Renata Puppin Zandonadi

Psyllium as a Substitute for Gluten in Bread

Celiac disease is an antibody-mediated enteropathy that presents permanent intolerance to ingested gluten. Currently, only one kind of treatment is available: the complete dietary elimination of all sources of gluten. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of replacing gluten with psyllium on sensory characteristics of bread dough and to compare the chemical, nutritional, technological, and sensory characteristics of the modified preparations. This study is experimental and was subdivided into five steps: selection and development of preparation, chemical analysis, sensory analysis, and statistical analysis. Modified samples of the bread dough achieved a 93.0% acceptance rate for individuals with celiac disease and up to 97.0% for individuals without celiac disease. The most affected characteristics were odor and texture. In terms of chemical composition of the bread dough, energy was reduced by 32.1% and the fat fraction was 42.3% before being cooked. Data obtained from sensory analysis of psyllium doughs indicate that the products had good acceptance by individuals with celiac disease as well as by individuals without celiac disease. This suggests that psyllium can replace gluten in preparations. Furthermore, in terms of chemical composition, products made with modified dough had less fat and fewer calories.

Green banana pasta: an alternative for gluten-free diets.

The objective of this study was to develop and analyze a gluten-free pasta made with green banana flour. The study was divided into five steps: preparation/selection, chemical, sensory, technological, and statistical analysis. The modified sample presented greater acceptance (84.5% for celiac individuals and 61.2% for nonceliac) than standard samples (53.6% for nonceliac individuals). There was no significant difference between the modified and the standard samples in terms of appearance, aroma, flavor, and overall quality. The modified pastas presented approximately 98% less lipids. Green bananas are considered a subproduct of low commercial value with little industrial use. The possibility of developing gluten-free products with green banana flour can expand the product supply for people with celiac disease and contribute to a more diverse diet.

Atitudes de risco do consumidor em restaurantes de auto-serviço

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the possible forms of food contamination by the costumer during the distribution period. METHODS: Data collection was performed in 10 food service units in Distrito Federal via direct observation of 12 risk attitudes (n=3,447) between October 2003 and September 2004. The risk attitudes were observed during the peak hour of each restaurant; the sample was systematized for each 5 consumers. The data collection instrument related the possible risk attitudes of the consumers while serving themselves. RESULTS: The obtained results demonstrate that there is a probability of contamination of the food by the consumers in restaurants, especially because 96% of the observed individuals did not wash their hands before serving themselves. Furthermore, 50% of the consumers were not concerned with the exclusive use of utensils, while 56% talked about the foods. CONCLUSION: The obtained data show that there is a need to improve the consumers awareness, especially in self-service restaurants. Food contamination by consumers needs to be prevented in order to avoid food intoxication.

Doença celíaca, hábitos e práticas alimentares e qualidade de vida

Esta comunicacao apresenta o cenario da doenca celiaca e suas implicacoes em habitos, praticas alimentares e qualidade de vida de individuos intolerantes ao gluten. Apresenta dados importantes sobre a questao que, mundialmente, e considerada problema de saude publica. Por ser uma doenca cujo tratamento e fundamentalmente dietetico, a terapia durante a transicao alimentar deve ser bem conduzida pelo nutricionista para melhor adesao do paciente a dieta, considerando que a inclusao de novas praticas alimentares pode significar uma ruptura com a identidade individual e cultural: a alimentacao de cada cidadao nao pode ser deslocada da sociedade. Nesse contexto, a melhoria da qualidade de vida passa a ser um dos resultados esperados tanto das praticas assistenciais quanto das politicas publicas para o setor nos campos da promocao da saude e da prevencao de doencas. A vigilância sanitaria contempla as acoes capazes de eliminar, diminuir ou prevenir riscos a saude e de intervir nos problemas sanitarios decorrentes do meio ambiente, da producao e circulacao de bens e da prestacao de servicos de interesse da saude. O conhecimento do cenario da doenca celiaca no Pais se justifica pela necessidade de fundamentar as acoes da politica de alimentacao e nutricao ancoradas no conceito de alimentacao saudavel com enfase na dieta isenta de gluten. Os artigos pesquisados foram selecionados nas bases de dados MedLine e SciELO, considerando o periodo de 1995 a 2006.

