Extension Foods and Nutrition, Cooperative Extension Service, Kansas State University

September/October 1992

What's New

Grants Received

New Program Assists Kansas Bakers

Nutrition Guidance For Child Nutrition Programs

 

Food Safety

Food Safety Advice for Persons with AIDS

Question and Answer: Shelf-life of Buffalo Jerky

 

Limited Resource

Emergency Food Supplies Dwindle

Record High in Food Assistance Participation

Child Poverty Increasing

 

Nutrition/Health

Modified Recipe: Pineapple Chicken

To Juice or Not

Free Radicals and Health

Enzyme Supplements

Alcohol Adds Fat

What's Your Lifespan?

World Food Day

Breastfeeding May Help Prevent Cancer

 

Resources

Salsa Recipes

Food Additives

Grants Received
Foods and Nutrition Extension faculty received three ES-USDA Food Safety and Quality Initiative grants for the second year in a row. Two grants involve model programs to educate food handlers on ways to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. The third grant is to develop risk education curricula for youth and adults.

Paula Peters received $31,000 to develop a training program on food safety for child care providers and their trainers which represents a continuation of her 1991 grant with Mary Clarke.

The second grant of $34,109 targeted to food handlers will be directed by Karen Penner, Foods & Nutrition and Carol Shanklin of the Hotel, Restaurant, Institution Management and Dietetics Department. They will implement a model foodservice sanitation training and certification course for restaurant managers and employees. A workshop for county extension agents will be conducted in January in conjunction with this grant.

Karen Penner also received $97,912 to develop both youth and adult curricula for risk education. This is a multi-state project that involves three other North Central Region State Extension Services and specialists as official partners in the grant: Mary Mennes, WI; Karla Hughes, MO; and Susan Smalley, MI. (KP)

New Program Assists Kansas Bakers
Beth Aeschliman (pronounced Ash-li-man) is the coordinator of the new Kansas Bakery Assistance program. Funded and supported by the Kansas Value-Added Center (KVAC), the Kansas Wheat Commission, the Kansas Board of Agriculture (KBOA) and the Department of Grain Science and Industry at Kansas State University, the primary goal of the program is to assist bakeries by providing answers and information about products, recipes, ingredients, equipment, and production. Creation of the program was prompted by the number of bakeries closing in the state at a time when the bakery industry is thriving nationally.

Aeschliman is a 1986 KSU graduate with degrees in bakery science and chemical science. She has completed several internships and held positions in product development with national companies around the country. She has also owned and operated a small bakery in Syracuse, KS. Beth can be reached at 1-800-452-7014 and the best time to call is between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. (FA)

Nutrition Guidance for Child Nutrition Programs
The USDA and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently published materials for those who serve food to children. The materials are based on the 1990 Dietary Guidelines. Although they were designed to improve the meals served by The National School Lunch Program, The School Breakfast Program, The Child and Adult Care Food Program, and The Summer Food Service Program, the concepts are appropriate for feeding all children between the ages of two and eighteen. The publication will help with revising USDA meal patterns and menu planning, developing new recipes, and using commodity foods. It also presents nutrition principles that will form a base for the review of current crediting policies and nutrition-related regulations. The materials include a colorful 61-page booklet and an attractive poster based on the dietary guidelines.

The following is part of a true/false quiz that is included in the booklet to give nutrition program personnel an idea of what they know about nutrition. It covers many basic nutrition principles and could be used with various adult audiences.

Nutrition--Fact or Fiction? True or False?

1. Children need nutrients that are different from the nutrients that older people need.

2. If you take vitamin pills, you won't have to eat anything other than the foods you like.

3. Whole-wheat bread contains more of some nutrients than enriched white bread.

4. Mayonnaise contains less fat than butter or margarine.

5. To reduce sodium, you can use condiments like soy sauce, mustard, salad dressings, pickles, and relishes instead of salt for flavoring foods.

