Fussy Foodie » Food labelling

Inulin

Miranda — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:39:13 +0000

I was doing some research into the different types of soya milks when I came across “inulin” as an ingredient in some soya milks and had no idea what it was and why it was there. I really don’t like not knowing what an ingredient is, so for anyone wondering what inulin is and if you should worry about it here is the low down.

We all know about fibre and its importance for digestive health, well inulin is a dietary fibre increasingly being used by food manufacturers in processed foods, so we are probably eating more inulin than we think.

So what is inulin?

Inulin is a specific type of dietary fibre that is naturally found in hundreds of common foods such as leeks, artichokes, asparagus, onions, garlic, bananas, wheat, rye, and…chicory root.

Inulin has excellent nutritional and functional characteristics and can be used to replace fat, flour, and sugar. To find out if foods contain inulin, look for ‘chicory root’ or ‘inulin’. As an added fibre inulin may offer more health benefits than other fibres:

Inulin promotes healthy gut bacteria
Pre- and pro-biotics are ‘good’ bacteria that help maintain gut health. Inulin is a probiotic.
Improve your digestive functions with inulin
Like other fibres, inulin helps digestion, prevents constipation, and keeps you regular. A large reason for this is because of its probiotic properties.
Inulin can help manage diabetes
Because inulin is not digested, it does not affect glucose levels. This makes it an appropriate food for diabetics. It is not counted as carbohydrate intake.
Improved bone health with inulin
Preliminary studies suggest that adding inulin to calcium-rich foods may boost calcium absorption. This is good news for your bones and those of us non dairy eaters especially when some soya milk contains inulin.

So essentially from my findings inulin is a dietry fibre and I can see why it’s been added to the enriched soya milks to boost its fibre content and help calcium absorbtion. As with all these added ingredients the thing to remember is the best kind of fibre is from foods naturally rich in fibre, such as inulin rich onions, artichokes, bananas, asparagus, and garlic.

Tapioca Gluten Free

Miranda — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:09:39 +0000

Just about to write a blog on some rice flour pancakes I tried last night and checked out the ingreidents to find they have tapioca flour starch in – so I wondered, is Tapioca Gluten Free?

What is Tapioca?

Tapioca is a flavorless, colorless, odorless starch extracted from the root of the plant species Manihot esculenta. Tapioca is a staple food in some regions and is used worldwide as a thickening agent, principally in foods.

Tapioca

So the great news is another one to add to the list Tapioca is Gluten Free.

Airline food labelling

Miranda — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:43:51 +0000

Just back from a very cold (minus 25) week in France getting some adrenaline through my body with a weeks skiing. I had a random airline food labelling experience I thought I would share. Rather rarely for a budget airline we had our meal included, something I always look forward to on a flight (not).

Where possible I take my own food or just eat before I get on the flight. However on the way back from skiing having been up since 4am and having a delay getting on to the flight, by lunch time I was in need of any kind of food, even airline food.

Airline food

So the classic tray arrives, with the orange juice carton, mysterious hot silver packet containing miscellaneous hot food and a roll. Not just any roll I might add…

Airline food labelling example

This made me giggle, “Round Brown Roll – contains Gluten”, just seems weird when you have this whole silver container of food with no label with lots of ingredients but they choose to advise us that a roll contains gluten. Brilliant, a great example of airline food labelling.