke, the chronic nausea she’d experienced for years disappeared. It returned as soon as she took up the habit again, so she cut back to four cans a day.

“At that point I noticed the chronic bursitis in my shoulder/upper arm went away, a result which even steroid injections had failed to achieve,” she says.

“Since then my tolerance for Diet Coke has dwindled to the point where even a single glass of the stuff triggers a return of the bursitis. I am presuming the aspartame is the cause of these symptoms, but it’s just a guess based on literature promoting the belief that this stuff is toxic.”

Other ÌÇÐÄVlog members say they avoid artificial sweeteners at all costs, while some use non-sugar sweeteners to reduce sugar consumption or help manage health issues such as diabetes. Several members said negative press and recent research has left them suspicious of artificial sweeteners.

How to spot artificial sweeteners

If you’re not sold on artificial sweeteners, the best way to avoid them is by studying the ingredients list. Generally, anything labelled ‘diet’, ‘sugar-free’ or ‘low-calorie’ probably contains a non-sugar sweetener.

The most commonly used artificial sweeteners in Australia

These are the artificial sweeteners you’re most likely to encounter in your food in Australia, plus their additive numbers and some examples of products in which you’ll find them.Ìý

Alternatives to sugar and artificial sweeteners

Nutritive sweeteners

Nutritive sweeteners are based on different types of carbohydrates and are often listed as ‘modified carbohydrates’. Nutritive sweeteners contain far fewer kilojoules than sugar, but they’re not completely kilojoule-free.

Examples include sugar alcohols such as xylitol (additive number 967), sorbitol (420), mannitol (421) and erythritol (968). They’re difficult to digest, so impact blood sugar less than normal sugar, but eating too much can cause flatulence and diarrhoea. They don’t react with oral bacteria to form plaque and cavities, so they’re more tooth-friendly than sugar.

Natural sweeteners

‘Natural’ sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit (luo han guo) are gaining ground, likely in response to suspicion of ‘artificial’ sweeteners. Stevia is 250 to 300 times sweeter than sugar, but doesn’t have negative effects on blood sugar levels, and may even help control them.

But even though they come from natural sources, they’re still potentially problematic – and often aren’t as natural as they appear. “Stevia is added to food as purified steviol glycosides – so it’s not entirely ‘natural’,” says Stanton.

Neely says he wouldn’t be surprised if ‘natural’ sweeteners have similar affects on appetite as artificial sweeteners. Sweetness signals that an energy hit is on the way; when that energy doesn’t arrive, we seek out those ‘missing’ kilojoules elsewhere. “It doesn’t matter if a plant made it accidentally or if a factory made it on purpose,” he says – a sweetener is a sweetener.

‘Healthier’ sugar alternatives

If you’ve ever searched for healthy baking recipes online or checked the ingredients lists in the health food aisle, you’ve likely come across natural sugar alternatives. Products like honey, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar and molasses are often touted as being better for your health. According to Stanton, they have no nutritional advantages over regular sugar, although they may have slightly differing amounts of glucose and fructose. “They do not retain any of the nutritional virtues of the original product,” she says.

“They are basically just ‘sugar’ and have been extracted and sold in concentrated form.”

Although they may sound healthier, these products are still considered ‘added sugar,’ so keep an eye out for them on food labels and don’t go overboard when using them for home cooking.Ìý

How to quit sugar and other sweeteners

While sugar replacements reduce kilojoules, they don’t actually address people’s preferences for sweet foods. “I consider one of the major reasons for not going from sugar to artificial sweeteners is that they will continue to feed the desire for sweet tastes,” says Rosemary Stanton.

“One example that I often use is when people stop taking sugar in their tea (or coffee), they lose the liking for sweet tea (or coffee). Indeed, if you give someone a cup of sweetened tea when they no longer take sugar, they usually dislike the taste so much that they can’t drink it. However, if they had instead switched to artificial sweetener, their liking for sweet tea would not have abated in this way.”