6. Fruits contain cholesterol.

7. Fiber is only found in plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and grain products.

8. Part-skim milk mozzarella cheese has less fat than processed American cheese or natural cheddar cheese.

9. Children who eat a lot of sugar are almost always overweight.

10. If you exercise, you will eat too much.

Answers

1. F People need the same nutrients throughout life. What changes is the amount of each nutrient needed.

2. F No pill can substitute for a good diet. If your diet has too much fat, sugar, or sodium, or too little fiber, no pill will correct it. And if your diet lacks the nutrients you need, no pill will provide them as well as foods do.

3. T Both enriched and whole-grain products are important sources of starch, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron, but whole grains are better sources of folacin, vitamin B-6, magnesium, zinc, and fiber.

4. F The amount of fat in a tablespoon of butter, margarine, or mayonnaise is about the same -- 11 grams of fat/tablespoon.

5. F Many commercially prepared condiments are high in sodium. Other examples include catsup, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce. Condiments lower in sodium include fresh lemon and garlic, vinegar and oil, herbs, and spices.

6. F Fruits, vegetables, and grains contain no cholesterol. Cholesterol is found only in foods of animal origin.

7. T Dietary fiber is the part of plants that humans cannot digest. There are several types of fiber, such as cellulose, pectin, lignin, and gums. Plants differ in the types and amounts of fiber they contain. Different types of fiber act differently in the body. It is important to eat a variety of plant foods to benefit from the different kinds of fiber.

8. T One ounce of part-skim milk mozzarella cheese has 5 grams of fat; 1 ounce of natural cheddar and 1 ounce of processed American cheese each have 9 grams of fat.

9. F Overweight results from taking in more calories than are used, regardless of the calorie source. However, large intakes of sugar in a diet that contains too many total calories may lead to overweight.

10. F Exercise will not make you overeat. Regular exercise helps tone muscles, improve circulation, and strengthen the heart.

These materials are available from:

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA; Nutrition and Technical Services Division; 3101 Park Center Drive; Room 607; Alexandria, VA 22302. (PP)

Food Safety Advice for Persons with AIDS
People cannot get AIDS from food. However people with AIDS are more likely to get a foodborne illness than healthy individuals. Three bacteria, Camplyobacter, Salmonella and Listeria, are the most prevalent threat to those with AIDS or HIV infection.

To avoid foodborne infections those with AIDS should take certain precautions:

Source: USDHHS, Publication No. (FDA) 90-2232, May 1990. Eating Defensively-Food Safety Advice for Persons with Aids.

Question and Answer: Shelf-life of Buffalo Jerky
Question: A cooperator in my county is developing a buffalo jerky but cannot find information on shelf-life of the product. What is the shelf-life of a buffalo jerky? And how do food companies come up with those pull-by dates they put on their products?

Answer: In general terms, the shelf-life of a food represents its storage period prior to the occurrence of deteriorative changes that make the food unacceptable and therefore useless to the end consumer. These deteriorative changes, all contributing to loss in quality of a product, fall under three main categories: physical, chemical or microbiological changes. Following is a brief discussion of each with factors that affect these changes.

Physical changes relate mostly to the textural and other sensory properties of a food. They can be caused by loss of water (syneresis), interaction of various food components or loss of functionality of some ingredients. They can also be induced by chemical and microbiological deterioration. Examples of physical changes include freezer burn, watery jelly, bread staling, soft pizza crust and discoloration of fruits and vegetables.

Chemical changes occur when various food chemical components react with each other or with external factors such as oxygen, water and temperature to cause losses in quality or nutrient content of the food. The main deteriorative chemical changes that take place in a food system are enzymatic in nature. Some enzymes cause browning reactions, while others are responsible for lipid rancidity or breakdown of starches and proteins. Lipid oxidation by direct attack of fats by oxygen, and nonenzymatic browning reactions between reducing sugars (such as glucose and fructose) and proteins, are other examples of chemical deteriorative changes.

