The Challenges with Obesity

Today, consumers’ concerns regarding ingredients and labels are increasing drastically. Sugar has now become a predominant topic of conversation for many and The Canadian Food Guide makes various public statements in order to reduce the consumption of added sugars. Unfortunately, social media influencers, blogs, advertisements, billboards, commercials and ads tend to stigmatize people with obesity along with their habits and societal pressure to eat healthy and avoid certain foods is constantly increasing.

With the public’s concern for healthy eating, breads that are high in fiber, nuts, grains and seeds are becoming more popular and widespread. These breads, however, raise an issue. Unlike in Europe, where people buy and consume bread within short periods of time; North Americans expect their bread to last more than a week. During this extended period, all breads tend to degrade. The fats in these healthy breads tend to oxidize and go rancid, leading to bitter flavors and unpleasant aromas. The bread may also begin to stale and become rough and unappetizing. To combat this, bakeries tend to add sugars to improve flavor, crust color, moisture and shelf life. Therefore, bread formulations in North America sometimes contain 12-18% of sugar on FL WT, compared to 0-2% in Europe.

In North America, Canada is considering the addition of a front-of- the-pack warning for foods containing more than 15% of the daily value for added sugars. In the US, labels now must add the percent daily value of added sugar. What is the percent daily value? It is how much a nutrient contributes to a daily diet of 2000 calories. For added sugar, the recommended maximum intake is 50g. This means that a 75g serving of bread needs to have less than 7.5g of sugar to avoid a  front of the pack warning and remain below 15% of the daily value for sugar.

While industries are facing many challenges trying to make healthy breads, while maintaining a clean label and low sugar content, Lallemand offers various baking solutions Essential STR and Essential EF Boost to help improve dough quality and shelf life, decrease the quantity of sugar needed, and reduce costs. Lallemand products are backed by skilled technical support staff that will be happy to assist you in determining which product best suits your process and application.