The trends in carbohydrate consumption in the U.S. had been increasing for almost a decade since 1990. This increase is especially noticed for carbohydrate consumption in form of caloric sweeteners, and refined carbohydrate products. Caloric sweetener consumption as used in sweetening drinks like tea, fruit juice, or sodas; or as used in products like candies, baked goods, and fried flour-based products tremendously increased (almost doubled) between 2000 to 2003. The consumption of refined carbohydrate products like bread, pasta, and breakfast cereals in the U.S. also increased from 1993 to 2003. This increase may have resulted from the fortification of bread and cereals with vitamins and minerals, which caused a lot of consumers, especially women of child-bearing age, to increase their intake of these fortified high carbohydrate foods.
Furthermore, the advice by the USDA within that period for consumers to decrease their total lipid intake, led to a colloquial idea that carbohydrate intake could be increased without causing much harm. The consumers believed that "if fats are bad, then carbs are good". The information sent out by the USDA food pyramid of 1990 only helped to make matters worse. This pyramid featured high carbohydrate foods at its base and encouraged the average consumer to consume at least 5-6 servings of carbohydrate rich foods. Food industries and manufacturers were not left out of the "fat is bad" hit. Efforts were made to compensate for deceasing fat content in processed foods, by increasing their total sugar content. This was done in a bid to maintain good taste and functional properties as well as consumer appeal in food products.
In recent times (within the last few years) however, the use of calorie reduced sweeteners in food product formulation has been received as a saving grace to the "too much sugar situation". Many food manufacturers, formulators and consumers have embraced these non-caloric and reduced-caloric sweeteners as the means to reducing the high sugar content of most sweet foods. Furthermore recent focus on the use of whole cereal and grains in food product development, and the addition of soluble and insoluble fibers to carbohydrate rich foods, are geared towards improving the nutritional content of foods formerly developed with refined carbohydrate ingredients, thereby making them more healthy for consumption.
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These increases in carbohydrate consumption, especially of caloric sweeteners and refined starches have been purported to have a long-term effect on both consumers and the nation. With increases in glucose levels obtained from consumed food comes increases in risk of adverse behavior in children, increased risk of obesity, insulin resistance, dental carries, blood sugar levels, blood TAG levels and type-2 diabetes.
Luckily, consumers are now more informed of the risks of too much sugar consumption and food manufacturers are currently doing their best to reduce these risks too.
The economic situation is geared towards eradicating obesity from the US population, as more people are becoming unable to work due to unhealthy body weight. The idea of replacing caloric sweeteners with non-caloric substitutes would hopefully help with this situation. The challenge to food formulators however is maintaining the same functionality in non-caloric sweetened foods as in traditional foods. Sometimes, this is not easy to achieve and can create a big hurdle in product simulation.
Consumers need to be well informed about food choices. The mere fact that a food product contains or is formulated with artificial sweeteners or whole grains doesn't necessarily mean that it is low or in calories or total carbohydrate content. In some cases, non-caloric sweeteners would help to reduce caloric intake, like in diet sodas. In other cases, the total caloric load of the food product should be taken into account when making food choices related to weight management.
I agree with Food Lab Asst. The use of non-caloric sweeteners in foods may not be the ultimate answer to obesity and weight problem, but it will help reduce the amount of sugar consumed from food and beverages.
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