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who subsequently developed the
guidance document that sets out the
process and criteria needed for any food
to receive a health claim.”
In 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued a
therapeutic health claim regarding
the benefits of beta glucan in oats
in reducing disease risk. Canadian
researchers and food processors were
interested in securing a similar health
claim for oat products in Canada. The
FDA approved a comparable health
claim for barley in 2006.
“When you first look at it, it might
appear to be a no-brainer,” said Ames.
“The FDA has approved a health claim
for oats and barley, so it should be easy
to get one in Canada. But why should
it be? We are different countries, we
have different laws. You look around the
world and every country has different
laws and regulations, so why should it
be any different with this? So then the
task at hand was to collect the data
needed to support a health claim in
Canada. It is important to ensure claims
made on Canadian product labels are
validated and inform consumers based
on sound data.”
Securing a health claim begins with
a scientific literature review. Literally
thousands of studies and clinical trials
have been done around the world
looking at the health benefits of barley
and oats. Most, if not all, suggest they
help to reduce blood cholesterol levels.
However, which of those studies has
the highest scientific standards? It’s
a process of sorting the wheat from
the chaff. Most of the studies are quite
valid, but some are just more solid
than others in terms of the research
procedures used, the type of clinical
trials conducted, and the demographics
of the test subjects.
In the initial literature screening
process for barley, for example, more
than 18,000 articles were found, and from
that, said Ames, they narrowed it down
to about 262 relevant studies. Of those,
22 were deemed the most acceptable
The Food Issue
2014
grainswest.com
41
Winnipeg research scientist nancy ames has done extensive work on health claims.
her work led to barley earning a claim fromhealth canada in 2012.