Is the Calorie Content of Certain Foods Being Overstated
24 Oct 2012 | Almond Board of California
A recent study, which was conducted by a group from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), researchers used a rigorous method for determining the energy value of almonds and found that almonds may have about 20% fewer calories than originally thought.
This is Rob Wires at the CL in Paris, and I'm here with John Talbot from the Almond Board of California.
And the Almond Board is highlighting a new study which shows that almonds, that the calorie content may be overstated by a significant amount.
John, can you tell me about this study and what, what you're planning to do with some of these kind of results?
Sure, I'd be happy to.
We have for years been working on trying to find ways to demonstrate that almonds are a healthy snacking alternative, and one of the things that has been a concern about almonds over the years is that they're maybe a little bit higher in fat.
And so what we did through this study was to actually demonstrate that.
The number of calories that are actually consumed by people when they eat almonds is actually about 20% less than what we thought.
And there's The way people have estimated calorie intake has been something that was developed 100 years ago, and through more modern scientific approaches we're now able to demonstrate that in fact because of some of the properties of almonds, there is actually less fat actually absorbed in the body when almonds are consumed, and it has to do.
A little bit with the amount of fiber that is in the product and also how crunchy they are and how hard the cell walls are in the almonds and so therefore we we've been able to show that calories have in fact calories are less in fact than what we had originally assumed.
Does this have any relevance for other foodstuffs?
It could, it could, there has been a similar study done with pistachios that also showed a reduction in the amount of calories that are actually consumed, and it could be happening, it could be something that would make.
A difference in other foods as , but we haven't necessarily looked at anything other than almonds in this case.
How much more research into this area would be required before you would be able to approach governments, etc.
In terms of changing calorie panels?
It's hard to say.
We've already approached government agencies in both the US and in Europe, and We have been at least fortunate that they they see validation in in the in the methodology we're using, but it's now a matter of how much additional research do we have to do before they are willing to let us change the labeling and the packaging, and that's hard to say right now, but we're optimistic that eventually we can make that happen.
And this is obviously further away to a lot of the work that you've done into the weight management and healthy snacking arena.
Can you say a little bit more about the Some of the general trends, sure, yeah, one of the things that is obviously a big concern to consumers is weight management, and one of the things that we have found about almonds in particular is that when almonds are consumed with a normal healthy diet, they actually can help you lose weight because they are more satiating.
They help you feel full, and so the whole point of it is that you hopefully will eat less by eating almonds as part of that healthy diet.
OK, John, thank you very much.
