Fibre drinks

The recommended daily intake of NSP is 18g/day so conventional soft drinks provide an insignificant contribution. High levels of fortification can be achieved but a high-fibre drink recently launched in the UK did not succeed, despite good taste and texture and skilful marketing. 

Fibre drinks, containing both soluble and insoluble fibres (non-starch polysaccharides). These drinks add bulk to the diet and increase stool weight (a low stool weight is associated with an increased risk of bowel cancer and gall stones). Fibre also binds cholesterol (a risk factor for heart disease), thus reducing its adsorption from the intestine. To support a claim, the quantity of drink consumed in a day must provide at least 3 g of fibre, i.e. one-sixth of the recommended daily allowance of 18 g. 

In America there are promising signs for certain polymers. For example, poly(ethylene terephthalate) drinks bottles can be cleaned and recycled to give an acceptable grade of PET resin in a process that is economically viable. The recycled polymer is used as carpet fibre, furniture stuffing, or insulation. Waste nylon can also be recycled profitably. 

There is increasing interest in the use of specific sensor or biosensor detection systems with the FIA technique (Galensa, 1998). Tsafack et al. (2000) described an electrochemiluminescence-based fibre optic biosensor for choline with flow-injection analysis and Su et al. (1998) reported a flow-injection determination of sulphite in wines and fruit juices using a bulk acoustic wave impedance sensor coupled to a membrane separation technique. Prodromidis et al. (1997) also coupled a biosensor with an FIA system for analysis of citric acid in juices, fruits and sports beverages and Okawa et al. (1998) reported a procedure for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and glucose in soft drinks with an electrochemical filter/biosensor FIA system. 

Polyesters are in widespread use in our modem life, ranging from bottles for carbonated soft drinks and water, to fibres for shirts and other apparel. Polyester also forms the base for photographic film and recording tape. Household tradenames, such as Dacron , Fortrel , Terylene and Mylar , demonstrate the ubiquitous nature of polyesters. 

Drugs are not a first choice treatment for constipation. The patient should eat food with high fibre content and drink enough liquid. Consistent food habits and regular bowel movements counteract constipation and physical exercise is also important for intestinal function. 

Dimethylformamide has been measured in ambient air near a fibre plant and near waste facilities. It has rarely been found in water samples in the United States, other than at sewage treatment plants or in effluents of plants likely to have been using dimethylformamide. Levels measured were very low (WHO, 1991). It has been detected at low levels in drinking-water, surface water, wastewater and ambient air samples (United States National Library of Medicine, 1997). 

The third major area for development is that of soft drinks containing ingredients that enable some special nutritional or physiological claim to be made for the product. This will usually be an energy claim because soft drinks are an ideal vehicle for delivering carbohydrates, some in specially formulated mixtures, in a readily and rapidly assimilable form. Of the other nutrients that can be included, fruit juice, vitamins and minerals are the most common, but some products contain significant levels of protein or even fibre (as non-metabolisable carbohydrate). 

Sweetener/ carbohydrate Relative sweetness (Sucrose =1) Solubility (g/100 g water at 20°C) Insulin- dependent metabolism Caloric value (kcal/g) Approval for use in soft drinks Dietary fibre approval ... 

Inulin has no sweetness and possesses a bland taste. Physiologically, inulin behaves as a dietary fibre. At relatively high dose levels (15-40 g/day) it can have a prebiotic effect (i.e. it can selectively promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon) and at high dose levels it may also have a laxative effect (Kolida el al., 2002). This is dependent on the specific composition of the product and the degree of polymerisation, which can vary. The caloric value for inulin is 1 kcal/g. Its use in soft drinks is as a fibre source, prebiotic and partial sugar replacer. 

FOS and oligofuctose are fructose oligomers that are either produced by enzymic conversion of sugar or extracted from chicory, as inulin, and then hydrolysed. These products behave as soluble fibres and prebiotics. In acid conditions, they can hydrolyse, but are usually sufficiently stable for short-shelf-life juices, near-water products with low acid levels or powdered soft drinks. Prebiotic activity varies with preparation and required daily dose can be as low as 2.5-5.0 g/day for shorter chain FOS preparations (DP 2 1). Some positive effects on magnesium absorption and calcium absorption (in some populations) have also been shown (Beghin Meiji, 2001). 