Microbiological changes are the ones of most concern in fresh foods. Microbial decay presents a special problem due to the possibility of foodborne illnesses from consumption of a contaminated food. Soon after harvest or slaughter, a food becomes more susceptible to attack by microbes which can multiply at a very fast rate if not properly controlled or destroyed.

Physical, chemical and microbiological changes can be affected by many factors, the most important ones being temperature, water content and additives. Heat treatment helps in destroying spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, denatures enzymes and softens tissues for greater digestibility. Cold preservation slows down the rate of microbial growth and chemical reactions. However, heat can also cause losses in nutrient content and cold preservation may result in chill injury of some foods. The amount of water present in a food is very important for shelf-life consideration as it directly affects the rate of microbial growth and chemical deterioration. Water can be removed by concentration or drying resulting in increased shelf-life. Additives such as antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds can also improve the shelf-life of a food and are used alone or in combination with other treatments. Finally, physical processes such as separation of ingredients or modified atmosphere packaging of some foods have also been shown to increase the shelf-life of many products.

Most food companies rely on specific procedures for shelf-life testing. In general, the procedures take into consideration worst case scenarios of the kind of abuse that a product might take during distribution and storage. Criteria relating to the levels of a certain chemical, discoloration or development of off-flavors, and microbiological load is determined to establish guidelines for an indication of the end of shelf-life. For example, a limit of 10,000,000 bacteria per gram of fresh meat, or visible molds on a jerky, might be decided on as an indicator of end of shelf-life. Testing is then performed on representative samples of batches produced, with frequency of sampling and analysis generally determined by qualified personnel. Microbial challenge studies where the food is inoculated with known spoilage organisms or pathogens and survivability of the organisms evaluated are becoming routine for many products. For foods with very long shelf-life, companies often rely on accelerated shelf-life testing where the food is stored at higher temperatures in controlled atmosphere incubators and the shelf-life estimated by mathematical formulas using the Q10 concept. Q10 refers to the increase in reaction rate for a 10 degrees C (18 F) temperature increase. For many reactions Q10 is of the order of 2-3.

As you can see from the previous discussion, it would be hard to predict the shelf-life of the buffalo jerky without actual testing. the type of packaging, the degree of contamination and any additives, such as mold inhibitors, included in the formula. We have recently acquired two reach-in incubators with wide temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide ranges that we are using for shelf-life testing of Kansas foods. The service is available to Kansas food processors interested in knowing the shelf-life of their products by calling the Extension Foods and Nutrition office. The amount or number of samples needed depends on the food being tested. (FA)

Emergency Food Supplies Dwindle
As the need for emergency food assistance grows, federal support is declining. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) which distributes USDA-donated food through food pantries and other anti-hunger organizations is experiencing a decrease in the amount of food available for distribution. This comes as a result of a drop in the level of USDA reserves of surplus foods.

TEFAP has been budgeted at $120 million for the last three years, an amount which is insufficient according to hunger advocates. Congress can authorize more than $120 million but has not done so. (MS)

Source: CNI, April 3, 1992.

Record High in Food Assistance Participation
Food Stamp participation rose to 25.7 million Americans in March, 320,000 more Americans than in February. This is a new record. In 1991, the food stamp program served 22.9 million people. The program currently is serving 26 million -- an increase of 12%. Food stamp participation is a sensitive indicator of economic conditions. The program reaches people never found by unemployment data such as part-time or underemployed workers.

Participation in other food assistance programs also reflects the state of the economy. The number of children receiving a free or reduced price school lunch increased by 800,000 in March to a total of 13 million children. Participation in the WIC program increased in March to 5.4 million, an increase of 100,000 over February.

The continued growth in food stamp participation and the trends in other food assistance programs may mean that USDA may need to request supplemental appropriations for these programs. (MS)

Source: CNI, June 5, 1992.

Child Poverty Increasing
Approximately 12 million children nationwide lived under the poverty line in 1990, according to a report by the advocacy group Children's Defense Fund (CDF). This represents a rise of almost 2 million children in the 1980's. CDF attributes the increase in poverty to the recession as well as reduced anti-poverty spending and declining inflation-adjusted wages.

