According to the American Heart Association (AHA), Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) has been the number-one cause of death in the U.S. in almost every year since 1900 (the exception was 1918, the year of the influenza epidemic). With the aging Baby Boomer population, experts project the death rate due to CVD will rise significantly over the next 10 years. Scientific evidence supporting the use of certain foods and ingredients for preventing CVD has accumulated to the point that, in the last 10 years, the FDA has allowed the addition of 14 new heart-related health claims. (See chart “Claims, Ingredients and Cardiovascular Health.”) These health claims provide a unique marketing advantage for heart-healthy products, as there is no other market category in condition-specific functional foods with so many allowed health claims. In addition, the AHA has a food certification program that uses the “heart checkmark” on foods that meet their nutritional requirements. Such “heart-healthy” labeling provides food manufacturers with an unambiguous message that consumers cannot miss when choosing heart-healthy products. Combine these marketing tools with a continuous flow of newly emerging scientific evidence on additional cardiovascular support from antioxidants, polyphenols and other phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables, and there has never been a better or easier time to formulate heart-healthy products.
It has been close to 10 years since the FDA authorized the health claim that endorsed diets high in soluble fiber from certain foods, including psyllium and oats, for decreasing the risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), one type of CVD. The most recent amendment to this claim is the addition of barley as a source of beta-glucans. New studies have shown that total cholesterol was significantly lowered when the diet contained 3-6g of beta-glucan per day from barley.1 For food formulators, this means that replacing refined grains in foods such as cereals or baked goods with barley flour or flakes can gain the CHD health claim. An avalanche of recent scientific studies also provides food formulators with reasons to formulate with other whole-grain ingredients, such as brown rice, whole wheat, buckwheat and quinoa. One large meta-analysis of seven studies of 285,000 men and women confirmed that 2.5 servings of whole grains each day can lower the risk of CHD by almost 25%.2 The use of whole grains also recently gained marketing boosts from two sources. First, the FDA issued a health claim (based on “authoritative statements”) that foods containing more than 51% whole grains can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Second, the non-profit Whole Grains Council launched two Whole Grain Stamps that manufacturers can add to their packaging to help consumers identify products containing whole grains. The 100% Whole Grain Stamp can be used on products containing all whole grains and a full serving or more of whole grains in each labeled serving. The basic Whole Grain Stamp can be used on products containing at least half a serving of whole grains.