Products are available in dry or syrup form. They have a lower sweetness than sucrose, RS = 0.3-0.6. The caloric value in the EU is 2 kcal/g. They are relatively hygroscopic and have good solubility. Use in soft drinks and juice products is as a sugar replacer, soluble fibre and prebiotic. 

Polydextrose was the first of the new generation , healthier speciality carbohydrates to be used in soft drinks. In the 1980s, Otsuka in Japan launched Fibermini, which was in effect a flavoured polydextrose solution aimed at the health drink market as a fibre supplement. 

It is currently used to improve mouthfeel and as a soluble fibre, prebiotic and partial sugar replacer in soft drinks. 

There is a growing interest in the inclusion of soluble fibre into the diet to help improve health. This is extending to drinks as well, with such fibre being added to milk- and fruit-based products such as smoothies . One source of soluble fibre which has attracted attention over the last few years is inulin or oligofiuc-tans. Inulin consists of oligosaccharides that are extracted from chicory or Jerusalem artichokes and that are claimed to improve colon function and to have prebiotic properties, enhancing the working of the gut. Inulin is a complex carbohydrate which can be assayed in a number of different ways. However, there are two published methods in the AO AC manual for its analysis (997.08 and 999.03). 

Functional drinks continue to be very successful in Japan and the major ingredients exploited there are fibre, calcium, iron and oligosaccharides. Label text refers to beneficial effects on the digestive system, bones, teeth and other parts of the body as appropriate. In Europe these drinks are only beginning to be developed. Examples that are available in the UK include ... 

An alternative to sedimentation for removing suspended solids is flotation. This tends to be used for low-density particles that tend to float anyway during conventional sedimentation processes. Drinking water examples include algae and floes of humic and fulvic acids that result from the treatment of coloured waters [549]. Wastewater examples include fatty materials, pulp fibres, and oils that can be floated... 

The company aims to secure market share as quickly as possible, particularly in the food packaging area. Marketing activities are being focused on drinking cups, deli and produce containers and other packaging uses where the resin can function and compete on price with established polymers such as PET. In fibre form, the material is also suitable for the production of textiles (garments, carpets). 

Q3 Mr Benjamin eats little fruit or vegetables and is therefore likely to have inadequate fibre (roughage) in his diet he also drinks very little fluid. This... 

Asbestos can arise from natural sources and from asbestos cement pipe. Exposure to asbestos fibres through drinking-water is not considered to cause health effects in humans also, the analysis is difficult and expensive. 

Asbestos fibres may be found in water where mining takes place, and as it was once used in filters for liquids, it could also be present in drinks. Fibres were first found in drinking water in Duluth, Minnesota in 1973. The water derived from Lake Superior, into which tailings from an asbestos mine located sixty miles away were being dumped which eventually found their way into the drinking water. Evidence exists that such exposure through the gut may increase the risk of cancers. 

Cherubini M, Fomaciai G, Mantelli F, et al. 1998. Results of survey on asbestos fibre contamination of drinking water in Tuscany, Italy. J Wat SRT 47 1-8. 

Cunningham HM, Pontefract R. 1971. Asbestos fibres in beverages and drinking water. Nature 232 332-333. 

As already stated, there are many different methods of processing plastics, according to the material used and the desired finished product. Plastics are wonderful materials for shaping. They can be made into flat sheets, or they can be reinforced with fibres. They can be blow moulded and made into hollow objects such as drinks bottles, or they can be thermoformed for making food cartons. There is a variety of processes for the different synthetic plastics, but all of them start with the required chemicals in pellet, powder or liquid form. These are melted, mixed with additives, heated and shaped. 

Figure 3 Examples of Microfocus experiments carried out on ID13 at the ESRF (a) Patterns from the wall of a PET soft drinks bottlef (h) Single Spider Silk fibre. (c) Centre of a PTMS spherulite"...

Artificial asbestos fibre suspensions were prepared by tap (drinking) water, previously analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and showing a fibre content, after prefiltration on 0.2 itm pore size cellulosic filter, of about 0.05 million fibres per litre (MFL) [9]. The chemical characteristics of this water are reported in Table 1. 

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