Tips to curb your sweet addiction

Sweeteners generally replace sugar in discretionary foods which have little nutritional value. Reducing discretionary foods, regardless of what they’re sweetened with, leaves more room in your diet for nutritious foods.

If you reduce your need for sweetness, you reduce your intake of both sugar and artificial sweeteners. It’s boring advice, especially compared with fads that promise fast results, but the best approach is to stick to whole foods, as unprocessed as possible, and have everything in moderation.

Try a two-pronged approach: replace sugary foods and drinks with unsweetened substitutes, and slowly cut down on the amount of sugar you use.

Stanton suggests:

• “For those who like fizzy drinks, use sparkling mineral water with mint and a couple of slices of lime or lemon.”
• “With tea and coffee, if you take two teaspoons, go for one and a half, then decrease to one, then half, and you generally find your tastebuds adjust.”
• “For other foods with sweeteners, for example confectionery, I’d recommend not buying these as a regular thing. Have some fruit instead – blueberries or strawberries are a good alternative for lollies. Or have a few nuts. Lots of studies show that when people eat nuts, they usually eat less of other foods as nuts are particularly filling.”

Other things to remember

• Just because it’s a ‘diet’ product doesn’t mean you can eat twice as much of it!
• Nutrition information panels can be helpful, but they only list total sugar, not added sugar.
• Sugar can be listed under 43 different names. Don’t get caught out by healthier-sounding sugars like panela and turbinado.
• Focusing on one dietary component like sugar can mean we make poor choices when it comes to other dietary components. It’s important to look at your whole diet.

The post Artificial sweeteners vs sugar appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

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• Kombucha recipe

So what is it, is it good for you and is all kombucha created equal? We cut through the spin and answer the burning questions about this fashionable ferment. Plus, a kombucha recipe for those who want to make it at home.

What is kombucha?

Kombucha is a drink traditionally made by fermenting sweetened tea with what’s referred to as a scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast).Ìý

During the fermentation process, the yeast converts the sugar in the tea to alcohol and the bacteria convert that alcohol to organic acids (such as acetic acid). What results is a refreshing, lightly effervescent and slightly sour drink, not unlike sparkling apple cider.Ìý

Commercial kombucha is available in a range of flavours including ginger, lemon, raspberry and passionfruit.

Much of its appeal lies in its low sugar content and its reported health benefits – preventing various types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases and stimulating the immune system to name just a few.

Kombucha benefits

With all the hype, it’s reasonable to wonder if kombucha is something we should all be drinking on a regular basis. There are many reported beneficial effects of kombucha, and producers’ websites are often liberally sprinkled with testimonials from customers who claim to feel better for drinking it. Some brands even suggest you should drink a bottle each day to enjoy the benefits.

In a poll we ran on Ìýback in 2017, 79% (of 47 voters) said they drink kombucha for the health benefits.Ìý

Community member paulcg3 told us, “It appeals for its sherbet-y taste, potential for probiotics to reduce bloating, improve mood and avoid sugar.”Ìý

“We have it for its gut benefits,” says Narelle.Ìý

And according to Iccopes, who has allergies and intolerances in her family, “the benefits in our wellbeing by drinking kombucha [are] outstanding.”

Kombucha certainly has a lot going for it.Ìý

• It contains a live culture of bacteria and yeast, which can act as a probiotic. Probiotics are live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host. Studies have shown probiotics can improve digestion, help protect against disease and enhance immune function.
• The fermentation process produces organic acids (including acetic acid), which among other benefits have been shown to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria including Salmonella, Bacillus cereus, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
• It’s made from tea, which contains a particular variety of polyphenols (naturally occurring plant chemicals) known as catechins. These have strong antioxidant properties and can protect or act against cancer, tumours and unwanted genetic changes.

