Energy drinks safety questioned by German agency

Energy drinks have the potential to cause liver damage, heart failure and even death and should carry warnings for certain population groups, according to a German body.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) analysed various human trials conducted over recent years that noted cardiac dysrhythmia, seizures, kidney failure and fatalities occurred after consuming energy drinks.

It called for tighter labelling to warn consumers of potential health hazards.

BfR said it had repeatedly advocated the use of warning labels for demographic sub-groups such as children, pregnant women, lactating women and caffeine-sensitive individuals, who should refrain from using energy drinks.

It said consumers with high blood pressure and heart disease should restrict energy drink use and called for more "robust studies".

Warnings about the use of energy drinks such as Red Bull with intensive physical activity or alcoholic beverages should also be mandatory.

BfR noted the regularity with which energy drinks were mixed with alcoholic beverages meant "persons no longer realistically assess their dwindling responsiveness caused by alcohol consumption under the influence of energy drinks", a problem the energy drinks sector had never taken full responsibility for.

Such label warning were in place in countries like Finland and Canada, ingredient limitations were in place in France where taurine is banned.

Denmark and Norway had banned or recommended banning energy drinks altogether.

BfR's review took in products containing not more than 320 mg/l of caffeine, 4000 mg/l of taurine, 200 mg/l of inosite and 2400 mg/l of glucuronolactone.

Consumption hazards

It noted that as far back as 2002 a scan of German poison information and treatment centres revealed energy drink-related incidents included seizures, tachycardia (increased heart rate), cardiac dysrhythmia, rhabdomyolysis (decline of skeletal muscle cells), agitation, hypertonia (high blood pressure), respiratory disorders and psychotic conditions.

As well as citing numerous studies demonstrating the potential hazards of energy drink consumption due to different ingredients, BfR's report notes a number of case studies where energy drinks have led to adverse reactions including death in combination with alcohol and alone.

The use of energy drinks as substitutes for sports beverages was also questioned. Sports beverages supplied, "calorific energy, are consumed in larger amounts in conjunction with intensive physical activity and are, therefore, associated with the consumer conditions which are specifically contra-indicated for energy drinks."

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is in the process of assessing the status of energy drinks, with an EU-wide approach a possible consequence of that assessment.

"This could encourage EU-wide data matching and lead to the emergence of new findings about consumer groups who may be particularly sensitive to energy drinks," Bfr said. "As far as exposure is concerned, it is pointed out that in a Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) expert report which is still valid, reference was made to the unit of 250 ml cans for energy drinks which had been the norm up to then whereas far larger packs are now sold internationally."

Vitamin D to boost mood in older adults: study

Increasing your vitamin D intake may lead to mood improvements and protect against depression, suggests new research published today.

Low levels of the vitamin and higher blood levels of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) were associated with higher rates of depression among 1,282 community residents aged between 65 and 95, according to results published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

"This large population-based study shows, for the first time, an association of depression status and depression severity with decreased serum 25(OH)D levels and increased serum PTH levels in older subjects," wrote lead author Witte Hoogendijk from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

If the study can be repeated in further study, it may see brain health added to the long list of health benefits reported for the vitamin, ranging from bone and cardiovascular health, to protection against certain cancers, and improved muscle strength.

Recently, a review by Bruce Ames and Joyce McCann from the Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland highlighted the role of the vitamin in maintaining brain health, noting the wide distribution of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain.

According to the review (FASEB Journal, Vol.22, pp. 982-1001), the vitamin has been reported to affect proteins in the brain known to be directly involved in learning and memory, motor control, and possibly even maternal and social behaviour.

New data

Hoogendijk and co-workers measured vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D - 25(OH)D) and PTH blood levels in the volunteers taking part in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. In the whole cohort, 26 had major depressive disorder, 169 had minor depression, and 1,087 were not depressed. The researchers note that the average blood 25(OH)D level was 21 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) and the average PTH level was 3.6 picograms per millilitre (pg/ml).

Amongst the people with major and minor depression, blood 25(OH)D levels were 14 per cent lower, while PTH levels were, on average, five and 33 per cent higher in people with minor and major depression, respectively, compared to non-depressed individuals.

