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GCTV Ep#6 Go Grains
Narrator: The equivalent of two slice of bread a day,
that’s the amount of grain based food Australians have
cut from their diet compared to two years ago. And given there are more than 21 million
of us that’s a lot of bread and a lot of grain.
It also means our diets are inadequate and that’s not healthy.
Robyn Murray: CEO Go Grains “The Australian dietary guidelines tell
us to eat at least four serves of grain foods a day and we
found that Australians were eating less than four serves, in fact just over three serves
a day and they weren’t getting enough of wholegrain
foods either.”
Narrator: The reasons why less grain based foods are
being eaten has more to do with misconceptions than fact according to research fellow Peter
Williams.
Dr Peter Williams: Nutrition & Dietetics Research Fellow, University of Wollongong
“One of the most common, and particularly women more than men, is that carbohydrate
foods are fattening and people tell us that they’re
avoiding those foods, bread as well as other grain foods
because they think it’ll make them fat. The science in fact doesn’t really show
that at all.”
Narrator: And it’s not only the weight conscious who
are eating less grain.
Peter Williams: “Another one that’s really becoming more
important recently and we don’t understand it so well, is
people are avoiding it because they think they have an intolerance to particularly wheat.
Now there are a few people in the community who
have a real allergy to wheat but it’s only about 1%
but in the latest survey up to 15% were saying they were avoiding these foods because of
concerns about intolerance and it probably wasn’t well diagnosed or even appropriately
diagnosed.”
Narrator: Its misconceptions and apprehensions such
as these that Go Grains is working to change by
interpreting scientific information for the consumer’s benefit.
Robyn Murray: “Go Grains primary focus is to evaluate
the scientific evidence, the evidence around grains and
legumes science and consumer behaviour. So how are they incorporating legumes and grains
into their diet everyday and from that we compile key messages to encourage Australians
to incorporate more grains and legumes into their
diet every day.”
Narrator: And there are plenty of good news stories
out there to promote, especially about wholegrain foods.
Peter Williams: “There’s been a lot of research particularly
in the past 10 years in relation to most of our chronic
diseases that are problems in our community like increased obesity, increased rates of
diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure and blood lipids.
All of those really could be improved if people had more whole grains. The evidence is really
consistent about all of those major diseases probably being able to be improved if we ate
more whole grains in our diet.”
Narrator: Go Grains recommends 48 grams of wholegrain
foods be consumed daily and it’s urging the
National Health and Medical Research Council to include the recommendation in its guidelines.
Robyn Murray: “Consumers need guidance. I think there’s
so much choice out there. There’s many food groups
and many foods available in those food groups and those guidelines provide that guidance
to Australians in terms of what foods groups
are included and how much of those food groups to eat
everyday.”
Narrator: To help consumers understand how much grain
derived foods they should eat Go Grains turns abstract figures into tangible amounts.
Robyn Murray: “We interpret the RDI (Recommended Daily
Intake) to guide consumers into how much is a serve
for example two Weet-Bix is one serve of core grain foods; two Crispbreads is one serve;
two slices of bread; a cup of cooked rice; so
it’s really there to guide them so you can add that up to
have your four serves a day.”
Narrator: There’s no doubt that identifying quantities
and linking them to health benefits helps boost
demand. Uncle Toby’s Oats’ recent cholesterol
challenge led to an estimated 55 million additional bowls of
porridge being eaten in Australia over the last 4 years.
By working with food companies Go Grains can use this dialogue between manufacturers and
consumers to include nutritional information on packaging. Simple point-of-sale messages
are a direct way of reaching consumers,
Alison Baldwin: Nutrition Manager, Campbell Arnotts
“It does help us sell more products because it interprets the information for consumers.
They’re able to make a quick decision within the supermarket
about what product meet their needs and in this busy fast paced life style consumers
are after quick health and nutrition information that
meets their needs and the needs of their families.”
Narrator: While Australians eat more grain foods than
any other core food group – around 400 million serves a week, it should be more. Stopping
the trend away from grain foods is why GRDC decided to back Go Grains. Increasing grain
consumption will produce significant returns for grain
growers.
Robyn Murray: “If we can move consumers from where they’re
at today having approximately three serves of
grains a day up to four serves of grains a day which is what the dietary guidelines are
telling us to eat, we could realise an additional $50 million
in value of wheat at the farm gate year on year.”
ENDS
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