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Food product development

Towards a healthy heart

In the core strand, Food product development, you will apply the skills and knowledge you have gained from studying nutrition, food properties and food manufacture. Many food products are developed to meet a nutritional need. In developing a food product to meet this need the properties of food and food manufacturing processes are taken into account. The Heart Foundation Tick is a tool for consumers and food product developers.

Outcomes
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcomes:
H1.3 The student justifies processes of food product development and manufacture in terms of market, technological and environmental considerations

Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Food Technology Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (1999)

Heart disease is a major cause of death in Australia. The Heart Foundation has been established to research heart disease and to develop education programs for better heart health. Nutrition is a key prevention strategy. Healthier eating, particularly eating less saturated fat and salt, can contribute to better heart health. The Heart Foundation has a great internet site with lots of useful information.

Cardiovascular disease kills more people in Australia than any other diseases and creates enormous costs for the health care system.
Cardiovascular disease accounts for 40% of all deaths, this includes coronary heart disease (22% of all deaths) and stroke (9% of all deaths).
For a 40 year old, the risk of coronary heart disease in their future life is one in two for men and one in three for women.
For a 45 year old, the risk of having a stroke before age 85 is one in four for men and one in five for women.
The risk is most acute among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people in lower socioeconomic groups.
Much of the burden caused by cardiovascular disease is preventable.
There are some favourable trends in some risk factors.

Activity

Use the Heart Foundation web site to locate information to answer the following questions.

1.	What causes high blood cholesterol ?
2.	Explain the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol.
3.	Food habits develop from when we are young. Educating children at school is one way to reduce the incidence of heart disease for future generations. Find out about the Heart Foundation's Eat Smart program. Select For kids button. Summarise the key components of the Eat smart, play smart program.
4.	Hypertension or high blood pressure is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Explain the link between salt and hypertension.
5.	A significant initiative of the Heart Foundation is the Tick Program. This program has influenced food product development for many companies.What type of program is the Heart Foundation Tick?
6.	What are the guidelines for acceptability that a product needs to meet before it can be given a tick?
7.	Explain the impact of the Heart Foundation Tick on food product development.
8.	Select five food products you could consume for breakfast that are Heart Foundation Tick approved products.
9.	Complete the extended response question below for revision. Health and nutrition issues have impacted on food product development. How have consumers influenced the development of healthier and more nutritious foods? What do consumers perceive as the benefits of the Heart Foundation Tick?

Activity answers

1.	The causes of high blood cholesterol include eating a diet high in saturated fat, a liver that produces too much cholesterol, or pregnancy.
2.	The difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol is HDL is called good cholesterol and can actually help unclog the arteries whereas LDL cholesterol is known as bad cholesterol as it tends to clog blood vessels.
3.	Eat Smart program: your findings.
4.	Eating too much salt can lead to high blood pressure or hypertension which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. If you already have high blood pressure, eating too much salt may make it worse. The effect salt has on blood pressure varies from person to person. Elderly persons are usually more sensitive to changes in salt intake.
5.	The Tick is a public health nutrition program established in 1989 by the Heart Foundation. It is a long-term strategy to improve the eating patterns of all Australians. The Tick is the Heart Foundation's guide to help people make healtier food choices quickly and easily as Tick approved foods are relatively low in saturated fat and salt, and higher in fibre.
6.	The guidelines for acceptability that a product needs to meet before it can be given a Tick include: approved foods must be considered to add considerable nutritional benefit to the total diet. The National Heart Foundation assesses each food submitted on an individual basis and regularly reviews the guidelines. The guidelines stipulate saturated fat, sodium, kilojoules and dietary fibre content acceptable for a range of food groups.
7.	The impact the Heart Foundation Tick has had on food product development is it has encouraged food manufacturers and producers to develop or modify food products that support the Heart Foundation's Guidelines for Tick Approval.
8.	See Approved Products and Breakfast foods list.
9.	Possible answers could include the following. You may also think of additional answers. Consumer research has found that consumers are concerned about their health and try to make wise decisions about their food intake. As a result food companies develop products to meet these needs. Education programs have increased public awareness of the importance of nutrition creating a demand from consumers for nutritious products. The high prevalence of diet related diseases has also caused consumers to influence the development of healthier and more nutritious foods. Many affluent, educated consumers have the resources to buy a range of new nutritious food products, therefore influencing product development. Some of the perceived benefits of the Heart Foundation Tick include: it helps people make healthier food choices quickly and easily. it helps ensure the nutrition claims identified by the manufacturer are true and accurate. it helps to increase the number of healthier food choices available by encouraging food manufacturers and producers to develop or modify food products that meet the Heart Foundation Guidelines for Tick approval.