What do I eat?
What should my family eat?
Food undoubtedly is every body's concern. Food, beyond a
means of survival is also a symbol of social well-being. Needless to say, we
need to be thoroughly aware. Gone are the days when even the best food items
could be considered totally safe. Some are even harmful and feeding sometimes
amount to sheer poisoning. Many food items invite a host of diseases too. We
need to be aware of food safety not only for our own sake but also for the
society. We've to actively intervene in producing, selecting, procuring and
consuming safe and healthy food.
The guidelines of IMA will definitely usher in some serious
thoughts and actions in this regard. We humbly submit it to our citizens,
hoping that this will trigger a new food culture anchored on safety and
positive health.
Dr. Sreejith N Kumar
State President, IMA Kerala
Introduction
India has the double burden of over and under nutrition.
Food safety in terms of chemical, biological and nutrient contents, is hardly a
matter of concern in the country's social fabric. There is an alarming increase
in the rate of life style diseases notably Diabetes, Obesity, Hypertension and
Cancer. There is a very disturbing upward trend in cardio vascular diseases
like heart attack and stroke. Water and food borne communicable and toxin
related diseases are also still prevalent. Food practice in the country is
undoubtedly playing a huge role in this regard. Scant attention is being paid
to food safety in general and child nutrition in particular. A serious attempt
to reverse this alarming situation is the need of the hour. Authorities,
Organisations and Citizens have to be aware about safe and healthy food. Food
on one hand should be wholesome and provide adequate calories and nutrients but
should never be a reason for disease. The food should be devoid of chemical and
biological contaminants. Eating and food procuring habits too need to be
healthy. Good quality and affordability are the key requirements to an ideal
food culture. Awareness is most important to achieve this. IMA has attempted to
produce a comprehensive document reviewing various aspects of food safety
keeping local scenario in focus. The fact sheets and guidelines by WHO and
other scientific bodies, interview with experts and theme papers prepared by
the faculty have been discussed by the expert panel in numerous sittings to
arrive at the guidelines published here. Most of the theme papers and documents
have been kept as annexure. The views expressed here have been arrived at by
consensus and only those where there is common agreement have been published.
Many more points have to be pondered further and more data will have to be
reviewed. We plan to edit and update this document periodically in order to
emerge as the most authentic reference material to guide healthy food habits in
our region. We thank the involvement of all the faculty members whose committed
work has helped to formulate this document. The editorial board takes great
pride in dedicating this document to our citizens' health and wellbeing.
1.
Consume balanced food
2. Make your own food plate, do it at each meal
_Using your 12-inch plate,
imagine a line down the middle of the plate. Then on eitherside, draw one line
each, perpendicular to first line. Now you will have will have 4
sections in your plate.
_Fill one section with
cooked vegetables such as spinach, carrot, green beans, onion, cucumber, raw
banana or any locally available vegetables
_Fill another section with
locally available fresh fruits like banana, guava, papaya etc
_In one of the remaining
sections put cooked grains such as rice, wheat, ragi etc. Use brown rice and
whole wheat and avoid white rice and white bread. Maida products
should be avoided
_And then in the last
section fill your protein such as pulses or meat or fish
_Add a serving of diary
product (curd, yoghurt), if your meal plan allows
3. Reduce rice servings
6. Do not re-heat food as far as possible.
4. Select locally available seasonal fruits and vegetables
_Encourage use of Green
Yellow Orange Red (rainbow revolution) vegetables and fruits
5. Prefer steaming to deep frying
7. Avoid carbohydrate rich food like rice and wheat. Rice yields
approximately 70% and wheat yields
approximately 60% of carbohydrate. Any excess carbohydrate is
converted to fat by the liver and is
stored within itself or as visceral fat primarily in the
anterior abdominal wall.
8. Child nutrition deserves special attention
_Initiate breast feeding
within 30 to 60 minutes of birth
_Exclusive breast feeding
for first 6 months; continue till 2 years of age
_Ensureproper and adequate
breakfast
_Prevent fetal and
post-natal over nutrition
_Fetal under-nutrition and
post-natal over-nutrition may lead to early heart attack and stroke
_Avoid junk- foods (HFSS-
High Fat, high Salt, high Sugar)
9. Ensure safe and healthy food at schools
_Avoid serving junk foods
at school canteens- through awareness; bring in legislations if required
_Use stainless
steel/glass/high quality plastic water bottles
_Avoid HFSS (High Fat,
high Salt, high Sugar); replace with traditional food and snacks- table below
_Remember that 'French
fries' is not a vegetable
10. Restrict Salt intake
_Processed and restaurant
food is major source of salt
_Salt content in Chinese
sauce and other additives are very high
_Please note that Sodium
is present in many forms in food items; and not just as salt (sodium chloride)
_You should check the
labels of foods to find out which ones are high and low in salt content.
i. If the label has more than 1.5g of salt (or 0.6g of sodium)
per 100g it is a high salt content food.
ii. If it has 0.3g of salt (0.1g of sodium) per 100g then it is
a low salt content food.
iii.
