Companies Urged to Refine Breakfast Foods

U.S. nutritionists say a reformulation of some breakfast foods might prove beneficial in helping consumers fight obesity.

The study by the U.S. Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago reviews recent food science, nutrition and metabolic research and translates it into food and ingredient combinations that manufacturers could use to reduce consumers’ caloric intake and absorption, while meeting their needs to feel full after eating.

Managing satiety holds promise as a means to control obesity, says Mary Ellen Camire, an expert in functional foods and sensory evaluation. Expanding food volume with ingredients that contain no calories — such as air or water — offers a means to limit energy intake.

For example, she says some breakfast cereals could be processed for greater expansion and lower density, while bakery products could be increased in size without increasing their energy value.

Sensory quality of satiating foods requires careful balancing, she added. Not high enough and consumers will not use the product; too good and they may be tempted to eat larger portions than desirable.

The study appears in the monthly magazine Food Technology.