Sensory profiles and consumer acceptability of a range of sugar-reduced products on the UK market

Current UK intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) is above recommendations. Reducing the sugar content of processed high sugar foods through reformulation is one option for reducing consumption of NMES at a population level. However, reformulation can alter the sensory attributes of food products and influence consumer liking. This study evaluated consumer acceptance of a selection of products that are commercially-available in the UK; these included regular and sugar-reduced baked beans, strawberry jam, milk chocolate, cola and cranberry & raspberry juice. Sweeteners were present in the reformulated chocolate (maltitol), cola (aspartame and acesulfame-K) and juice (sucralose) samples. Healthy, non-smoking consumers (n = 116; 55 men, 61 women, age: 33 ± 9 years; BMI: 25.7 ± 4.6 kg/m2) rated the products for overall liking and on liking of appearance, flavor and texture using a nine-point hedonic scale. There were significant differences between standard and reduced sugar products in consumers’ overall liking and on liking of each modality (appearance, flavor and texture; all P < 0.0001). For overall liking, only the regular beans and cola were significantly more liked than their reformulated counterparts (P < 0.0001). Cluster analysis identified three consumer clusters that were representative of different patterns of consumer liking. For the largest cluster (cluster 3: 45%), there was a significant difference in mean liking scores across all products, except jam. Differences in liking were predominantly driven by sweet taste in 2 out of 3 clusters. The current research has demonstrated that a high proportion of consumers prefer conventional products over sugar-reduced products across a wide range of product types (45%) or across selected products (27%), when tasted unbranded, and so there is room for further optimization of commercial reduced sugar products that were evaluated in the current study. Future work should evaluate strategies to facilitate compliance to dietary recommendations on NMES and free sugars, such as the impact of sugar-reduced food exposure on their acceptance

Understanding the training and education needs of homecare workers supporting people with dementia and cancer: a systematic review of reviews

Many people with dementia, supported by family carers, prefer to live at home and may rely on homecare support services. People with dementia are also often living with multimorbidities, including cancer. The main risk factor for both cancer and dementia is age and the number of people living with dementia and cancer likely to rise. Upskilling the social care workforce to facilitate more complex care is central to national workforce strategies and challenges. Training and education development must also respond to the key requirements of a homecare workforce experiencing financial, recruitment and retention difficulties. This systematic review of reviews provides an overview of dementia and cancer training and education accessible to the homecare workforce. Findings reveal there is a diverse range of training and education available, with mixed evidence of effectiveness. Key barriers and facilitators to effective training and education are identified in order to inform future training, education and learning development for the homecare workforce supporting people with dementia and cancer

Right at home: living with dementia and multi-morbidities

Dementia is recognised as the biggest health crisis of our time in terms of high personal and social costs and wider impact on health and social care systems. Increases in people living with dementia and multimorbidities presents critical challenges for homecare worldwide. Healthcare systems struggle to provide adequate home-care services, delivering limited care restricted to a single-condition focus. This study explored the experiences and expectations of homecare from the multiple perspectives of people living with dementia and multimorbidities and homecare workers providing support. Findings draw from qualitative semi-structured interviews with people with dementia (n=2), their partners (n=2), other partners or family carers (n=6) and homecare workers (n=26). Three themes are identified: (a) the preference for and value of home; (b) inadequate homecare provision and enhanced care-burden; (c) limited training and education. Despite continued calls for homecare investment, the focus on reduction in costs hides key questions and further dialogue required exploring how people with dementia can be supported to live independently and flourish at-home. This study considers these complex experiences and care requirements through the prism of disability and human rights frameworks. This paper concludes with consideration of more recent human social rights debate. We critically discuss what this may mean for people living with dementia and consider the implications for corequisite policy development to optimise available homecare support. Keywords: dementia, multimorbidities, homecare, independent-living, social right

Press reslease from the Premier and Tourism Minister, Mr Dunstan: New amenity block for Moonta Bay Caravan Park

Getting rid of the tubes: An assessment of the retention of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in the organs of mice was carried out using single photon emission computed tomography and quantitative scintigraphy (see scheme). Increasing the degree of functionalization on MWNTs enhanced renal clearance, while lower functionalization promoted reticuloendethelial system accumulation

Consumer acceptance of dairy products with a saturated fatty acid-reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid-enriched content

Agriculture-based reformulation initiatives, including oleic acid-rich lipid supplementation of the dairy cow diet, provide a novel means for reducing intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA) at a population level. In a blinded manner, this study evaluated the consumer acceptance of SFA-reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid-enriched (modified) milk, Cheddar cheese, and butter when compared with control and commercially available comparative samples. The effect of providing nutritional information about the modified cheese was also evaluated. Consumers (n = 115) rated samples for overall liking (appearance, flavor, and texture) using 9-point hedonic scales. Although no significant differences were found between the milk samples, the modified cheese was liked significantly less than a regular-fat commercial alternative for overall liking and liking of specific modalities and had a lower liking of texture score compared with the control cheese. The provision of health information significantly increased the overall liking of the modified cheese compared with tasting the same sample in a blinded manner. Significant differences were evident between the butter samples for overall liking and modalities of liking; all of the samples were significantly more liked than the commercial butter and sunflower oil spread. In conclusion, this study illustrated that consumer acceptance of SFA-reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid-enriched dairy products was dependent on product type. Future research should consider how optimization of the textural properties of fatty acid-modified (and fat-reduced) cheese might enhance consumer acceptance of this product

The effects of enriching white bread with vegetables on measures of hunger in young women

Current recommendations suggest that a daily intake of 400g fruit and vegetables is required for the prevention of chronic diseases. The UK Government recommends that this intake consists of five 80g portions per d. However, the average UK adult only consumes 2.8 portions per d. Thus, new strategies to increase fruit and vegetable consumption are required. The incorporation of whole fruits and vegetables into the matrix of foods, such as bread, provides a novel approach to increasing their consumption. In addition, fruits and vegetables may help to combat obesity by limiting the consumption of more energy-dense foods

The effects of beetroot containing bread on arterial stiffness and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease

Despite initiatives to increase consumption, current fruit and vegetable intake is below recommendations. Novel interventions to increase consumption are therefore of considerable interest. Cardio-protective effects of beetroot have been attributed to its high nitrate content. Following ingestion, nitrate is reduced to nitrite by oral bacteria, and further to vasodilator nitric oxide (NOx) endogenously. To test the hypothesis that nitrate-rich beetroot containing bread improves arterial stiffness and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) a single-blind, randomised, controlled crossover, postprandial study was performed in twenty-four healthy men (mean age 32 (sd 9) years and body mass index 23.3 (sd 2) kg/m2)

Postprandial effects of beetroot enriched bread on peripheral microvascular function and blood pressure in normotensive men

The cardio-protective effects of beetroot, such as blood pressure reduction have been attributed to its high nitrate content. Following ingestion, dietary nitrate is reduced to nitrite by oral bacteria, and further to the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO) endogenously. This study investigated the effects of enriching bread with nitrate-rich beetroot on postprandial peripheral microvascular function and blood pressure (BP)