Gluten contamination in gluten-free bakery products: a risk for coeliac disease patients.

OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to assess the safety of gluten-free bakery products for consumption by coeliac patients. Design/setting In the current exploratory cross-sectional quantitative study, a total of 130 samples were collected from twenty-five bakeries in Brasilia (Brazil). For the quantification of gluten, an ELISA was used. The threshold of 20 ppm gluten was considered as the safe upper limit for gluten-free food, as proposed in the Codex Alimentarius. RESULTS The results revealed a total of 21·5 % of contamination among the bakery products sampled. Sixty-four per cent of the bakeries sold at least one contaminated product in our sample. CONCLUSIONS These findings represent a risk for coeliac patients since the ingestion of gluten traces may be sufficient to adversely impact on their health.

Reducing fat content of Brazilian traditional preparations does not alter food acceptance: development of a model for fat reduction that conciliates health and culture.

Typical treatment for obesity and/or other chronic degenerative diseases should always include a dietetic approach. Diet success depends on several individual aspects, such as patients personal motivation and attitudes; unfortunately, dietary planning does not always take into account the patients cultural habits, which minimizes the impact of the nutritional intervention. The objective of the present study was to analyze and reduce the fat content of 10 representative recipes from Brazilian regional gastronomy, maintaining their acceptability and developing a standard protocol that could be used for improving nutritional content of any type of fat-rich traditional preparation. The recipes selected were tapioca flan (pudim de tapioca) and banana pie (torta de banana) from the northern region; hominy porridge (mungunzá) and corn cake (bolo de milho verde) from the northeast region; goianian pie (empadão goiano) and cassava cake (mané pelado) from the central west region; tropeiro beans (feijão tropeiro) and spiced chicken with rice (galinhada) from the southeast region; and carreteiro rice (arroz carreteiro) and ground corn with pork ribs (quirera lapiana) from the southern region. The preparations were submitted to a chemical composition analysis for humidity, protein, ashes, and total lipid content according to official methods of the Association of Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 1998) in duplicate. After the average nutrient content was determined, sensorial analysis was performed in order to investigate the acceptance rate of each preparation. The results were analyzed according to the hedonic scale of 7 points considering good acceptance those rates higher than 70%. Additionally, for statistical analysis the test F was applied, determining whether the samples were accepted significantly different to a level of 95% confidence. Some recipes had main ingredients with characteristically high lipid content, thus, in order to keep the regional characteristics of the preparation, those ingredients were not changed. Also, according to sensorial analysis, although there were some differences between the standard and modified samples, the recipes obtained similar acceptance rates (p > 0.05), except for carreteiro rice and banana pie recipes. In the case of the carreteiro rice, the acceptance of the modified recipe was greater than the standard and for the banana pie the inverse occurred, although the final acceptance of the modified recipe was greater than 70%. The results show that it is possible to conciliate healthy food and alimentary culture, once the adequate preparation technique is used, in particular those concerning the nutritional composition of the main ingredients (respecting the recipe characterization) and healthier methods of cooking. Moreover, those techniques can be applied for any regional/typical recipes in order to facilitate the patients adherence to the prescribed diet plans or even for major actions concerning public health matters.