"From the patient's perspective, our findings may be of clinical relevance because the prevalence of minor depression in older persons is high (13 per cent) and both decreased serum 25(OH)D levels and increased serum PTH levels can, in theory, be treated with higher dietary intake of vitamin D3 or calcium and increased exposure to daylight," said Hoogendijk.

"Underlying causes of vitamin D deficiency such as less sun exposure as a result of decreased outdoor activity, different housing or clothing habits and decreased vitamin intake may be secondary to depression, but depression may also be the consequence of poor vitamin D status," wrote the authors.

"Long-term longitudinal studies with repeated assessments should be performed to explore the question of whether decreased 25(OH)D levels and increased PTH levels precede depression or follow it. In other words, are these biological changes a cause or a consequence of depression?" they concluded.

Experts call for higher levels

Calls to increase the current recommendations of 200 IU per day for children and adults up to 50 years of age for vitamin D up to 800 - 1000 IU vitamin D3, have become more frequent in both scientific and public circles.

Vitamin D refers to two biologically inactive precursors - D3, also known as cholecalciferol, and D2, also known as ergocalciferol. The vitamin can be manufactured in the body on exposure to sunlight and also consumed in relatively low quantities from the diet.

However because of the low dietary amounts, and lack of sunshine in northern climates, with some estimates claiming that as much as 60 per cent of northern populations may be vitamin D deficient.

In adults, vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

What Consumers Think

We found this to be a great study and well informative at the staff of Capico after our review.

2008 QSR Magazine Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Preferences in Quick-Service Restaurants

Ever wish you could read your customers’ minds and find out what they’re really thinking? We set out to discover exactly that in our 2008 consumer survey.

Details about the study: Six hundred seventy-three respondents entered the survey, which was conducted by Litchfield Research. The distribution was 68 percent female and 32 percent male. Respondents were distributed throughout the U.S., with the exception of Montana and New Mexico. Eighty-two percent of the respondents identified themselves as Caucasian. Those under the age of 18 exited the survey. The remaining questions were asked to 689 respondents. The average age of respondents was 47 years old.

Click on the question below to see the results, which you can also sort by demographics.

In the last 60 days

How often did you eat fast food?

How often did you eat at a casual-dining restaurant?

How often did you eat at a fine-dining restaurant?

Favorites

How many times in a week do you eat fast food?

What meal are you most likely to eat at a fast-food restaurant?

What is your favorite fast-food restaurant?

What is your least favorite fast-food restaurant?

Loyalties

Do you have brand loyalties?

To which restaurants are you loyal?

Why do you prefer this restaurant?

How far would you travel?

What’s Important

What’s important in choosing a fast-food restaurant?

How’s the customer service?

Quality Control

In the past three years, has fast-food quality improved?

Do you think fast food has gotten healthier?

Do you think fast food is better overall?

Has a fast-food experience ever caused you to…?

Beverages

What’s your favorite fast-food beverage?

Would you order beer or wine at a fast-food restaurant?

Choices

What dietary concerns do you have?

What do you order?

Where are you most likely to eat fast food?

Cold Case for Ice Cream

Why frozen indulgences might warrant a more prominent place on quick-serve menus.

Contentious though it often is, there are a handful of things we can all agree on when it comes to the subject of food. The popularity of ice cream is almost certainly one of them. To wit, the market research firm Mintel has reported that more than 90 percent of U.S. households consume ice cream and other frozen desserts.

But like most indulgences, ice cream in its pure, premium form—with all the butterfat and sugar that make it so tantalizing—tends to leave American adults feeling a little conflicted. We crave its richness, but our society’s obsession with health, diet, and nutrition also forces us to reckon with the consequences of enjoying great ice cream to the degree we might like. No matter how you churn it, downing two or three pints a day just isn’t a good idea. Unfortunately.

So in order to reconcile our ice cream cravings with our calorie consciences, we compromise, often by turning to products made with low-fat dairy products and/or sugar substitutes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has noted that light, low-fat, nonfat, and reduced-fat ice cream products, along with frozen yogurt, ices, sorbets, and sherbets, accounted for about one-third of the domestic frozen dessert market in 2006.

