Children's Acceptance, Nutritional, and Instrumental Evaluations of Whole Grain and Soluble Fiber Enriched Foods

• Published in: Journal of food science 2009-06, Vol.74 (5), p.H139-H146
• Main Authors: Toma, A, Omary, M.B, Marquart, L.F, Arndt, E.A, Rosentrater, K.A, Burns-Whitmore, B, Kessler, L, Hwan, K, Sandoval, A, Sung, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceptance; Biological and medical sciences; Cereal and baking product industries; Child; child nutrition; children; Children & youth; cookies; Diet; Dietary fiber; Dietary Fiber - statistics & numerical data; Eating - physiology; Edible Grain; elementary students; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Flour; food acceptability; food choices; Food industries; Food Preferences - physiology; Food science; food wastes; Food, Fortified - statistics & numerical data; fortified foods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grain; high fiber diet; Humans; Nutritive Value; plate waste; school food service; school lunch; soluble fiber; Studies; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; whole grain; whole grain foods
• ISSN: 0022-1147; 1750-3841
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2009.01165.x

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 report recommends 3 or more daily ounce-equivalents of whole grains (WG), and the FDA suggests consumption of 25 g of total dietary fiber (TDF) and 6 g of soluble fiber (SF) for a 2000-calorie diet. Efforts to increase the consumption of WG and SF among elementary school-aged children are needed. The objectives of this study were to examine the consumption of WG- and SF-enriched burritos and cookies among elementary school-aged children and to perform a quality evaluation of all products. Children in grades K to 6 from a local elementary school consumed control (CTR) products made with refined flour along with the test products (TRT) over a 13-wk period. TRT burritos and cookies contained 51% and 100% WG, respectively. CTR and TRT products were served on 3 and 4 different Fridays, respectively. Children's consumption was determined via plate waste. Quality parameters such as texture, color, water activity, weight, and product dimensions were also measured. No significant differences in consumption between CTR and TRT burritos and cookies were found (36% and 90%, respectively). Texture (area) was higher for CTR burritos compared with TRT burritos (1.31 and 0.66 kg-s, respectively). CTR burritos were lighter than TRT burritos with L* values of 80.04 and 64.61, respectively. CTR cookies required a higher breaking force (3.14 compared with 0.58 kg), were lighter than TRT cookies (63.18 compared with 50.27), and had lower water activity (0.5 compared with 0.71).