The study indicates that in 1989, 18% of U. S. children were poor. The highest rate was in Mississippi (33.5%), followed by Louisiana (32.8%) and New Mexico (27.5%).

Since 1990, the last year of the study's data, the Food Stamp Program, a leading indicator of domestic hunger, has grown by over 5 million people. According to the Food Research and Action Center, 50% of all food stamp recipients are children. (MS)

Source: CNI, July 10, 1992

Modified Recipe: Pineapple Chicken
Pineapple Chicken (original)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, in heavy syrup

3 whole chicken breasts with skin, split

2 tablespoons cornstarch

In large skillet, combine oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper. Add chicken and brown it. Add 1/3 cup pineapple, cover and cook over medium heat about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to serving platter.

Combine cornstarch, remaining syrup and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Stir with pineapple into skillet contents. Cook until thick. Pour over chicken and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Pineapple Chicken (modified)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons light soy

1 clove garlic, minced sauce

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, in heavy syrup, drain and reserve juice

3 whole chicken breasts, split and skinned

2 tablespoons cornstarch

In large skillet, combine oil, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, garlic and pepper. Add chicken and brown it. Add 1/3 cup pineapple, cover and cook over medium heat about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to serving platter.

Combine cornstarch, remaining syrup and 1 tablespoon light soy sauce. Stir with pineapple into skillet contents. Cook until thick. Pour over chicken and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition per Serving

Source: Originally printed in the Salina Journal 'Modified Recipes' Column". Thanks to Sherrie Mahoney.

To Juice or Not
Have you seen the "juice machine" paid commercials on TV? Drinking the juices of fruits and vegetables is purported to cure everything from cancer to insomnia. But that's not true.

Jay Kordich is the most visible of the juicing gurus. He has prospered through the selling of his Juiceman II machines and his bestselling book, The Juiceman's Power of Juicing.

Nutrition professionals disagree with Kordich's recipes for health. Most consider his claims outrageous at best and dangerous at worst. Someone who believes that juicing heals all, may not seek medical help for serious health problems.

Juicing proponents are incorrectly interpreting nutrition research. Studies showing that people who eat fruits and vegetables are less likely to develop certain types of cancer haven't looked at people who use a juicer. Juicing machines take out the fiber and leave in the calories.

One important question is - Does the juice from a bag of carrots provide the equivalent vitamins and minerals of the same foods eaten whole? There is little information available about the nutrient value of fresh juices. James A. Duke, PhD, a botanist with the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA, will soon analyze the nutritional value of both juices and the fiber left behind. The new data should be available in a few months. (JD)

Source: Environmental Nutrition, August 1992.

Free Radicals and Health
What are free radicals?

Free radicals are forms of oxygen in living cells that can be toxic and dangerous. Of course, all of us must have a constant source of oxygen or we will die. Processing oxygen and our energy-providing carbohydrates, proteins and fats is how we get the energy for all body processes including heart and lung action, elimination of waste products, and muscle movements. This metabolic process, called oxidation, goes on constantly at a tremendous rate.

Some of the chemical compounds ( free radicals) resulting from oxidation can damage molecules and thus cells. Ordinarily the body's defenses trap these free radicals and render them harmless. Two of the harmless end products of nutrient oxidation are water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Highly reactive oxygen compounds, however, are formed during normal metabolism. They include hydrogen peroxide and the hydroxyl radical. Since repairs of such damaged molecules are not 100 percent effective, free radical damage can build up over a long period of time.

In such situations, free radicals overwhelm the body's capacity and different kinds of cells in different tissues can be affected. If the damage is to the DNA in a cell's nucleus, the resulting abnormal cell can be the initiated cell that could eventually lead to a cancer. If ultraviolet light damages the lens in the eye, a cataract can ensue. When other types of cells such as connective tissue or proteins are damaged and not fully repaired, some scientists think that this is part of the aging process. If cholesterol, particularly the LDL cholesterol, is oxidized, some researchers believe that this is the precipitating event in forming the plaque in arteries that culminates in coronary heart disease and certain strokes.

