Our position on Diabetic foods.

The text on this page is an extract taken from the Web site of Diabetes UK stating their position on the issue of "Diabetic foods. While we at Daily Bread Co-operative believe in providing foodstuffs to help in special diets we find it difficult to think in terms of 'Diabetic foods'. We have no dieticians on our staff and are thus dependent on such bodies as Diabetes UK for guidance in these matters.

While we are able to declare that a product is Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Fat Free etc, it is not so easy to get suppliers to certify a product as 'Safe for Diabetics' so we will not make a declaration about this for any product. However the vast majority of products on sale within our store are safe for Diabetics. But! our advice is to take notice of the medical advice, which you will receive, from medical professionals. Our co-operate view is that if a person is diagnosed as diabetic they are in many ways their own physicians, in that it is up to the individual to learn to control their condition. By wisely following a doctors or dieticians advice a diabetic can expect to lead quite a normal lifestyle.

Position statement

Diabetes UK and the Food Standards Agency are calling for an end to the use of terms such as ‘diabetic’ or ‘suitable for diabetics’ on food labels.

Some people might see ‘diabetic’ labelling as a stamp of approval, and think that the food is beneficial or even essential for people with diabetes. Also, ‘diabetic’ foods tend to cost more than conventional products, and sugar-free and reduced-sugar versions, so marketing products as ‘diabetic’ can lead people with diabetes to spend more than they need to.

‘Diabetic’ labelling tends to be used on sweets, biscuits and similar foods. The main concern is that labelling these types of foods as ‘diabetic’ undermines important messages about healthy eating. If people do eat foods and drinks containing added sugars they should do so sparingly, as part of a healthy balanced diet. This advice applies to everyone, not just people with diabetes.

Since healthy eating advice is essentially the same for people with diabetes as it is for other people, the idea of special ‘diabetic’ foods is out of date.

To understand why, it is necessary to appreciate the extent to which the dietary management of diabetes has changed in recent years. 'Diabetic' foods had their hey day in the 1960s when the focus of dietary education was on sugar free, low carbohydrate diets. In practice, this meant a diet, which was very restrictive, eliminating ordinary confectionery, biscuits, cakes, preserves and soft drinks. The idea of so-called sugar-free foods sweetened with sorbitol and fructose instead of sucrose was very appealing. Even though the nutritive sweetening agents found in 'diabetic' foods still contain calories and still behave as sugars, food manufacturers understandably jumped on the bandwagon when they saw that there was such an obvious market to exploit.

By the 1980s scientific studies had shown that carbohydrate restriction was not beneficial to diabetes control and that the associated high fat content of such a diet was likely to exacerbate the long-term complications of diabetes, particularly heart disease. The UK and many other countries issued national guidelines recommending that fat restriction and energy regulation should be the primary dietary objectives. Within these constraints consumption of fibre-rich carbohydrate was encouraged. Consequently, the value of 'diabetic' foods was brought into question. Many of them contained more fat and energy than their conventional counterparts and in 1984 new legislation was introduced to provide compositional criteria for 'diabetic' foods.

Products carrying a 'diabetic' claim were no longer permitted to contain more fat and energy than comparable foods and any product not offering a 50 per cent reduction in energy content had to carry a warning 'not suitable for the overweight'. On 1 March 1995, the European directive and the compositional rules on 'diabetic' foods were removed. Although the Directive on 'diabetic' foods was removed in 1995, 'diabetic' foods still exist under the terms of a 1989 Framework Directive on foodstuffs, intended for particular nutritional uses (PARNUTS). There is still debate about the case for, registration, on foods for people with diabetes. Now the question of whether a manufacturer can label a food 'diabetic' or 'suitable for diabetics' may be referred to the local trading standards officer who may then refer to Diabetes UK for an informed opinion. Diabetes UK was instrumental in providing information to remove the European directive, which provided the compositional rules on 'diabetic' foods, because the concept of 'diabetic' foods or a 'diabetic' diet has long since been replaced by guidelines on healthy food choices and individualised advice on eating habits for each person with diabetes.

Like the rest of the population, people with diabetes are encouraged to eat a diet low in fat, sugar and salt, with plenty of fruit and vegetables and meals based on starchy carbohydrate foods like bread and potatoes. There is no single food, which must be excluded from the diet of people with diabetes. Total avoidance of sugar is now considered unnecessary. Consequently, the idea of legitimising so called 'diabetic' foods has also been outmoded. Diabetic' foods are simply a range of confectionery items, cakes, biscuits, chocolates and jams which are sweetened with nutritive sweetening agents like sorbitol and fructose as opposed to ordinary sucrose. Fundamentally, it is anomalous that products containing sorbitol and fructose are marketed to consumers as being particularly 'suitable for diabetics' when the focus of dietary education is on balancing food choices and maintaining a healthy weight. Nowadays, ordinary cakes and biscuits can be consumed as part of a balanced diet and without being detrimental to diabetes control.

The continued existence of special 'diabetic' foods creates a number of problems. Labelling a product 'diabetic' gives it a stamp of approval, which many people with diabetes find hard to ignore. People assume that if the label says 'diabetic' that the contents may be beneficial or even essential. Since 'diabetic' foods tend to cost more than conventional counterparts or sugar-free, reduced sugar versions this is really conning people with diabetes. The main concern is that promoting a range of confectionery foods as 'diabetic' completely undermines dietary education in diabetes care. Consequently, instead of supporting legislation to legitimise the range of so called 'diabetic' foods, Diabetes UK wants to see their removal from the shelves.

August 2000 Extract from:

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/Our_Views/Position_statements/Joint-statement-on-diabetic-foods-from-the-Food-Standards-Agency-and-Diabetes-UK/