Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to
carbohydrates that induce low/reduced glycaemic responses (ID 474, 475,
483, 484) and carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index (ID 480, 481,
482, 1300) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006[sup]1[/sup]
EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA)2, 3
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy
Słowa kluczowe:
Carbohydrates
blood glucose
health claims
insulin response
lipids
low glycaemic index
satiety
1. Charakterystyka żywności / składnika
The food constituents that are the subject of the health claims are carbohydrates that induce a low/reduced glycaemic response and carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index (e.g. <55). Chemically, carbohydrates include a range of components such as polyhydroxy aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and acids, as well as their derivatives and polymers, e.g. starch and other polysaccharides. The chemical classification of carbohydrates is usually based on molecular size and monomeric composition. The three principal groups of carbohydrates are sugars (1-2 monomers), oligosaccharides (3-9 monomers) and polysaccharides (10 or more monomers). A variety of specific and non-specific methods for analysis of various carbohydrates in foods are available. Nutritionally, it is important to differentiate between two broad categories of carbohydrates: those digested and absorbed in the human small intestine providing carbohydrates to body cells (commonly referred to as digestible, available or glycaemic carbohydrates), and those passing to the large intestine forming substrate for the colonic microflora (commonly referred to as nondigestible, “unavailable” or non-glycaemic carbohydrates). The food constituent for claim IDs 474, 475, 483, and 484 is carbohydrates that induce low/reduced glycaemic responses. Taking into account that the chemical nature of the carbohydrates which are the subject of the claims has not been defined, that post-prandial glycaemic responses to different carbohydrates depend on the chemical and physical properties of the particular type of carbohydrate being considered as well as on individual factors (i.e. the extent to which foods are chewed prior to swallowing, biological variation in rates and extent of digestion and absorption), and that “low/reduced” glycaemic responses have not been defined in the information provided, the Panel considers that carbohydrates that induce low/reduced glycaemic responses are not sufficiently characterised.
The food constituent for claim IDs 480, 481, 482, and 1300 is carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index (<55). The concept of glycaemic index (GI) was originally introduced to classify carbohydrate-rich foods, usually having an energy content of >80 % from carbohydrates, according to the differences in effects on post-meal glycaemia (Jenkins et al., 1981; Brouns et al., 2005). The GI, which is a nutritional property of a carbohydrate-rich food, is defined as the incremental area under the blood glucose response curve following a 50 g glycaemic carbohydrate portion of a test food expressed as a percent of the response to the same amount of carbohydrates from a standard reference product taken by the same subject (FAO/WHO, 1998). Carbohydrate-rich foods can be classified according to their GI values (glucose as the standard): high GI >70; normal GI 55-70; low GI 40-55 and very low <40) (Brand-Miller, 2003). However, the GI of a carbohydrate-containing food depends on several factors other than the amount of available (glycaemic) carbohydrates present (e.g. amount and type of dietary fibre, amount of dietary fat, energy density, physical properties, mode of preparation). Taking into account that the chemical nature of the carbohydrates which are the subject of the claims has not been defined, that the GI of different carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing foods depends on the chemical and physical properties of the particular type of carbohydrate or carbohydrate-containing food under consideration, and that low GI carbohydrates have not been defined in the information provided in relation to the standardisation of the testing method, the Panel considers that carbohydrates with a low GI are not sufficiently characterised. The Panel considers that the food constituents, carbohydrates that induce a low/reduced glycaemic response and carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index (e.g. <55), which are the subject of the health claims are not sufficiently characterised.
The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of carbohydrates that induce a low/reduced glycaemic response or carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index and the claimed effects.