Antioxidant nutrients--Vitamins A (especially the carotenoid precusors), C, D, and selenium--are part of the important repair mechanisms. Currently, researchers are devoting considerable attention to this new avenue for promoting and preventing disease.

Because of limited data, most nutritionists cannot endorse high dosages of these nutrients for they could indeed cause more harm than good in certain situations. Also there are many other natural food components that enter into body defenses that are largely unknown.

If you are concerned about free radicals and what they can do to your health, you can be reassured that eating a diet with a wide variety of foods in moderation is your best protection. Fruits and vegetables are particularly important is this regard but whole grain products are also frequently recommended. Too many saturated and polyunsaturated fats are suspect as being easily damaged by free radicals.

Recently, enzymes (special proteins that promote normal chemical processes) have been touted by advertisers and supplement salespersons as possessing special health-promoting activities against damaging compounds such as free radicals. There's nothing a person can do to promote enzyme activity in the body. Enzyme supplements are readily digested because of their protein nature and they don't stimulate the cells to make more enzymes. (MC)

Enzyme Supplements
My friend is selling enzyme supplements and wants me to find out how good they are for me. Should I buy them?

Answer: No. Not unless you are in the mood for throwing away money on a worthless product. Enzyme supplements are being sold for "nutritional crisis management" and a host of other conditions such as acne and varicose veins. The so-called "active ingredients" are the herbs in the formulation. The enzymes are supposed to help them become available to the body.

All enzymes are protein in nature and are therefore denatured (made inactive) by stomach acid before being sent to the small intestine for complete digestion by protein enzymes. They therefore become just part of the amino acid pool available for building any kind of new protein needed by the many different kinds of cells. The bottom line: Enzyme supplements are just expensive sources of protein. (MC)

Source: Environmental Nutrition, August 1992, Vol. 15, Number 8.

Alcohol Adds Fat
Alcohol is now being accused of promoting fat storage, according to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine (1992;326:983-7). While alcohol is known to increase the metabolic rate (that's good), it appears to interfere with taking fat out of storage and using it as a source of energy (that's not so good). Researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland therefore conclude that alcohol appears to favor fat storage and weight gain.

This study of a small group of men looked at what alcohol does under a couple of situations. In the first, the men consumed alcohol in addition to their normal food intake and in the second, they substituted alcohol for some of the calories in their normal diets. Their metabolic rates were measured during two 48-hour sessions in an indirect calorimetry chamber. In both alcohol-intake studies, the eight men burned fewer than 900 fat calories daily compared with their usual metabolism of 1300 fat calories on their control diets (no alcohol consumed).

With average Americans getting 10 percent of their calories daily from alcohol, the researchers suggest that this amount of alcohol could be a significant factor in our weight control problem in this country. (MC)

Source: Obesity and Health, July/August 1992, Vol 6, No. 4.

What's Your Lifespan?
Will you live as long as your genes have programmed you to live? But more important, will you be vigorous, alert and enjoy a high quality of life up until nearly the end?

What most of us fear about old age is being disabled because of chronic disease. Aging research indicates that if we were to take better care of ourselves through healthy lifestyles, we could avoid or at least postpone most of the chronic diseases that afflict so many Americans.

James Fries and Lawrence Crapo in a 1981 book, Vitality and Aging, don't think chronic disease and disability are inevitable. Their thesis backed by considerable research is that if humans were to take better care of themselves, live in a health-promoting environment, etc., that the optimal course of aging is a vigorous life free of most ailments until about 85 years. They contend that what many of us think of as signs of aging are really symptoms of chronic disease.

