Researchers have found a way to reduce saturated fat, sugar and salt in popular American dishes by replacing them with herbs and spices without compromising taste. Blind taste tests confirmed that participants either liked the modified dishes as much as the original recipes or found them to be just as enjoyable, and modeling suggested that if these modifications were widely adopted, they would be more likely to survive the day. suggesting that it may be possible to significantly reduce the intake of unhealthy nutrients in
In response to the obsession with low-fat diets in the 1990s, many food manufacturers eliminated saturated fat from their products and replaced it with sugar to preserve flavor. Unfortunately, the revamped product is no healthier than the original version, and today the average person consumes excessive amounts of saturated fat.
Now, researchers at Penn State University have found a way to reduce the amount of saturated fat, sugar and salt in popular American dishes without sacrificing taste. trick? Replace over-consumed ingredients with healthy herbs and spices.
“Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, and limiting saturated fat and sodium intake is an important recommendation to reduce the risk of developing this disease,” said Penn State University Nutrition Science. Associate Professor Christina Petersen said. “However, we know that one of the major barriers to reducing intake of these ingredients is the flavor of the food. It has to taste good, which is why our finding that participants actually liked some of the recipes that replaced most of the saturated fat and salt with herbs and spices was so important.”
Using a nationally representative database called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the research team identified the 10 most popular foods high in sodium, added sugars and saturated fat. did. These include meatloaf, chicken pot pie, mac & cheese, and brownies.
We then worked with culinary experts to develop three versions of these recipes. The first contained typical amounts of saturated fat, sugar, and salt used in these recipes. The second version was nutritionally improved by removing excess saturated fat, sugar and salt. The nutritional content of the third version was the same as his second version, but with added herbs and spices such as garlic powder, mustard seed, cayenne, cumin, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon and vanilla extract. .
For example, a typical mac and cheese recipe included salted butter, 2% milk, American cheese, and salt. For the nutritionally improved version, the researchers swapped out the salted butter for unsalted butter and reduced the amount in the recipe by 75%. They replaced 2% milk with skim milk, replaced some of the American cheese with reduced-fat cheese, and eliminated excess salt. In a nutritionally improved, herb-and-spice version, the researchers added onion powder, garlic powder, mustard seeds, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
“Our goal was to see how much of these overdoses could be reduced without affecting the overall properties of the food in terms of mouthfeel and structure, and to use herbs to improve flavor. and spice,” says Petersen.
The researchers then conducted blind taste tests on each of the 10 recipes. The participant rated all three of her versions of the dish one at a time, one at a time, in one session. Between 85 and 107 consumers completed each test. Participants rated several aspects of the acceptability of each recipe, including overall preferences and preferences for attributes such as food appearance, flavor, and texture. Participants then ranked the dishes in order of preference.
“We found that seven out of 10 recipes brought overall taste back to the level of the original food when herbs and spices were added,” says Petersen. “Participants actually liked some recipes better than the original.”
Specifically, participants highly preferred the healthier, flavor-enhanced version of brownies and chicken in cream sauce over the original recipe. Of his five dishes—meatloaf, chili, apple pie, pasta with meat sauce, and taco meat—attendees preferred healthier, flavor-enhanced versions that were nearly identical to the original. They didn’t like the healthier, flavorful cheese pizza, mac and cheese, and chicken pot pie recipes over the original versions.
Finally, the team modeled the potential impact of 25-100% of US adult consumers eating these recipes instead of the original recipe. For saturated fat and salt, if 25% of consumers adopted healthier recipes, the estimated daily reduction would be about 3%, compared to 100% of consumers adopting healthier recipes. It turned out to be about 11.5% when the recipe was adopted. A smaller estimated reduction in added sugars was observed across the range of consumer adoption modeled.
The result has recently been Journal of Nutrition and Nutrition Academy.
“We have demonstrated that nutrient overdose can be significantly reduced by modifying these 10 recipes. These modifications are acceptable to consumers,” said Petersen. “This suggests that more research needs to be done to look at how to implement this more broadly and how to educate people to make these kinds of changes. Important What’s important is that most of the food that people consume is purchased in prepared form, so these findings could potentially be applied to the food supply, which I think would have a huge impact on people’s health. “
References: “Using herbs/spices to enhance the flavor of commonly consumed foods that have been reconstituted to have fewer dietary components in excess is an acceptable strategy, with saturated fats and May Reduce Sodium Intake: Analysis and Blinding of the National Health and Nutrition Survey “Tasting” Christina S. Petersen, Victor L. Fulgoni, Helen Hopfer, John E. Hayes, Rachel Gut Ding, by Penny Chris Etherton, 31 July 2023, Available here. Journal of Nutrition and Nutrition Academy.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2023.07.025
Other authors on this paper include Victor Fulgoni, senior vice president of Nutrition Impact LLC. Helen Hopfer, Pennsylvania State Associate Professor of Food Science. John Hayes, Pennsylvania State Professor of Food Science. Rachel Gooding, Senior Research Chef at McCormick & Company. Penny Chris Etherton, Emeritus Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Evan Pugh University of Pennsylvania.
The McCormick Institute for Science supported this research.