There’s no doubt that kombucha is a potential source of a wide range of bioactive components. But the composition of the products you buy can vary widely depending on the microorganisms present in the culture, the fermentation time and temperature and the type and quantity of tea and sugar used. And whether those bioactive components make it into our gut in sufficient numbers to have a beneficial impact is up for debate.Ìý

CSIRO senior research scientist Dr Michael Conlon, who specialises in diet and gut health, told us, “The health potential of probiotics more generally can vary depending on the number and type of microbes, what you consume them with, and the composition of your own gut microflora. It’s likely the number of microbes in kombucha would be much lower than what you might see in a commercial probiotic product.”Ìý

He added that “fermentation generates certain types of acid and other bioactive compounds that can be beneficial, but whether they get through to the large bowel so that a benefit can be gained is unknown.”

Studies regarding the claimed benefits of kombucha have largely been carried out on animals, and according to Conlon, “there’s a lack of scientific evidence from human clinical trials to support the claims, and more research is needed.”Ìý

Is it low in sugar?

A standard kombucha recipe requires you to add sugar to tea, but the bulk of the sugar is consumed by yeast during the fermentation process, with the amount remaining depending on how long it’s left to ferment.

Strictly speaking, a drink must have 2.5g sugar or less per 100mL to be considered low sugar, according to the Food Standards Code. And the sugar content per 100mL of the bottled kombucha products we came across ranged from less than 0.1g (Remedy Kombucha) up to 3.8g (Parker’s).Ìý

But while not every kombucha can make a ‘low sugar’ claim, even the sweetest compares favourably with the usual suspects in supermarket and cafe drink cabinets: Coca-Cola (10.6g sugar per 100mL), The Daily Juice Company Orange Juice (8.2g), Gatorade (6g), Lipton Mango Ice Tea (5.5g), Glaceau Vitamin Water (4.3g) and evenÌýCocobella Coconut Water (4.2g).

Sugary drinks provide excess kilojoules which can cause weight gain and obesity, eventually leading to health problems such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. So the increased availability of lower sugar alternatives such as kombucha in drink cabinets – and more people making a switch to these options – can make a real difference. For someone with a Coke-a-day habit (for want of an extreme example), swapping it for a kombucha could reduce their annual added sugar consumption by as much as 12.7kg.

So should I drink it?

Kombucha may be touted as ‘an immortal health elixir’ and a ‘living superfood’ that’s ‘rich in antioxidants and acids’. But while the potential for beneficial health properties is evident, there’s no guarantee that these features directly translate into actual health benefits, or even that drinking it will ‘make you feel great’. And a claim that ‘it harmonises your body, mind and spirit’ is clearly puffery.Ìý

But if you like the taste or you’re looking for an interesting alternative to alcohol or sugary soft drinks – and you don’t mind the price tag (about $6–12 per litre in the supermarket) – kombucha is definitely worth a try.

Is kombucha alcoholic?

Some alcohol remains in kombucha after the fermentation process, but it’s usually in trace amounts – and certainly if it’s sold as a soft drink it needs to comply with state-based alcohol legislation (less than 0.5% alcohol by volume in Victoria and Queensland, less than 1.15% elsewhere) and labelled with its alcohol content if it’s between 0.5 and 1.15%. Ìý

Kombucha’s minimal alcohol content can be a major drawcard.

“I drink Kombucha as an alternative option to drinking alcohol,” says ÌÇÐÄVlog.Community member Amanda Adams.Ìý“The non-alcoholic options can be limited in pubs and bars and I can’t stand drinking soft drink and juice and there is only so many glasses of sparkling water you can enjoy!”Ìý

It may be very low in alcohol, but its tart, lightly acidic flavour profile and palate-cleansing properties make it a drink that readily complements food, much like wine. Community member babbrook told us, “We have both reduced at-home alcohol consumption (wine) significantly and enjoy mostly fresh fruit steeped infusions… It seems to go very well with food.” Some producers create menus pairing their kombuchas with different food items.Ìý

But controlling the fermentation to achieve a product with just enough acidity and sweetness, and ensuring the alcohol content meets state-based regulations is a balancing act, one that’s particularly tricky when producing on a larger scale. And there are instances where this balance was out of kilter and products have been recalled from sale.