Content Validation and Semantic Evaluation of a Check-List Elaborated for the Prevention of Gluten Cross-Contamination in Food Services

Conditions associated to the consumption of gluten have emerged as a major health care concern and the treatment consists on a lifelong gluten-free diet. Providing safe food for these individuals includes adapting to safety procedures within the food chain and preventing gluten cross-contamination in gluten-free food. However, a gluten cross-contamination prevention protocol or check-list has not yet been validated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to perform the content validation and semantic evaluation of a check-list elaborated for the prevention of gluten cross-contamination in food services. The preliminary version of the check-list was elaborated based on the Brazilian resolution for food safety Collegiate Board Resolution 216 (RDC 216) and Collegiate Board Resolution 275 (RDC 275), the standard 22000 from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 22000) and the Canadian Celiac Association Gluten-Free Certification Program documents. Seven experts with experience in the area participated in the check-list validation and semantic evaluation. The criteria used for the approval of the items, as to their importance for the prevention of gluten cross-contamination and clarity of the wording, was the achievement of a minimal of 80% of agreement between the experts (W-values ≥ 0.8). Moreover, items should have a mean ≥4 in the evaluation of importance (Likert scale from 1 to 5) and clarity (Likert scale from 0 to 5) in order to be maintained in the instrument. The final version of the check-list was composed of 84 items, divided into 12 sections. After being redesigned and re-evaluated, the items were considered important and comprehensive by the experts (both with W-values ≥ 0.89). The check-list developed was validated with respect to content and approved in the semantic evaluation.

Psyllium as a Substitute for Gluten in Pastas

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of replacing gluten in favor of psyllium in pasta’s characteristics. This study takes an exploratory and quantitative approach and was sub-divided into four steps: selection and development of recipes and chemical and sensorial analysis. Modified samples of the pasta presented 100.0% of acceptance for individuals with celiac disease and up to 94.0% for individuals without celiac disease. The most affected characteristics were odor and texture. In terms of chemical composition, reduction of energy value was 26.5% and of proportional fat was 85.4% before being cooked. Substituting wheat flour for a mixture of gluten-free flours with psyllium did not alter preference or acceptability of modified products in relation to standardized ones and amplified feeding options for celiac disease patients. Thus, there were no damages in sensorial characteristics of these products.

Enrichment of Probiotic Fermented Milk with Green Banana Pulp: Characterization Microbiological, Physicochemical and Sensory

The aims of this study were (i) to evaluate the growth kinetic of L. paracasei LBC 81 in fermented milks enriched with green banana pulp (GBP); (ii) to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of GBP on the chemical composition and the sensory acceptance; and (iii) to study the viability of the probiotic and technological properties during refrigerated storage. The amount of GBP used were 3.0, 6.0 and 9.0 g/100 g. The results show that the higher the concentration of GBP added, the shorter the time taken to reach pH 4.6. It was observed that the incorporation of GBP did not affect negatively the viability of L. paracasei LBC 81 during storage. The fermented milk elaborated with 6.0 g/100 g of GBP was the most accepted. The present study indicates that the enrichment of fermented milk with GBP favors the stability of the probiotic strain, L. paracasei LBC 81 during storage.

Quality of Life of Celiac Patients in Brazil: Questionnaire Translation, Cultural Adaptation and Validation

(1) Background: Celiac disease (CD) is a common autoimmune disorder. The manifestations of the disease and the obligatory life-long gluten-free diet (GFD) are associated with the impairment of patients’ quality of life. Therefore, the present study aimed to translate, culturally adapt and validate a celiac disease quality of life (CD-QoL) questionnaire and apply it to a representative number of Brazilian CD patients. (2) Methods: A cross-cultural Brazilian-Portuguese version of the CD-QoL was developed according to revised international guidelines. The questionnaire was administered to 450 celiac patients. The reliability, reproducibility and validity were studied. (3) Results: The Brazilian CD-QoL questionnaire presents valid measures of reproducibility and internal consistency. Early diagnosis is related to higher scores of Brazilian CD-QoL social, sub- and total scale. There was a positive correlation between higher education level and higher QoL. Individuals with partners tend to have a better emotional subscale of QoL. CD-patients who follow a strict GFD have highest QoL scale values. Men scored higher than women on the CD-QoL. All results were statistically significant except for the gastrointestinal subscale. (4) Conclusions: Brazilian CD-QoL allows comparative research between different celiac populations in the world. QoL research will help in the development of effective strategies to improve Brazilian celiac patients’ quality of life.