Rice consumers opt for health-promoting foods
to boost consumer perception of the grain, showing rice eaters have
a healthier overall diet, with less added fat and sugar than their
non-rice eating compatriots.
Researchers at Iowa State University in the US found that people who eat rice have healthier diets, eat more fruits and vegetables, consume less added sugar and fat, and are likely to have a lower body mass index than non-rice eaters.
Rice is the staple food for over half of the world's population, principally in Asia where the average person eats rice two or three times a day, considerably more than Americans or Europeans. While the average person in Myanmar eats 195 kg of rice each year, their European counterpart will consume just 3 kg a year.
These latest findings could bring added value to the use of rice in formulations, as well as additional appeal to the health-conscious consumer, leading to new openings for food makers that include rice (for example rice cakes) and rice derivatives, such as rice flour and rice starch, in their products.
Key applications today for rice starch, an ingredient with a tiny granule size, neutral taste, and soft mouthfeel, include baby food, extruded products, soups, dressings and meat preparations. But one of the fastest growing markets for rice starch are functional foods, forecast to double within five years in the UK alone from €1.2 billion to €2.47 billion.
"The data also show that rice eaters consume more nutrients, such as folic acid, potassium and iron that are contained in rice products, and that they appear to manage their weight better than non-rice consumers," commented Helen Jensen, the Iowa State University researcher who conducted the study.
The study looked at two surveys representing over 35,000 consumers: the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and the Continuing Survey of Food Intake of Individuals (CSFII), from 1994-1996.
The survey identified those who consumed at least half a serving of white or brown rice; and how rice consumers' diets differ from the diets of non-rice eaters.
Key findings revealed: over 40 per cent of rice consumers ate diets containing no more than 30 per cent of calories from fat compared to 30 per cent of non-rice consumers; rice consumers are less likely to have a body mass index score classified as obese.
In addition, rice consumers ate 4.5 grams less fat (1 tsp) per day and 3.3 grams less sugar.
