Chapter 19: Food Structure Development for Specific Population Groups
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Published:17 Oct 2019
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Special Collection: 2019 ebook collection
W. A. Alsanei and J. Chen, in Handbook of Food Structure Development, ed. F. Spyropoulos, A. Lazidis, and I. Norton, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019, ch. 19, pp. 459-479.
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The world's population is ageing, and elderly people have become one of the most important target groups for the food industry due to their specific diet requirements. Reduced eating capability and even dysphagia are very common among elderly populations, and therefore appropriate texture design and modification of food and beverages are key for this category of consumers. However, to ensure safe swallowing through the selection of a controlled daily diet with correct consistency and texture is not always an easy task due to the lack of guidance. For this reason, various texture standards have been proposed in different countries in order to protect the health and well-being of these vulnerable populations. Such texture standards include the ones published in the United States, the UK, Australia, and Japan. While these standards serve well in their own countries and cultures, the global inconsistency of food texture becomes a big problem not only to the food industry but also to health care givers. The recently published International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) serves as a very practical global standard and has been implemented by professional bodies in many different countries. The last part of the chapter highlights some prominent approaches to texture modification for specific population groups, with special focus on the use of functional ingredients and innovative techniques.