Major US grocery chain Whole Foods Market recalled all kombucha products on its shelves in 2010, including multimillion-dollar brand leader GT’s Kombucha, when samples tested were found to be more alcoholic than labelled. And more recently Australian producer Buchi recalled its kombucha drinks from stockists due to it containing alcohol at potentially intoxicating levels. Ìý

Because of this potential for the overproduction of alcohol when manufacturing non-alcoholic brewed beverages, the Victorian government has produced guidance on the safe production of brewed and fermented soft drinks, which includes testing the alcohol content of every batch produced.

Choosing store-bought kombucha

There’s currently no standard definition for kombucha, so what’s sold can vary widely. And with producers scaling up their production to meet increased demand, the drink you buy may only bear a passing resemblance to a kombucha made in small batches to a traditional recipe.

We reviewed the labels of a range of kombucha products sold in Coles and Woolworths and surveyed Australian kombucha producers – both large and small – to see how their operations and products differed. To get an idea of what to expect, we suggest you check the label – or ask the producer – for the following information:

• Is it made from a scoby? One way to check is to look for floaty bits, which are likely to be parts of the live culture. The words ‘kombucha extract’ on an ingredients list, as seen on the label of The Bucha Shop bottles, puts a question mark over how traditional its recipe is.
• Does it need to be refrigerated? Refrigeration prevents further fermentation, which can affect the taste and produce more alcohol. If the kombucha you buy doesn’t require refrigeration it may have been pasteurised. While this can help control the alcohol content and extend shelf life, the drink will likely have fewer active microorganisms as a result. Unless it’s pasteurised, refrigerating kombucha before (as well as after) opening is always a good idea. Even if it has been filtered to reduce the yeast content and stabilise alcohol content there’s a chance that any remaining yeast – along with the other microbes present – can grow and/or be active at warmer temperatures, which could pose a health risk.
• Is the alcohol content tested regularly?ÌýHerbs of Life measures its kombucha’s alcohol content once a year, and told us, “The recipe guide we adhere to in-house ensures the product we produce always complies with alcohol standards for non-alcoholic beverages in Australia.” All other companies that responded to our survey test the alcohol content of each batch.
• Does it contain added sweeteners? One of the core ingredients needed to make kombucha is sugar, but this is largely used up during fermentation. Some products we came across contain non-nutritive sweeteners erythritol and stevia that make the kombucha taste sweeter without adding kilojoules, which may or may not appeal depending on your stance on added sweeteners.Ìý
• Does it make outrageous health claims? Therapeutic claims aren’t permitted on foods, and if a company wants to state on the label that its kombucha has a specific health effect, the claim has to be one of those pre-approved under the Food Standards Code, and the product must meet certain conditions. If a product makes a claim that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Is kombucha safe?

Kombucha is considered by (FSANZ) to be a traditional food, meaning it doesn’t require pre-approval and there are no specific quality controls or manufacturing practices for it, other than the general requirement under the Food Act that it be safe and suitable.

When FSANZ considered it for novel food status back in 2004, it was noted that although adverse effects had been published in the scientific literature these were attributed variously to the growth of pathogenic bacteria or moulds, pre-existing health problems, excessive consumption or fermentation in containers with high lead surfaces. There had been no reports of illness associated with kombucha made from commercially supplied scobys or commercially prepared ready-to-drink kombucha. It was determined that kombucha tea – prepared under sterile conditions, fermented for the recommended time in an appropriate container, and consumed at a reasonable level – was safe.

We asked enforcement agency the if it had come across any issues regarding kombucha and a spokesperson told us, “While these forms of fermented foods are considered lower risk, if they are not prepared correctly they may present a higher risk. There are a relatively small number of manufacturers producing these types of brewed soft drinks, however their popularity is increasing and with the growth in popularity and subsequent commercialisation of these products there is work underway nationally to better understand some of these emerging foods and promote best practice with manufacturers.”

In 2019, kombucha products from Aldi and LoBros were recalled from shelves as they were found to contain high levels of pressure, potentially resulting in the cap popping off and causing injury.

Kombucha recipe

Want to make kombucha at home? There’s no shortage of recipes on the internet, but here’s a simple one from our home economist, Fiona Mair, to get you started.

