GI Values Update

Low GI sugar
If you have a sweet tooth, the good news is that biotech company Horizon Science has developed the world’s first totally natural low GI sugar (GI 51). The bad news is that it won’t be on a supermarket shelf near you until late 2008. We’ll keep you posted on the launch date along with the brand names it will be sold under worldwide, whether it will carry a GI symbol along with a special low GI recipe or two. We haven’t seen it or tasted it ourselves yet, but Dr David Kannar, chief scientific officer at Horizon tells us that: ‘It’s a honey-coloured, crystalline sugar that’s just as sweet as standard table sugar (sucrose) but with a slightly golden syrup flavour. In fact in blind taste tests so far the taste of the new low GI sugar was preferred over white sugar.’ As for using it in your favorite recipes, ‘tablespoon for tablespoon, you can use this low GI sugar in your cooking because it has the same bulk and texture as normal sugar,’ he said. ‘Think of it as an under-refined sugar that retains a lot of the organic nutrients from parts of sugar cane that traditionally have been discarded as waste during processing.’

Sugar Cane

Convenience meals for the US and Canada
Increasingly consumers want their grocery choices to deliver convenience, taste and health benefits. The new US and Canadian edition of The Shopper’s Guide to GI Values 2007 includes the latest GI values of 14 President’s Choice Blue Menu meals and 12 NutriSystem prepared and convenience meals along with serves sizes, available carbs and glycemic load. There’s plenty of choice for low GI meals in minutes all clinically tested by GI Labs in Toronto. It’s encouraging to see companies providing lower GI, lower fat, portion-controlled convenience foods for people with no time to cook. And it’s even more encouraging to see them invest in GI testing and making that information available to consumers in this handy, pocket-sized Shopper’s Guide. Pick up a copy from your local bookshop or Amazon to check out the values.

Where can I get more information on GI testing?

North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
36 Lombard Street, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2X3 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

New Zealand
Dr Tracy Perry
The Glycemic Research Group, Dept of Human Nutrition
University of Otago
PO Box 56 Dunedin New Zealand
Phone +64 3 479 7508
Email tracy.perry@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Web glycemicindex.otago.ac.nz

GI Symbol NewsWendy’s Chocollo
Wendy’s Chocollo is 99% fat free chocolate ice cream with Vinlife® – a natural source of anti-oxidants made from grapes. Each serve contains the equivalent antioxidants found in a serve of grapes.

Wendy’s Chocollo in a cup (GI 24)
Wendy’s Chocollo shake (GI 21)
Wendy’s Chocollo + cake cone (GI 44)
Wendy’s Chocollo + waffle cone (GI 55)

Where can I get more information on the GI symbol program?
The GI symbol on a food is a guarantee that the stated GI value is reliable and that the food is a healthy choice in its food group. To earn certification, foods that carry the symbol must be a good source of carbohydrate and meet a host of other nutrient criteria including kilojoules (calories), total and saturated fat, sodium (salt), and where appropriate, dietary fibre and calcium. The GI Symbol Program is a public health initiative run by Glycemic Index Limited, a non-profit company whose members are the University of Sydney, Diabetes Australia and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Alan Barclay
Acting CEO, Glycemic Index Ltd
Phone: +61 2 9785 1037
Fax: +61 2 9785 1037
Email: awbarclay@optusnet.com.au
Web www.gisymbol.com.au