International Journal of Food, Nutrition & Dietetics

Dietary factors are implicated in the etiology of a number of chronic degenerative diseases. High fat intake is associated with increased risk for some types of cancer, and saturated fat intake is associated with high blood cholesterol and coronary heart disease. Also, consumption of a diet rich in fat has been identified as a risk factor for excess energy intake, positive energy balance, and the development of obesity. Consequently, health conscious individuals are modifying their dietary habits and eating less fat. Consumer acceptance of any food product depends upon taste—the most important sensory attribute. Although consumers want foods with minimal to no fat or calories, they also want the foods to taste good. Foods formulated with fat replacers are enjoyable alternative to familiar high-fat foods. By choosing these alternative foods, health conscious consumers are able to maintain basic food selection patterns and more easily adhere to low-fat diet.

Keywords: Fat Replacers; Fat Mimetics; Fat Substitutes; Low-Fat. 

Pomegranates are being hyped up as a miracle drug since ancient times. It is an exotic fruit having many therapeutic benefits. They are rich source of Antioxidants, Vitamin C, Potassium, Iron, Fiber, and many of phytochemicals compounds which have protective health effects against cardiovascular, oncological. and neurological disorders. Several evidence also suggest that pomegranate have more therapeutic benefits.

Keywords: Pomegranates; Therapeutic Benefits; Antioxidants; Phytochemicals. 

Flavor enhancer is widely used in various cuisines to enhance the original flavor or taste in a food system. The most commonly used flavor enhancers in Asian cuisine are the glutamate related compounds such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), monopotassium glutamate and ribonucleotide based compounds. The present study was planned with an objective of evaluating the flavor potentiating effect of monosodium glutamate on tomato soup. Five soup formulations were prepared using spice powders (Capsicum annum L., Capsicum fructescens L., Syzygium aromaticum L., Cinnamomum verum, C. and Piper nigrum L.), employing three different levels of MSG (50, 100 or 150mg/100g). Products without MSG served as control. The products were evaluated by trained panelists (n=10) using a score card comprising a maximum score of 20. The results revealed that there was a gradual increase in the scores being awarded for each increasing level of MSG incorporation. Statistical analysis indicated a significant difference in taste, mouth feel and aroma quality of the formulated products. This implies that MSG with spices would tend to have a synergistic effect which in turn contributes for the enhanced liking of the product.

Keywords: Sensory Attributes; Monosodium Glutamate; Spices; Sensory Scoring; Free Choice Profiling. 

Food handler’s training is an important key to food safety management system. To understand the requirements of training of food handlers, the study was conducted in the city of Bengaluru and the education level and awareness regarding food safety was captured. A total of 16 Food Business operators (FBO’s) with 284 food handlers (FH) were selected. Two questionnaires were used for collecting information on the department of work, their literacy level and food safety trainings undergone. The result showed that the majority, 50% of the food handlers were in the department of chef and washing & cleaning, followed by the rest of the department consisting of manager, cashier, storekeeper, helper and service. The subjects comprised of 83% literate and 17% illiterate population. Most of the FH were middle school educated followed by secondary, senior secondary, primary and graduates. The cashiers and mangers were 100% educated and on the other side the washing and cleaning staff had more than 50 percent illiterate members. The rest of the team had a mix of education levels but more than 50% were literates. Nearly 88 percent of food handlers had never undergone food safety training. There is a need for the right training intervention program as the gap between the law makers and the followers is big. The loss due to water and food poisoning can affect the economy of the country through direct effect like medical expense, absenteeism, unhealthy human resource and waste of valuable resources resulting in increase of carbon footprints in the food chain. 

Keywords: Food Safety; Food Handlers; FSSAI; Training; Food Poisoning.

Food product development is the need of society today. The food products are available in the market but lack nutritional quality. Therefore in present study there is a need of society and industry to produce new food products. We have developed beet root cookies with the combination of Bengal gram flour, beet root and sesame seeds. We have taken different ratios of the main ingredients and cookies were developed by incorporating the beetroot extract and Bengal gram flour in four in the ratio i.e. 50:50, 60:40, 70:30 and 80:20. The beet root was grinded and the extract was taken out with sieving and pressing. Then in the Bengal gram, Maida, sesame seeds, Butter , Sugar and the extraxt was mixed to prepare the cookies. A panel of Ten experts from field of Nutrition were selected to mark the food samples in different ratios. Four samples were made and Sample B scored highest on hedonic scale of sensory evaluation. This resulted that Sample B was acceptable in terms of Color, Taste, Texture , After taste and Overall aceeptability.

Keywords: Beet Root; Extract; Bengal Gram; Food Product; Cookies. 

Anaemia is defined as the condition in which there is a reduction in the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood stream to a level below 11%gm for pregnant women [1,2]. 40% of all maternal peri-natal deaths are linked to anaemia [3]. In India, up to 88% of pregnant women are affected [4]. Anaemia in pregnancy, particularly iron deficiency is a prominent problem in developing countries. A high prevalence of anemia in pregnancy was observed (96.5%) of which 22.8% had mild, 50.9% had moderate & 22.8% had severe anaemia in a study conducted in Delhi [5,6]. The consequences of anaemia for women include increased risk for low birth weight or prematurity, peri-natal & neonatal mortality, inadequate iron stores for the new born, increased risk of maternal morbidity & mortality & lowered physical activity, mental concentration & productivity [8]. The study was an observational study which comprised of 100 pregnant woman of age between 18 to 40 years attending the ante -natal care unit (Prasooti & Streeroga OPD) at K.L.E Society’s Ayurveda Hospital, Shahapur, Belagavi being diagnosed as anemic as per Hb value, irrespective of caste, religion, socio-economic status& who gave consent were included in the study. The subjects suffering from any chronic illnesses, bleeding disorders, tuberculosis & other immunological diseases were excluded from the study. Chi square test was used to test the significance of the data. The study revealed that, health services were available and accessible in general, but a major constraint was that the people could not afford to utilise it, because of the quality of the service, delivered - there was poor quality awareness of women about the health services. The prevalence was higher in poorly educated women, women with large family size, and those who do not use family planning services.