All you need is tea, sugar and a kombucha scoby (which you can buy from online retailers, health food stores or get from a friend who brews their own kombucha).

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (white or raw)
• 3 litres water (filtered if possible), boiled
• 5 tea bags (black or green), or the equivalent in loose-leaf teaÌý
• 1 kombucha scobyÌý
• 1 cup kombucha liquid from a previous batchÌý

Method

1. Add the sugar and water to a large saucepan and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the tea and allow to steep until the liquid has cooled to room temperature (30-60 minutes approximately).
2. Remove the tea bags, then pour into a large, sterilised glass jar or bottle and add the scoby and kombucha liquid. Cover with a clean tea towel and secure with string or a rubber band.
3. Keep in a warm, dry place (the preferred temperature for kombucha brewing is 24C-32C) away from direct sunlight for 7-10 days. During this time, a new scoby should start forming on the surface of the liquid
4. After seven days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle.
5. Gently set aside the scoby, along with one cup of the liquid, for a subsequent batch. Pour the kombucha (straining using a coffee filter or plastic sieve, if desired) into bottles using a small funnel. Leave about a half inch of head room in each bottle. Your fermented kombucha is now ready to drink.Ìý

ÌýNotes

• Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and consume your kombucha within a month.
• For flavoured kombucha, before bottling infuse the kombucha with flavorings (eg pineapple juice, mint leaves, grated fresh ginger) for a day or two in another covered jar, strain, and then bottle.

The post Is kombucha good for you? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

Chia seeds found their way onto our supermarket shelves around 10 years ago. Their arrival came with a great deal of chatter about the enormous health benefits locked inside the tiny seeds.Ìý

Around this time, kale was becoming a staple in the fridge of the health-conscious and chia seeds had some stiff competition with the emergence of other superfoods, such as acai berries, goji berries and wheatgrass.Ìý

But while barely anyone’s suffering through morning wheatgrass shots anymore, it seems chia seeds have endured.Ìý

They’re still finding their way into our ready-made snacks, such as health bars, breads, microwaveable rice, breakfast pods and cereals.Ìý

And they’ve lost no favour as a whole ingredient, either, as we happily add them to our breakfast smoothies, yoghurt, and baked goods.Ìý

So what’s given chia seeds an edge in the ever-changing realm of superfoods? And do they really deserve their superfood status?

What are chia seeds?

Chia seeds are derived from the desert plant Salvia hispanica L, a member of the mint family and native to Central America. Reportedly first used by the Aztecs, chia is sometimes labelled as an ancient grain, joining the likes of quinoa, amaranth, kamut, freekeh and spelt.Ìý

These versatile black or white seeds can be eaten raw or added to dishes. And although tiny, they’re said to pack a hefty nutritional punch.Ìý

Along with quinoa and amaranth, chia has also been classed as a ‘pseudocereal’ – a non-grass plant whose seed can be ground into flour and otherwise used as cereal.Ìý

When the Aztec civilisation disappeared, so did chia. Now one of the world’s biggest chia producers is right here in Australia, in the Kimberley region of northern WA.

Are chia seeds good for you?

There’s a lack of definitive evidence for many of the health claims around chia seeds.ÌýWith this in mind, it’s best to include chia seeds as a part of a balanced diet to ensure you’re gathering daily sources of fibre, fats, protein and nutrients from a range of foods.

“There aren’t many published studies on the health benefits of consuming chia seeds, and much of the available information is based on animal studies, or human studies with a small number of research participants,” warns Charlene Grosse, accredited practising dietitian and spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia.Ìý

Chia seeds and omega-3

Chia seeds do have an unusually high content (18%) of omega-3 fatty acids. These are a group of essential fats that are important for heart health and brain function. But of the 30% total fat found in chia seeds, more than half is alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which is the plant form of omega-3.Ìý

However, you can’t always take the marketing of chia at face value. Claims the product has more omega-3 than salmon – while possibly accurate – doesn’t give the full picture, as the form of omega-3 in marine sources, such as seafood and algae, is more readily used by the body. However, if you’re not a fish-eater, chia is a good source of omega-3.

