30 November 2017

Whole-grain products reduce risk of chronic disease

A group of leading nutritionists, comprising the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC), reported at a symposium held in Rome that increased intake of whole-grain products is directly associated with a reduced mortality risk, a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, and possibly also colon cancer. ICQC feels that it is legislators’ duty to explain to consumers through proper legislation what is and what is not a whole-grain product. According to Prof. Fred Brouns of Maastricht University (UM), one of the speakers at the ICQC symposium, many manufacturers in the Netherlands are allowed to claim their products are ‘whole grain’, even though they hardly contain the latter. This is an issue that must be addressed, says Brouns.