at both lunch and dinner has also fallen significantly over the past four decades. Attitudes toward bread and health were measured in both studies, using slightly different statements. The 1978 study asked respondents to rate their level of agreement to the statements ‘wholemeal bread is more nutritious than white bread’, ‘wholemeal bread is good for your health because it has a high fibre content’ and ‘white bread is more fattening than wholemeal bread’. Consumers were mostly likely to agree with the first (81%) and second statements (71%), indicating that they had some knowledge about the nutritional value of wholemeal compared to white breads. However, just 42% agreed with the third statement and almost 30% were undecided about it. This suggests that many consumers, at that time, had little understanding of the calorific content of white versus wholemeal bread. Our current study used the statements ‘I think bread is a healthy food product’, ‘I think multigrain is healthier than other types of bread’ and ‘I think white bread is unhealthy’. More than 80% of respondents ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that multigrain is a healthier option than other types of bread. This result suggests that consumers are confident in their knowledge regarding the healthiness of multigrain breads. However, respondents were less certain about the other two statements. Around 50% ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that bread is a healthy food, but the remaining half either ‘disagree’ or were ‘neutral’. Similarly, around 50% ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that white bread is unhealthy, but the rest ‘disagree’ or are ‘neutral’. As bread consumption has continued to decline and as many consumers appear to be unsure about the healthiness of bread as a food, perhaps nutritionists need to send a stronger message to consumers about including bread in their diet. Bread should remain a staple food product and one that is a source of many important nutritional ingredients that benefit human health. 16 OCTOBER 2017 BREAD BREAKTHROUGH IN FOOD TECHNOLOGY A new way of analysing whole grains with long near-infrared wavelengths using a supercontinuum laser could see the advent of improved bread for the world, researchers at the University of Copenhagen say. For the first time in history, researchers have used the super-powerful laser to analyse food, and academia is excited by the success. Department of Food Science scholar Tine Ringsted believes food analysis with supercontinuum lasers will become a new breakthrough in the food industry, but it will take some years because the development is based to a high degree on interdisciplinary research, where needs and technology have to fit together. “The research shows a potential for commercial applications in single seed measurements,” she says. “It also shows that the dietary fibre beta-glucan can be measured on single barley seeds in a fast and non-destructive manner, and this information can potentially be used to sort seeds according to low and high beta-glucan content. The supercontinuum laser has made it possible to measure very small objects rapidly and with high energy. A supercontinuum instrument can therefore potentially be used to measure wholegrains and thus find grains with, for example, fungal or insect attacks, or to sort grains by baking, health or quality parameters.” By measuring each grain, it is possible to more accurately observe the variation that naturally exists among grains from the same field and even from the same straw. The non-destructive and rapid measurement of individual grains can, therefore, be used in plant breeding to find desirable properties or in industrial grain sorting to increase quality. “It could be very interesting to study the supercontinuum laser instrument applied to oats because they also contain beta-glucan,” Ringsted says. “The health-promoting properties of beta-glucan in barley and oats include lowering serum cholesterol, increasing satiety and stabilising blood sugar and insulin. A seed sorting will mean that you can obtain some grains that have health-promoting properties for use in bread, for example, and some grains that are extra good for beer. This will give both products a higher value without doing anything but sorting the grains.” The measurement of beta-glucan in barley grains is just one example of how a supercontinuum laser can be used, Ringsted says. In addition to single grain measurements, the project has also examined the supercontinuum laser used in a new robust spectrometer that can potentially measure many places in a food production system. For example, this could be used in the dairy or brewing industry to follow a product from start to finish. In addition, there is a theoretical potential for using the supercontinuum laser for the rapid measurements of gases – for example, aroma compounds or ethylene which act as a gaseous plant hormone for ripening fruits. “A supercontinuum laser provides even more options for food measurements, so it offers great potential for improving the quality of our food in the future.” COVER STORY Sharen Forbes and Sue Trafford from Lincoln University
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