The alternative to eating lighter products, of course, is to enjoy smaller quantities of the really good stuff. To judge from a recent National Restaurant Association survey of culinary experts, this seems to be the track many Americans are now taking. In that poll, 1,300 members of the American Culinary Federation were asked to identify the most popular food trends from among a list of 194 items, including everything from red wine to sushi to energy drinks, pomegranates, fresh pasta, and couscous. At the end of the day, “bite-size desserts” emerged at the very top of the list, in the No. 1 spot.

If small indulgences that deliver big flavor constitute the trend of the moment, quick-serve operators might consider how they might tap into the phenomenon. Here are a few suggestions:

Smaller and Richer

I remember many years ago when I would to go to Bertillon Ice Cream where, for the equivalent of roughly $7 at the time, patrons would order a scoop about the size of a golf ball, served with a miniature wooden spoon. That worked out to about $5.50 per ounce, but this ice cream was worth every cent. With its authentic, intense, and perfectly balanced flavors; sumptuous, creamy texture; and lush mouth feel that made for a positively sublime experience, I would have anted up at least a few more francs for the privilege of another serving.

That’s ultimately why I believe that it might be a good bet for quick-serve’s more popular chains to begin offering small scoops of a proprietary, crave-inducing brand of premium ice cream in all-American flavors such as vanilla and peach. The results might be surprisingly tasty—and profitable. In a similar vein, Pasta Pomodoro might opt to sell small portions of authentic sorbet or gelato with Italian-inspired flavors such as bitter chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, almond, or espresso. And though they’re nowhere near as decadent, paletas—icy Mexican fruit pops made with fresh fruit, water or milk, and sugar—offer an engaging variety of textures and tastes, including tropical fruits, hibiscus, tamarind, avocado, corn, lime, and cucumber. At least a few of these could fare very well at the likes of Baja Fresh, Chipotle, or Qdoba.

Distinctive

One of the many smart moves Starbucks made on its way to turning coffee into a connoisseur’s pursuit was to market its various beans according to their region of origin and, within each region, in terms of distinctions such as color, sensory quality, and flavor.

As the rampant popularity of artisan ice creams attest, this technique could also be a powerful tool for marketing frozen desserts. With Americans increasingly interested in the source of their foods, a decision to use Oregon hazelnuts, Georgia peaches, or Madagascar vanilla in frozen desserts could offer a halo of quality and uniqueness in addition to a novel taste profile. Vosges Haut-Chocolate, the upscale chocolatier, takes this practice to exceptionally exotic lengths with such ice cream flavors as curry and coconut custard and Mexican ancho and chipotle chiles with Ceylon cinnamon and dark chocolate. The selective use of specific ingredients bearing upscale brand names can achieve a similar effect—a Scharffen Berger chocolate shake, say, or perhaps a Dole fresh-fruit citrus popsicle would be great in a quick-serve setting.

Novel Thinking

If you remember what it felt like to run for all you were worth after the ice-cream truck on a hot summer afternoon, you remember how fun those classic ice-cream novelties were. Good Humor pops, push-ups, chocolate-covered bananas—we all had our favorites. But today, these novelties look attractive for a different reason. Being relatively small—anything too big to fit on a stick is instantly disqualified—they are perfectly portion-controlled. And given a bit of an up-market makeover, they could represent a nice new niche for some enterprising chain.

A sandwich concept, for instance, might offer a line of truly premium ice-cream sandwiches in a variety of creative, regional flavors—a Vermont maple-walnut variety or a Maui pineapple sorbet sandwich. This would fit nicely with the ongoing retro-treat trend that has given rise to concepts such as New York’s Shake Shack and to the classic milkshakes always on tap at Jack in the Box. Asian concept Pick Up Stix could even experiment with frozen yogurt sticks boasting the hip flavors of the moment like green tea, now available at the likes of Pinkberry and Red Mango.

The important thing is, at a time when ice cream is hotter than ever, we must not let our frozen-dessert brainstorming go cold.