Are Sugar-Reduced and Whole Grain Infant Cereals Sensorially Accepted at Weaning? A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial
Metadatos
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MDPI
Materia
Cereals Complementary feeding Gastrointestinal tolerance Infancy Infant cereals Sensory acceptability Sugar Sustainable foods Weaning Whole grains
Fecha
2020-06-24Referencia bibliográfica
Sanchez-Siles, L. M., Bernal, M. J., Gil, D., Bodenstab, S., Haro-Vicente, J. F., Klerks, M., ... & Gil, Á. (2020). Are Sugar-Reduced and Whole Grain Infant Cereals Sensorially Accepted at Weaning? A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial. Nutrients, 12(6). [doi:10.3390/nu12061883]
Patrocinador
ICEX Invest Spain 201503473; FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional)-"Investment Program of foreign companies in R&D activities"-2015, under "Smart Growth Operational Programme" by Spanish Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessResumen
The way infants are fed during the complementary period can have a significant impact on
infants’ health and development. Infant cereals play an important role in complementary feeding
in many countries. In spite of well documented benefits of a low sugar and high whole grain diet,
commercial infant cereals are often refined and contain a high amount of sugars. The aim of the
present study was to compare the sensory acceptability, gastrointestinal tolerance and bowel habits of
two commercially available infant cereals in Spain with varying sugar and whole grain contents in
infants at weaning. Forty-six healthy infants (mean age = 5.2 ± 0.4 months) received one of the two
infant cereals containing either 0% whole grain flour and a high sugar content produced by starch
hydrolysis (24 g/100 g) (Cereal A) or 50% whole grain flour and a medium-sugar content produced by
hydrolysis (12 g/100 g) (Cereal B) in a randomized, triple blind, cross-over controlled trial. Both types
of infant cereals were consumed for seven weeks. The cross-over was carried out after seven weeks.
Sensory acceptability, anthropometry, gastrointestinal tolerance and adverse events were measured,
and results evaluated using a linear regression model. No significant differences were observed
between groups in any of the main variables analyzed. Importantly, the long-term health implications
of our findings represent a wake-up call for the food industry to reduce or even eliminate simple
sugars in infant cereals and for regulatory bodies and professional organizations to recommend whole
grain infant cereals.