Fibre-friendly chia

Chia seeds are a great way to boost your daily fibre intake as they have an outstanding fibre content. Chia has around 30% dietary fibre, which is higher than that of flaxseeds (linseed) or sesame seeds, and works out to be about 10g in 2 tablespoons (which would make a significant contribution to the 25–30g Australians are recommended to consume daily).Ìý

Pack a protein punch with chia

These little seeds are also an excellent source of high-quality protein making them a great addition to a vegetarian or vegan diet. They’re also extremely high in calcium – at 631mg per 100g, this is five times the level in milk.Ìý

Or, put another way, just 3 tablespoons of chia seeds has as much calcium as a glass of milk (although it may not be so readily absorbed). In any case, chia seeds are a good source of calcium for the lactose intolerant or vegan among us.

Mineral and antioxidants in chia seedsÌý

Chia is also a source of other important minerals including iron, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B1 and B3, and zinc. The seeds also have a high antioxidant content, shown to fight the production of free radicals that lead to inflammation and disease.

Chia for cardiovascular health

There has been limited research with mixed results on whether including chia seeds as part of a healthy diet may help improve cardiovascular risk factors, such as lowering cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure.

Eating chia seeds for weight loss

Although chia has been spruiked as a tool for weight loss, these claims are minimally researched and yet to be proven. The claim that chia helps you to feel fuller for longer is likely more valid, due to the seeds’ high fibre and protein content, which in theory, makes you less likely to overeat.

So, are chia seeds a superfood?

Given these impressive nutrition credentials, it’s not surprising that chia is commonly spruiked as a superfood. Eating chia as part of a nutritionally balanced diet will certainly do you no harm and will likely give great benefits.

Chia can potentially help to improve joint, heart and brain health; help achieve weight management; and provide longer-lasting energy, among other benefits.Ìý

It’s also a great way to help fill nutritional gaps for vegans, vegetarians, and people who have restricted diets and/or food intolerances.

How to eat chia seeds

Perhaps the reason chia seeds have survived beyond a fad is down to their flexibility.Ìý

For the range of touted health benefits per serve, they’re fairly easy to incorporate into your daily menu.Ìý

Add just a few tablespoons to water, yoghurt or coconut milk and you’ve boosted your daily fibre and protein quotas.Ìý

Here are a few ideas to kickstart your chia consumption.

How to make chia pudding

Chia puddings are one of the most popular ways to enjoy chia as the seeds absorb liquid quickly, swelling to create a pudding-like consistency.Ìý

Puddings are simple to make and you can add a range of flavours, fruits and other ingredients to suit your tastes.Ìý

Make them as indulgent or wholesome as you like, adding anything from chocolate to yoghurt.Ìý

Try adding 2 tablespoons of chia to half-a-cup (125ml) of your chosen liquid, such as coconut milk, almond milk or cow’s milk.Ìý

As chia seeds have a very mild, nutty flavour, you may like to add honey or maple syrup, spices such as cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, and chopped seasonal fruit to pump up the excitement factor.Ìý

Sprinkle with slivered almonds or toasted coconut and pop in the fridge for up to three days.Ìý

Chia puddings are great for breakfast, a snack, or healthy dessert: you can make a batch in individual glass jars and simply grab one from the fridge as you head off to work.

How to add chia to smoothies and drinks

From smoothies to detox drinks and even iced teas, add chia seeds to your beverage of choice for a little crunch and nutritional punch.Ìý

A good ratio to begin with is 3 tablespoons of chia seeds to 2 cups (500ml) of liquid. You could use 1 cup of your favourite juice combined with 1 cup of water, or even herbal tea.Ìý

Play around to find the consistency you like best, from watery to almost gel-like, by adding more chia or liquid.

