Breakfast cereals other additives

The fat-soluble vitamins comprise vitamins A, D, E, and K, whose biological activities are attributed to a number of structurally related compounds known as vitamers. Also included are those carotenoids that are precursors of vitamin A. Recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) based on human epidemiological and experimental animal studies have been published in the United States for vitamins A, D, E, and K (1). Other countries and international bodies have compiled similar recommendations. In the United States and Canada, fluid milk is supplemented by law with vitamin D to a level of 400 international units per quart (10 /zg/0.95 L) to meet the RDA of 10 p%. Other commodities, such as margarine, milk products, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, and dietetic foods, are commonly supplemented with vitamins A, D, and E. Except for infant formulas, vitamin K is not added to foods. The addition of vitamins to a particular processed food is intended to provide a specific proportion of the RDA. 

Almost all the evidence showing that phytate decreases zinc absorption in man and animals is based on pure phytate added to the diet. The effect of natural phytate is variable (18). It has, however, been reported that phytate in bran affected zinc bioavailability in the same way as sodium phytate (19). Dietary fibre in the rural Iranian diet was considered to be the main cause of zinc deficiency in Iran (20). However, the addition of 26 g of fibre from various sources to the American diet did not have any significant effect on the zinc requirements of male adults (21). Similarly, Indian men consuming a diet containing only 10.8 mg of zinc were reported to be in balance in spite of a dietary fibre intake of 50 g per day (22). Moreover, the presence of fibre and phytate in soy flour did not affect the bioavailability of zinc added as zinc carbonate, to the diet of rats (17), although others (23) have reported that the bioavailability of zinc in breakfast cereals depends mainly on their phytate-zinc molar ratio. Our results indicate that there is some, as yet, undetermined difference in the phytate or the fibre of cereals which affects the bioavailability of zinc. It may be some component of dietary fibre (24) or the intrinsic differences in the protein-phytate-mineral complex (10). 

In addition to the former Soviet Union, contamination has been reported in other countries, including the UK, Germany, Finland, and New Zealand. In the UK in 1982 tricothecenes were detected in over 50 per cent of a sample of breakfast cereals. In an outbreak in India in 1987, several hundred people were affected with severe symptoms following the eating of contaminated bread, and several different mycotoxins were detected in the flour used to make the bread. 

In Table I it is seen that the addition of more iron was of no assistance in increasing the hemoglobin level. In this instance it actually decreased the hemoglobin and hematocrit levels slightly. Likewise, the concentration of iron in the liver was, if anything, increased. It was only when copper was added that one saw a measurable increase in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. When both iron and copper were added, the effect was no better than when copper by itself was added. In this instance the diet contained 8.5% protein. This amount is basically what was present in the breakfast cereal without any further protein supplementation. Others have been quick to point out that this situation is not realistic because these cereals are typically consumed with milk. It is reasonable, therefore, to parallel this experiment with one in which casein is added to the diet. 

The questions asked depend on the type of sample to be measured. If the calorie content of breakfast cereal is to be determined, the sampling questions include how many factories to visit for samples, whether to sample unopened or opened boxes of cereal, and the date when the breakfast sample was manufactured, asked for much the same reason that similar questions were advanced about coins. In addition, other questions come to mind. How many samples should be taken from each box From where in the box should samples be taken May samples of small flakes have a different calorie content than samples of large flakes ... 

The majority of breakfast cereals in the United States are fortified with PN, and additional PN is also added to infant formula products to ensure adequate vitamin Be supply to the infant. Gregory (100) reported an isocratic HPLC method for the determination of PN in breakfast cereals (Table 5). Other investigators attempted simultaneous determination of PN and other vitamins used in food fortification. Wehling and Wetzel used ion pair HPLC to separate pyridoxine, riboflavin and thiamine from each other after acid extraction of the vitamins from cereals (101). Using a dual fluorescence detector setup, pyridoxine and riboflavin were monitored by the first detector. After the column eluate had passed the first detector, an alkaline ferricyanide solution was introduced, resulting in the formation of a fluorescent thiochrome derivative of thiamine, which was detected by the second fluorescence detector. A similar method for simultaneous determination of pyridoxine and riboflavin in infant formula products has also been described (102). 

The FDA has recently banned the use of Red 3 in such products as cake frostings, certain processed foods, cough drops, and lipstick, in which the color is mixed with other additives reacting with it. This dye can still be applied directly to meat, nut products, fruit and fruit juices, candy, confections, and breakfast cereals. 

P-amylase (Figure 13.3). P-Amylase works best at pH 5 and a temperature of 55°C. The utilization of only p-amylase yields syrups with 50%-55% maltose, while the additional use of debranching pullulanase yields syrups with approximately 70%-80% maltose. Regular and high-maltose syrups are widely used as flavorings for breakfast cereals, beverages, and other food products (Table 13.2 Hoobs 2003, Serna-Saldivar 2004). 

Other soluble fiber-containing products have been shown to lower blood cholesterol. Recent extensive studies on psyllium (Plantago ovata) presented both as a pharmaceutical preparation and as a food product (a ready to eat breakfast cereal) have shown blood cholesterol-lowering properties where the dose-effect relationship is such that a useful additional therapeutically meaningful lipid-lowering effect can be achieved by prescribing a daily portion of psyllium-fortified breakfast cereal. Products of this type are now marketed in the US and Australia, and the US FDA has now allowed a food specific health claim for psyllium. 

The fibers are used as ingredients in many processed foods, such as bread, pasta, cereal for breakfast, yogurt, and meat products. They may be mixed either in the form of concentrated isolated products, such as concentrates of oat fiber, or may be introduced in the formulations through the addition of flour or other ingredients that contain them. 

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