They exclude the long-lasting diseases from the chronic disease category because the long-lasting diseases are sometimes curable, often have periods of remission and do not reflect the natural aging processes, i.e. they act more like acute illnesses. Examples of long-lasting diseases are the insulin-dependent or Type I diabetes that usually strikes the young, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, psoriasis and ulcerative colitis.

The Center for Disease Control has estimated that 51 percent of our disease and disability is directly related to lifestyle factors. The most important controllable factors are diet, exercise, tobacco, alcohol, mental stress, and seat belt use. Then there are the uncontrollable environmental hazards, e.g. excessive amounts of hazardous industrial chemicals, irradiation, smog, etc. accounting for another 20 percent.

Other studies suggest that with proper care and active stimulation, our bodies can even regain some of their lost abilities. Slow degeneration of all systems is not inevitable even though there is evidence that functional capacity of different organs does usually decline.

Because research suggests that most chronic disease begins in early years, good health habits are our first line of defense against old age ailments. A good example is osteoporosis. Building dense bones during adolescence and early adulthood is your best means of preventing disability in old age. Diet may indeed be the most important key to an old age full of vim and vigor. Wouldn't you like to be able to say: "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made?" Robert Browning, "Rabbi Ben Ezra" (MC)

World Food Day
Just a reminder - October 16 is World Food Day (WFD). The National Committee for WFD will present a satellite videoconference focused on this year's theme, "Nutrition: Bridge Between Food and Health." The program will be broadcast live from the studios of George Washington University in Washington, DC from noon to 3:00 p.m., e.d.t., on Galaxy 6. There are no restrictions on videotaping. Steve Ballou will videotape the satellite videoconference. Three tapes will be available in the media center.

A two-part telecast for grades 6-8 on nutrition will be carried over the Ti-In Network (Galaxy 5, Transponder 21, 12:30 - 12:55 p.m. CDT) on September 18 and October 16. World Food Day, Part 1, will describe a variety of lesson ideas, from the new "pyramid" to a proposed project on "label literacy" for kids. Part II will teach a unit using bread as part of the demonstration lesson.

The Committee will provide Teleconference Study/Action Packets for all participating teleconference sites and community study groups. Single, reproducible copies of the packet are available free of charge. CEU's are also offered through the Catholic University of America and the American Dietetic Association. The American Home Economics Association will offer Professional Development Units (PDU) for its members. For more information contact: Patricia Young, National Coordinator, The National Committee for World Food Day; 1001 22nd Street, NW; Washington, DC 20437; 202-653-2404.

USDA is represented in the planning group by Doug Adair, public liaison director in the Office of Public Affairs. For more information about World Food Day plan, contact Doug Adair at 202-720-2798, or write him at Room 112-A, OPA, USDA, Washington, DC 20250. (JD)

Breastfeeding May Help Prevent Cancer
We have heard for a long time about the health benefits of breastfeeding for infants, but recent research suggests that there are health benefits to the moms a well. Researchers looked at the reproductive history of 521 Japanese women with breast cancer and 521 without. They found that having breast fed reduced the likelihood of breast tumors. It was also apparent that the longer the woman breast fed the lower her chances for developing breast cancer. Reasons for this cancer-preventing effect are still unclear. (PP)

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology, April 1, 1992; pp. 726-733.

Food Additives
"Food Additives: What are They?" is a new 4-page North Central Regional Publication (No. 438). It explains what food additives are and why they are used. An easy to use chart separates additives into 4 categories: nutrient supplements, cosmetic additives, preservatives, and processing aids. Several types in each category are listed with examples and uses.

Obtain this publication through your county extension office or Extension Distribution Center at KSU, Umberger Hall, Room 24, Manhattan, KS 66506. (JD)Salsa Recipes

Salsa Recipes
Salsa Recipes for Canning (PNW 395) is a new booklet produced by Pacific Northwest Cooperative Extension. It is 15 pages, contains 7 recipes and ingredient information. It costs 50 cents. Write or call: Bulletin Dept. , Cooper Publications Building, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-5912, (509) 335-2857. (JD)

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.