Add chia to baked treats

Give your baked treats a boost of the good stuff by adding chia seeds to everything from banana bread to biscuits.Ìý

Depending on your preference, you can either choose to leave the seeds whole or grind them to a powder.Ìý

This is purely a textural choice, as the benefits of chia remain the same either way.Ìý

Try adding a tablespoon of chia to your favourite cake batter, pancake mix, cookie dough, or make chia the star of your energy bars.

Are chia seeds gluten-free or vegan?

Yes. The great thing about chia seeds is that they’re easily incorporated into most diets, whether you’re gluten-intolerant, vegetarian or vegan. And whether you choose black or white seeds, there’s no difference to nutritional benefit or flavour. As chia seeds become quite gelatinous when added to a liquid, they’re even suitable to use as an egg substitute in baking – an added plus for vegans.

Chia oil vs chia seeds

Chia seed oil can be consumed or used topically as a beauty product. The Chia Co make a cold-pressed oil that can be used to make a salad dressing or drizzled over roasted vegetables and soups. It has a mild, unobtrusive flavour and is a good way to add healthy oil to a meal. However, it’s not great to heat, so don’t start stir-frying with it.Ìý

When it comes to beauty, there are a dizzying array of chia oils available all touted to improve your skin tone and appearance. Beauty brands spruik chia oil to help fight inflammation, dryness and even ageing, but research remains thin on the ground for now.

Should we be eating more chia?

Some people can certainly benefit from eating more chia. “For those needing to increase their daily fibre and/or omega-3 intakes, consuming chia as part of a healthy balanced diet can be a way to achieve this,” says Grosse.Ìý

For people eating strict vegetarian (or vegan) diets in particular, for whom nuts and seeds play an important role as an alternative to meat, fish and eggs, chia’s fat profile, protein and calcium content make it a valuable option. Chia ticks some nutritional boxes, and its versatility is a bonus. But for most of us, the main benefit of including chia in our diet is to increase variety and add to the range of nutrients we consume.

Where to find chia seeds

Products with added chia are readily available in supermarkets. If it’s the omega-3 you’re after, the ones we checked out that mention omega-3 on their packaging are all reasonable sources, containing at least 200mg of ALA per serving.Ìý

It’s a good idea to check the label, as chia may appear in the name of a product, but the quantity of omega-3 doesn’t rate a mention on the label. This makes us wonder if it’s in there in any significant quantity.Ìý

While there are reasons other than nutrition for including chia in food – texture, for example – be aware that its addition to packaged foods can be a marketing ploy to cash in on the “health halo” of so-called superfoods.Ìý

You can find whole seeds for adding to your own recipes at most supermarkets and health food stores. You’ll find a vast catalogue of chia seed recipes on the internet, from salads to muffins, pizza bases to jams.Ìý

The post Chia seeds – superfood or fad? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

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• ÌÇÐÄVlog verdict: Improvements needed, and system should be mandatory

New research from ÌÇÐÄVlog highlights the value of Health Star Ratings (HSRs) in helping people see beyond persuasive – and sometimes misleading – marketing to find healthier options among similar food products. The results add weight to calls to make Health Stars mandatory.

With such a dizzying array of foods on supermarket shelves,Ìý it can be overwhelming trying to choose those that are better for us – even among what appear to be relatively healthy products.Ìý

Add to this time pressures; an overload of labelling detail including ingredients lists, nutrition information panels and nutrition claims; or shopping with small children – and it’s clear that having a system that provides a simple, meaningful health rating is essential.

HSRs were developed to help consumers make informed food purchases and healthier eating choices at a glance. And the results of our recent survey further demonstrate how they help – and why the system needs to be strengthened.

Read on for four things we learned from our survey, or jump to our verdict on what needs to change about Health Star Ratings.

1. When Health Star Ratings aren’t present, consumers are far less likely to accurately identify less healthy products

We showed survey participants a range of different food products and asked them to rate the products as ‘very healthy’ to ‘not at all healthy’ based on the images and information that appear on the pack, but we only revealed the products’ HSRs to half the participants.ÌýÌý

Carman’s Oat Slice Cranberry & Blueberry

Without seeing the HSR, almost three out of four (74%) people said this Carman’s Oat Slice Cranberry & Blueberry is healthy, compared with 41% when its rating of 1.5 was provided.

