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Beans Means – CAM ‘Cool’ Candy!
With obesity bolting in the UK like a USA reflection it is highly likely, if things run true to form, that what next is ‘Lifestyle’ oriented in the US will reach here sooner or later. Targeting ‘Fitness Fanatics’ or aiming at a healthy lifestyle in the confectionery industry appears to be the latest stateside innovation or ‘market forces’ push. Dubbed “From Sweet and Scrumptious, to Wacky and Weird” ‘cool’ candies dominated the American 2005 ‘All Candy Expo’ and would appear to be at the forefront of this latest consumer trend.1 It has been reported that the US confection industry is valued at $25 billion and that American consumers get through more than $3 billion dollars worth (approx. £1,646,000,000GBP) of ‘energy’ gels, bars and drinks a year.2 Novelty and innovation appear to be the route to profit in a crowded market-place and healthy lifestylers are a ready market. In the present US obesity predicament the idea of promoting any form of ‘candy’ would seem inappropriate, but manufacturers are targeting fitness enthusiasts who are either seeking to boost athletic performance or as a means to gain a quick ‘hit’ of energy.3 One of the biggest attractions seems to be ‘Sports Beans’. A leader of the pack, these are a first-of-its-kind jelly bean4 formulated to energize the body during exercise, which is packed with carbohydrates, vitamins C & E, and 120mgs of electrolytes per 1oz. to boost energy and prevent dehydration.5 They are produced in lemon, lime and orange flavours. Jelly beans are normally predominantly made of sugar! There are however Sugar-free Jelly Beans and these contain sugar alcohols and Splenda.6&7 Jelly Beans are a very popular form of sweets (candy) in the States and when Ronald Reagan was President, one of his well known practices was to keep a jar of jelly beans on his desk.8 This is not just kid’s stuff! There is also new toffee-type sweetie ‘XLR8 Energy Chews’. These are made with caffeine, ginseng and guarana and it is claimed that three of these sweets provide a boost equivalent to drinking one can of the well-known ‘Red Bull’ energy drink.9 It is worth noting that some people are sensitive to sugar alcohols that can result in stomach upset.10 The taste of sugar-free sweets (candy) has improved in recent years due to regulatory approval of new sweetener options and formulators’ ability to perfect taste by blending polyols and high-intensity sweeteners. Consumers should check for allergy and preference when reading labels of sugar-free products, as polyols or sugar replacement substitutes including erythritol, isomalt, lactitol, maltiol, mannnitol, sorbitol and xylitol are often coupled with high intensity sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium, aspartame and sucarlose (Splenda). They are used to add bulk to formulations, while high-intensity sweeteners enhance the sweetness level.11 The UK is not unfamiliar with sugar-free chewing gums. Two years ago a new product was the latest on the American market ‘Blitz Sugar-Free Power Gum’, made with a no-heat process that intensifies flavour, in freshmint and spearmint.12 In 2005 the same manufacturer produced ‘Sugar-Free Blitz Energy Gum’ that reportedly has 100mgs of caffeine in it, similar to a freshly brewed cup of Java coffee.13 Where do ‘stimulating’ sweets belong in terms of retail placement? This could be a problem. There is some question as to whether marketing candy as part of an ‘active lifestyle’ makes sense. A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association has already said with reference to supermarkets and shops: “I don’t think that the new products belong in the candy aisle. I’d like to see some research that shows they do what they claim to do, a track record. A lot of these products may not have that.” Also: “People need to realize if they haven’t been sweating and need to replace electrolytes, you don’t really need these products.”14 She further opined: The use of stimulants is an even greater concern because they can cause dangerous increases in a person’s heart rate and blood pressure.15 But manufacturers in the USA take a different view. They see, for example, a caffeine-rich, vitamin-fortified gum as part of a natural evolution from the sugar-free, low-calorie products on offer in the USA, which is struggling with obesity, and are looking for new ways to build healthful benefits into their industry’s products.16 It remains to be seen just what, given time, will cross the Herring Pond. Amazon Rio’s ‘Buzz Gum’ has been with us in UK Health Food shops for some time – the high energy chewing gum intended to keep you awake, which has been used for centuries to ward off fatigue and stimulate clear thinking. Manufacturers may have labelling issues with the FDA regarding this and other products that are ‘stimulants’ and not strictly speaking a ‘food’, but a ‘drug’. However, consumers may need to watch more than their waist-line. When considering the use of any form of stimulant, it is wise to be cautious and read labels carefully in order to avoid contraindications or adverse effects with any medication(s) the public is prescribed, particularly concerning blood pressure and heart conditions.17 On a lighter note: Among the extra-ordinary sweets available or soon to be in the US is ‘Scripture Candy’, perhaps designed for the Bible Belt? These biblical sweets have entered the market billed with the motto ‘Reaching the World One Piece at a Time’. They are heart-shaped Scripture Pops, aimed at Valentine’s Day sales, with each pop printed with a Bible verse.18 Oh! And on the subject of jelly beans you ain’t used yet! For dedicated followers of fashion, the ‘coolest’ US June celebrity brides this year have a new ‘Wow-factor’ for their guests’ enjoyment in ‘hot topic’ hot tropical coloured many flavoured jelly beans such as pink grapefruit, cotton candy, raspberry and strawberry daiquiri jellybeans. It’s a new twist on the traditional wedding bonbonnieres. One jelly bean company even offers ideas for wedding planning!19
COMMENT:
