ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120110
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE CREA KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
A federal agency apparently has an answer to a current advertising line, ``Oh, what those oats can do.''
For the first time ever, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved labeling a specific food with a health claim. Now certain oat products can carry this statement: ``Soluble fiber from oatmeal, as part of a low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet, may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Eligible products must first meet federal guidelines defining low-fat, low-cholesterol and low-saturated fats, as well as containing at least 0.75 grams of soluble oat fiber (technically, beta glucan) per serving. Years of research have shown that consuming 3 or more grams of soluble fiber - the equivalent of 11/2 cups cups of cooked rolled oats - effectively may reduce levels of serum cholesterol in individuals who also follow a low-fat diet.
Thus, plain oatmeal, as well as popular brands such as General Mills' Cheerios and the majority of the Quaker Oat Company's hot or ready-to-eat varieties, will be permitted to carry the product claim. (Due to their fat content, three of Quaker's instant varieties are excluded: Kids' Choice; Raisin, Date and Walnut, and Fruit and Cream.)
This isn't the first time that the FDA has permitted food producers to link medical conditions with nutritients. Manufacturers may make packaging or advertising note of several generic links, such as folic acid and neural tube disorders, dietary fat and forms of cancer; or fat, saturated fat and cholesterol and heart disease. However, the Jan. 23 publication in Federal Register is the first time the agency has allowed any such attributions to be connected with specific food products.
In doing so, the FDA is breathing new life into an old and oft-beaten war horse.
During the mid-1980s, mounting evidence led major health organizations to extol the form of fiber found in oat bran as an important weapon in the fight against heart disease. An explosion of products and information - often ill-conceived or misleading - followed.
High-fat cookies, snack foods and muffins were marketed, and at least one brand of beer made with oat bran hit the shelves. One of the most pointed flaws emerged when Kellogg, one of the top cereal manufacturers in the U.S., produced Cracklin' Oat Bran. The immensely popular ready-to-eat cereal proved to be problematic because of an excessively high percentage of saturated fat per serving posed by the use of tropical oils added in processing. Kellogg eventually reformulated the cereal.
But public distrust mounted. The oat bran craze epitomized the confusion nutrition-conscious shoppers faced. An onslaught of conflicting headlines and product claims turned off scores of confused consumers.
That's what worries Dr. Deborah Boardley, a registered dietitian and assistant professor in the University of Toledo's department of Health Promotion and Human Performance.
``I think both the benefits and lack of benefits [of oat products] have been exagerated,'' Boardley says. ``Well-informed researchers recognized the validity of the [research] that initially led up to the first positive claims about oat bran, but the marketing community ran wild.''
Wooed by initially positive reports, consumers interpreted the headlines as ``Woe unto you if you don't have a bowl of oatmeal every morning,'' Boardley says. But when subsequent research appeared to refute some of the initial claims, exasperated dieters didn't know what to make of it.
Many of them missed the important point. she says.
``A lot of sound research studies [showed] a strong association between the role of soluble fiber and reduced risk,'' she says. ``That research stands.''
However, so does complementary research that demonstrates the blood cholesterol-reducing value of other forms of soluble fiber, such as lignin in dried beans, peas and other legumes or pectin found in apples and citrus fruit. Some physicians recommend small daily doses of psyllium, another commonly available source of soluble fiber, used in over-the-counter products such as Metamucil.
Boardley and others don't take issue with the value of oats as a valuable cornerstone in a healthful meal plan. ``The scientific reality has been, for years, that they can be healthful,'' she says. However, balancing a variety of food choices within an overall low-fat, low-saturated fat and low-cholesterol diet is key.
``You simply can't just sprinkle oat bran on a high-fat meal and make it nutritional,'' she says. ``It's simply not a magic wand.''
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:by CNB