On pack claims:Ìý

• Real food made with real passion
• Real fruit
• Source of whole grain
• Source of fibre
• No artificial colours or flavours
• Baked

Table of Plenty Mini Rice Cakes Milk Chocolate

Without seeing the HSR, 43% of people considered Table of Plenty Mini Rice Cakes Milk Chocolate to be healthy, compared with just 19% when its rating of 1 was provided.

On pack claims:

• 69 calories per pack
• Gluten free
• Nothing artificial
• No Palm Oi

2. Health Star Ratings help people determine the healthiness of a product.

Without HSRs, people disproportionately rely on marketing claims.

We asked participants how easy or difficult they found it to rate the healthiness of the products.Ìý

• Of those who found it easy, the HSR was cited by 65% as being the reason.Ìý

• Of those who saw the HSRs, around half (52%) also took into consideration the marketing on pack, including product descriptions and images, to assess a product’s healthiness. When HSRs weren’t shown, this number rose to 75%.Ìý

3. People struggle to compare like products effectively when some have Health Star Ratings and others don’t.

People were asked to select the healthiest option from a selection of like products across different categories, with some products within each category displaying HSRs and others not.Ìý

Brand perception

When products didn’t display HSRs, people disproportionately relied on brand perception in order to make a decision about the healthiness of a product.Ìý

Weight Watchers Macadamia & Cranberry has an HSR of 2, which isn’t displayed on pack. Still, around half (49%) chose it as as the healthiest option from a selection of four snack bars (including a product with an on-pack HSR of 5), based on their perception of the brand.

The role of images

Without the guidance of an HSR, consumers also relied upon their understanding of the ingredients and pictures on the pack.Ìý

For example, when asked to select the healthiest option from a range of coconut flavoured yoghurt products all without HSRs on pack, three out of five respondents (63%) weren’t able to.

Linda Przhedetsky, ÌÇÐÄVlog policy and campaigns adviser, says, “Manufacturers are picking and choosing when and where to display Health Stars. This approach is confusing, and leaves too many sugar-laden, unhealthy options on our shelves without appropriate labelling.”Ìý

“Ministers have to stop manufacturers from gaming the system by making them display the star rating on all of their products,” she adds.

4. People are using the Health Star Rating system

Finally, we asked survey participants about their trust in and use of the HSR system. Overall we found that it’s well-known and utilised. It plays an important role in influencing people’s food choices, and encourages them to make healthier choices. Our survey results showed that:

• Three quarters (75%) of those that have used HSRs trust the system quite a lot or a great deal.
• More than three out of every five (62%) respondents have used HSRs to influence their choice of food.Ìý
• One in four (25%) have chosen a product with a HSR displayed on pack versus those that don’t have a HSR on pack.

ÌÇÐÄVlog verdict: Improvements needed, and system should be mandatory

Clearly, the HSR system isn’t perfect. There are a number of anomalies which allow certain products to receive higher ratings than they deserve. And importantly, the system is only voluntary, meaning that manufacturers aren’t required to use it. But there are ways it can be improved to make it work better for consumers.

Earlier this year, the government provided a draft report on recommended updates as part of a five-year review of the HSR system. We support many of these recommendations, but we don’t think they go far enough. In particular:

• The report recommends a package of changes be made to the way the HSR is calculated to better align with Australian Dietary Guidelines. This includes stronger penalties for total sugars, but we want the algorithm to incorporate a penalty for added sugar in food and drinks.
• The report recommends an uptake target – that HSRs must be displayed on 70% of target products by end 2023 – but our preference is that the system be mandatory.

We’re now calling on ministers to improve upon the review’s recommendations, to help make the HSR system work better for consumers.

How we surveyed

In October 2019, ÌÇÐÄVlog conducted research to understand the impact of Health Star Ratings. The research was completed by 1001 Australians, representative by age, state and gender via an online survey. The respondents and fieldwork was managed by independent, accredited market research supplier, Dynata.

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