Snacks, Obesity – Eating Habits and Behaviour Whatever befalls CAM candy in the UK, there is some good contra-obesity ‘good news’ on the UK front. Mintel, a respected leading supplier of product and consumer intelligence and which provides expert analysis on all aspects of consumers’ economic activity, reports that Britons are finally curbing their crisp cravings. Crisp and savoury snacks sales have plummeted by 12% since 2002.20 In tonnage terms that is a fall from 360,000 tonnes to 280,000 tonnes.21 A sensible turning point appears to have been reached last year, with crisp and snack sales falling away sharply in 2005. This development is due to health issues such as obesity and high-fat, high-salt foods. In the UK low-fat and low-salt versions of conventional snacks have largely failed to take off and the strongest growth has been from new snack products using a wider range of ingredients such as soya, rice, parsnips and other root vegetables. However, shades of CAM candy shadows the UK snack grove, as Mintel analyst David Bird predicts that a wave of vitamin and Omega-3 enriched snacks will arrive in the coming year as the industry tries to get its products to appeal to health-conscious parents.22 It is to be hoped that, despite all these snacks and confections howsoever aimed at a healthier lifestyle, families will get the message to eat healthy ‘main meals’, take time to cook fresh foods and to sit down together to eat, because this modern ‘divorce’ from traditional family meal-times in both content and social behaviour is causing more than physical damage. Food is a focus or ‘hub’ of the family-life and community, either as a daily need or celebration. The Bible tells us that whenever Christians gathered together, they sat down and broke bread together.23 This ‘sharing of food together’ is far from specifically a Christian act; strangers encounter the same welcoming hospitality of every race and religion the world over. It may be a physical act, but it engenders a psychological bond – seldom will your enemy offer to break bread with you. The loving care a mother shows in cooking a meal for her family who then sit down together to eat it is not to be underestimated in terms of psychological bonding – even if she yells at you to ‘eat your greens’! You can’t discuss or instil ‘family values’ or morals whilst eating a ready-made meal absorbed in watching TV or eating separately ‘on the hoof’. In England, some may lay a modicum of blame on the 18th-century 4th Earl of Sandwich for inventing the ‘sandwich’ when he was First Lord of the Admiralty running the British Navy, but also gamboling, playing the card tables.24 His ‘snacking’ habit was seen as unusual among the wealthy of the time and taken up by him due to a time-pressured informal lifestyle. We cannot in the 21st –century claim the same working conditions! - He was a ‘one off’, not a nine-to-fiver. We may resort to sandwiches or lunch-boxes at ‘lunch-time’, both adults and children, but eating them in commune goes a little way towards salvaging something of the communal and ‘family spirit’. In our time it is ‘sharing together’ the main meal of the day en famille that can help the physical and psychological health of the entire family, plus for family workers there are the week-ends. For hard-pressed working families there is at least always Sunday lunch, which does not necessarily have to be traditional fare, but needs effort and support to be reinstated as a time when friends and family can get together to eat. The focus on food and a healthy lifestyle is important in the physical sense, but we are missing out on the psychological background to this backbone of family life and civilized society when we do not eat together. Research suggests this change of togetherness ‘eating habits’ has wider implications than we might like to acknowledge in terms of obesity-related behaviours through physical inactivity and fast-food consumption in adolescents that can go towards other contra-family behaviours such as substance use, violence and unsafe sex.25 Among results associated with children’s self-reported violence in the home, ‘not eating or drinking before school’, is cited.26 Breakfast was once a communal family meal, and even as far away as Japan, among elementary school children it was concluded that “(1) Only providing knowledge on nutrition is insufficient; (2) Development of a positive attitude toward the significance of breakfast is necessary; (3) Development of a daily living rhythm, including sleeping behavior, is important; (4) Encouraging the development of family-related self-esteem and the social skills is important. Therefore, especially in the elementary school stage, not only conducting eating behavior education at school, but also intervention to affect family members' behavior and attitudes has an important role.”27 We know healthy diets and increased physical activity are advised or being implicated to help off-set modern day TV exposure as a risk factor to adolescents’ obesity, but according to the latest research this requires attention at the individual level, family and community. A pendulum swing change in eating habits is required.28 To improve the physical and psychological health of their offspring, perhaps parents could get a grip on what is happening to their children and not only reinstate ‘family meal-times together’, but reclaim the balanced view that sweets (candy) are for ‘treats’ and even healthy ‘snacks’ should begin to be used as and when they are a necessity - the exception rather than the rule.
References:
And, LEDA at Havard Law School, The Caffeine Report: Reconsidering Caffeine: an Awake and Alert New Look at America’s Most Commonly Consumed Drug – David M. Mrazik, Class of 2004, 27th April 2004. http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/642/Mrazik.html Ref: 140: Prothro, supra note 5 at 75, discussing: (“Buzz Gum”, a “product created by Gum Tech International… was marketed with the following labels… ‘Catch a Buzz Naturally’ and ‘Natural Energy Booster.’ Based on this labelling, the FDA concluded that the gum was intended to be used as a stimulant, a drug and not just a snack food”). See also “FDA Warning Letter Chew Up Labelling of Stimulant Gum,” Food Labelling News, 21 April 1994, at 31.
http://www.burkes-landed-gentry.com/sites/common/sitepages/at-f.asp
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