Anything in between is a medium salt content food.
11. Sugar
_Sugar is not an essential
nutrient and hence can be avoided
_If consumed, total sugar
intake including those in sweets and sweetened items should be
i. Less than 9 teaspoons (36 gm) in males,
ii. Less than 5 teaspoons (20 grams) for females and
iii. Less than 3 teaspoons (12 gms) for children
12. Fats and oils
_Choose healthy fats in
small amounts
_Restrict and rotate oil
_Do not re-use oil
_Avoid trans-fats
(vanaspathi, ghee)
13. Meat
_Increased fat in white
meat (chicken) is a big concern
_Removing skin before
preparing poultry reduces fat content
_Any meat should be
consumed only in moderation
14. Fruits and vegetables
_Local and seasonal fruits
and vegetables with minimum preservation should be preferred
_Fruits from distant
destination like apples cannot be recommended
_Guava, bananas and
mangoes are more recommendable
_Vegetables like
cauliflower, cabbage etc. which are not grown locally cannot be recommended
_Locally grown vegetables
like drum stick, bitter guard, snake guard, brinjal, cheera, lady’s finger etc
are recommended
_Green leafy vegetables
like spinach and drum stick leaves are highly recommended
15. Homestead farming and group farming should be promoted by
governments and institutions
16. Ensure clean cultivation
_Crops are to be rotated
through the fields to replace nutrients in the soil.
_Maximize water
infiltration; manage ground and soil water by proper use
17. Consume safe Fish
_Small fishes are much
better than larger ones
_
_
_Procure from places with
no preservative contamination and consume fresh
18. Before purchasing packed milk, watch for labels regarding
pasteurization and toning
I. Pasteurized homogenized toned milk with milk fat 3.0% - for
tea/coffee
ii. Pasteurized standardized milk with milk fat 4.5% - ideal for
the preparation of deserts and sweets.
iii. Pasteurized toned milk with milk fat 3.0% -mostly aimed for
consumption by children in the form of milk.
iv. Pasteurized double toned milk with milk fat 1.5% - ideal for
elderly people and for weight reducing
diet and diet for hypercholesterolemia
19. Five keys of WHO for food safety should be ensured
_Keep clean
_Separate raw and cooked
Cook thoroughly
_Keep food at safe
temperature
_Use safe water and
raw-materials
Learn to understand food labels
_Look for veg or non-veg
label
_Check for the expiry date
before purchasing the food product
_Be sure about the
servings (most packed items are meant for 2 or more servings)
_Clearly read the
nutrition contents and understand them properly
_If sodium is listed on
the label’s nutritional information instead of salt you have to multiply the
amount by 2.5 to get the equivalent salt content. For example,
if a portion of food contains 1g of
sodium
per 100g, you will know it contains 2.5g of salt per 100g
21. Avoid re-use of plastic containers for food and water. Do
not use plastic containers for re-heating
purpose unless it is specifically meant for
22. Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals are toxic and hazardous
_Prefer food with minimum
preservatives and chemical contaminants (local and seasonal food with
minimum preservation should be preferred)
_Food colors, stabilizers
preservatives etc. lead to extra contamination
23. Frozen dessert is not ice-cream
_Ice-creams are milk-based
whereas frozen desserts which are fat based are unsafe and hence cannot be
recommended
24. The practice of consuming accepted food items in excess, as
a cure for diseases is wrong and is
discouraged. For example, Irumbanpuli (Chemmeenpuli) in excess can cause renal failure. Avoid scam
claims like “it cures cholesterol”. In a small amount it is consumable for curry but avoid “Irumbanpuli
juice” as a medicine
25. Pay attention to food safety norms and regulations
_Gather more information
at www.foodsafety.kerala.gov.in
_Bring violations to the
notice of authorities, by calling at 1800 425 1125 (Toll Free)
26. Practice methods to reduce food contaminants like pesticides
_Follow recommendations of
Kerala Agricultural University (please see the annexure for details or
write to
_Remember these
methods can remove externally applied chemicals/pesticides only and cannot
reduce pesticides/chemicals used
systematically
27. Restrict calories and prevent over-weight
_Limit carbohydrate (rice,
wheat, packed cereals) and fat (oil, meat, fried items) intake
_Consume plenty of safe
fruits and vegetables
_Ensure adequate protein
intake (egg white, small fish, pulses, milk and meat in moderation)
