Objective
Dietary fibre represents that part of the carbohydrate in food which is not digested in the small intestine. A widely accepted working definition of dietary fibre is the sum of lignin and polysaccharides. Intense interest in dietary fibre has arisen from claims of its benefit in control of bowel function, reduced risk of intestinal cancer, reduced plasma cholesterol and glucose levels and from the movement towards the consumption of more fibre and less fat.
Controversy over the choice of methods comes from difficulty in relating specific fibre components to their physiological function and the conflicting requirements for robust and convenient analytical procedures for routine analysis.
For food labelling purposes there is an urgent need for the Community to adopt a single method for dietary fibre to allow comparability of values. Essentially, the choice lies between the AOAC procedure, widely used in continental Europe the Englyst method which has been recommended by the UK and the Uppsala method used in the Scandinavian countries.
The objective is to produce a range of reference materials in which dietary fibre and its components are characterised by the most commonly used procedures to allow quality control in food industry and the public control laboratories.
STATUS
Wholemeal and rye flour and haricot bean reference materials have been certified for major dietary components including dietary fibre by the AOAC method in project 239. This project will address more complex foods especially cereal and vegetable type ones. The first phase will consist of a detailed method study which started in 1991.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculescarbohydrates
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulturevegetable growing
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseedscereals
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
NR4 7UA Norwich
United Kingdom
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Participants (27)
31600 JOKIOINEN
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32756 Detmold
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1070 BRUXELLES
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64293 Darmstadt
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8 DUBLIN
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76131 KARLSRUHE
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34060 Montpellier
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75013 Paris
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41012 SEVILLA
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M16 OPU Manchester
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TW11 0LY Teddington
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NR4 7UQ Norwich
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CB2 2DH Cambridge
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28220 MAJADAHONDA (MADRID)
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11521 ATHENS
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1000 BRUXELLES
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1800 VEVEY
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75126 UPPSALA
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08025 BARCELONA
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6201 GA MAASTRICHT
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6700 AE WAGENINGEN
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HP12 3QR High Wycombe
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3700 AC ZEIST
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66041 SAARBRÜCKEN
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MK44 1LQ Sharnbrook
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28040 MADRID
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75007 UPPSALA
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