01.01.09
At the request of Battle Creek, MI-based The Kellogg Company, the Life Science Research Office (LSRO), Bethesda, MD, conducted an independent evaluation on the effect of strictly applying FDA’s definition of whole grains on the scientific basis for whole grains health claims. In 2006 FDA defined whole grains as the intact, ground, cracked or flaked fruit of the grains whose principal components—the starchy endosperm, germ and bran—are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact grain. LSRO convened a panel of independent scientists to comprehensively review the relevant scientific literature about whole grains consumption and risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. The panel found that using FDA’s definition for whole grains as a selection criterion to evaluate the scientific literature is limiting because most of the studies use a broader concept of whole grains. The few studies that meet the FDA whole grains definition provide insufficient scientific evidence to support a CVD health claim, the report said.