Dietary guidelines around the world advise us to eat less saturated fat, sugar, and salt. But let's face it, getting clients to adhere to such advice can prove to be quite the culinary challenge. After all, these very components enhance the flavour of our food, making it taste so good.
Is there a way to make healthier food choices without sacrificing taste?
A recent study suggests that adding herbs and spices to popular foods can help reduce the amount of saturated fat, sugar, and salt we consume, while still satisfying our taste buds.
The study used a four-step approach to test this idea:
- Identify the top 10 foods or food categories that contribute the most to saturated fat, sodium, added sugars and energy in the US diet.
- Reformulate the recipes for these foods by reducing the over-consumed nutrients and adding herbs and spices.
- Conduct blind taste tests to see if consumers like the modified recipes.
- Model the effect of the recipe changes on the intake of saturated fat, sodium, sugar and energy for the US population.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-16 and 2017-18 was used to identify 10 of the most popular foods or food categories that were responsible for the most saturated fat, salt, and sugar intake among US adults. Like most nutrition surveys, food intake was collected by using a multiple-pass 24-hour recall. The sample included nearly 10,000 people (4962 women and 4850 men).
Once they had identified possible food candidates, researchers then determined which ones could make the most substantial impact. Specifically, they considered factors like the wide prevalence of consumption within the population and the feasibility of modifying their recipes to reduce energy, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar content.
The chosen foods had to pass several litmus tests: they needed to be not only agreeable in terms of taste, texture, and appearance to consumers but also amenable to recipe improvements through the addition of herbs and spices. They also needed to be easily prepared at home. For example, soft drinks were the number one source of added sugar, but they were not chosen because they are usually bought ready-made and people drink them for their specific taste.
Top ten unhealthy foods and their reformulations
The ten foods considered foremost contributors to excessive dietary components included familiar favourites like cheese pizza, tacos, pasta with meat sauce, mac & cheese, brownies, apple pie, chili, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, and chicken with cream sauce.
The researchers crafted recipes for each using the US Department of Agriculture Food Patterns Equivalents Ingredient Database for the same survey period. These were labelled the original recipes (OG) (yes, they really called them the "OG" recipes).
Culinary experts then embarked on the task of giving them a makeover. This involved reducing or substituting ingredients to slash the saturated fat, salt, and/or added sugar content while preserving their culinary functionality and appeal. The resulting versions were referred to as "nutritionally improved" (NI).
Next, they added herbs and spices to enhance the flavour and make up for the reduced nutrients. This version was called flavour enhanced and nutritionally improved (FENI). The NI and FENI versions had the same nutritional composition, but different tastes.
Consider the classic macaroni and cheese as an example. The OG recipe used salted butter, 2% milk, American cheese, and salt. To make it healthier, the researchers used unsalted butter and less of it (75% less), skim milk, reduced-fat cheese, and no added salt. To make it tastier, they added onion powder, garlic powder, ground mustard seed, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
The changes in the recipes had different effects on the nutrient content of the foods. The changes in energy ranged from -18.9% to +1.5%, the saturated fat from -84.5% to -24.2%, the sodium from -56.8% to -0.9%, and the added sugar from -69.6% to 0%.
The authors provided the revamped recipe formulations. Download now.
But did people like the modified recipes?
The 3 different versions for the recipes were evaluated using a series of blind taste testing conducted by Penn State Sensory Evaluation Center. Each of the three recipe versions—OG, NI, and FENI—was tasted by a panel of 85 to 107 participants. Participants were asked to rate them on a scale from 1 (dislike extremely) to 9 (like extremely) for overall liking, appearance, flavour and texture. They also ranked the three recipes in order of preference.
The results revealed that for seven out of the ten recipes, the FENI versions either matched or surpassed the OG recipes. The brownie and chicken in cream sauce FENI concoctions were not just liked more; they were significantly preferred over the OG versions. In fact, they outshone the OG recipes in terms of overall appearance, flavour, and texture as well. Five other FENI recipes—meatloaf, chili, apple pie, pasta with meat sauce, and taco meat—held their own, earning comparable ratings to the OG. However, FENI adaptations of cheese pizza, mac & cheese, and chicken pot pie received less favourable reviews than the OG recipes. The NI versions of these dishes also fell short of the OG, along with the meatloaf and apple pie. Interestingly, a shift in the nutrient composition nudged the meatloaf into negative territory, but the addition of herbs and spices brought it back up, though not significantly compared to the OG.
What are the potential health impacts of the revamped recipes?
The authors then used these revamped recipes to estimate the potential impact on nutrient intake if they were adopted by varying percentages of the population—25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. The estimated reduction in saturated fat spanned from 2.8% to a commendable 11.4%, depending on the adoption rate. Sodium reduction ranged from 2.3% to 11.5%, and the decrease in added sugar, while more modest, ranged from 0.5% to 2.7%. It's worth noting that only half of the recipes experienced a decrease in added sugar content.
The researchers then calculated how much these changes would affect the health outcomes of the US population using a meta-regression analysis. They found that that the sodium reductions achieved—ranging from 117 to 390 mg—could potentially translate into a systolic blood pressure decrease of 0.2 to 0.8 mm Hg. This, in turn, could lead to a notable 3% to 11% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. It's a finding that aligns with the World Health Organization's endorsement of reformulation as a "best buy" intervention due to its cost-effectiveness and feasibility.
As for the 11.4% dip in saturated fat—equivalent to about 3.4 grams or 1.3% of total energy—it may seem modest on an individual level, but when applied across a population, it could wield meaningful impact.
Hello food industry, look over here!!
While it's important to note that these findings can't be directly transposed to commercial food production, they offer valuable food for thought for the industry. Given that a substantial portion of our sodium intake arises from processed foods, the feasibility of extrapolating these findings to the wider food landscape makes good sense.
Indeed, the Heart Foundation has been collaborating with the industry for more than a decade to decrease the sodium levels in their products. They calculate that a substantial 320 tonnes of salt have been successfully eliminated from the specific products they've targeted during this time.
This study also dovetails with research published this month suggesting that consumers may readily accept lower sugar concentrations in beverages than manufacturers recommend — up to 62% lower. It hints at the potential to reduce sugar content in drinks without compromising taste.
Practical application
Of course, this study has some limitations. It only tested 10 foods out of many possible options. It did not measure how people would actually behave if they had access to these modified recipes at home or in restaurants. It also did not account for individual preferences or cultural differences in food choices.
But what's particularly encouraging is that most of the sodium-reduced recipes not only held their own in taste tests but often scored better when infused with herbs and spices. This underscores the notion that healthier foods need not be synonymous with a lackluster taste. In fact, the authors suggest that rather than emphasising the health aspect of reformulated foods, focusing on their enhanced flavour profile could be a more effective approach.
Collectively, this research opens the door to simple and effective methods for reducing saturated fat, salt, and sugar in our diets without sacrificing taste—a culinary win-win.
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