It is a milestone for European regulation: for the first time, a fresh fruit, the green kiwi, has made the European Commission authorize you A “specific health declaration”. What your grandmother told you now comes with an official stamp and scientific support. But this also gives rise to a Great marketing network.
A victory for brands. This news, which at first glance seems a victory for science and consumers, is actually a fascinating case study on how food industry, marketing and European regulation that has more recesses than it seems. The application, driven by the neozygous giant Zespri, has taken seven years to see the light and, although it celebrates a real benefit, reopens the debate on what we consider “healthy” how we sell us.
A cooked health statement for years. So that A food can carry a slogan related to healththe inventiveness of a marketing team is not enough. As the Food Technologist explainsMiguel Lurueña in the country, for almost two decades the European Union demands a rigorous process to avoid misleading advertising.
The first request for the Kiwi to have its recognition started in 2018 when Zespri, the world’s largest kiwis marketer, submitted a request to the European Commission claiming that the Kiwi contributes to the maintenance of normal defecation. To support him, he contributed 19 scientific studies.
It is not something two days. The scientific verdict did not reach 2021, when the European Food Security Authority (EFSA) comes into play. His work is to review scientific evidence and determine if it is solid enough to give your approval. Something that arrived three years after the initial application.
The next step was the politician, where the Member States of the European Union had to agree on a statement on this food and its properties. Because obviously it is something that will directly affect their citizens.
A text with a small print. The official text approved is: “The consumption of green Kiwi contributes to the normal functioning of the intestine by increasing the frequency of the strokes. “The law allows simplifying it, so get ready to see ads with a clear and direct:” Help to go to the bathroom. “
But the statement will only be able to use for fresh green kiwis of the variety Hayward And the consumer should be informed that the effect is achieved with a daily intake of 200 grams of pulp, which is equivalent to about two kiwis of good size.
The kiwi’s “superpower” is not so exclusive. This is where history becomes very interesting. Zespri argued that the kiwi effect was due to a unique combination of factors: its fiber, an enzyme called Actinidinephenolic compounds and other substances that They altered intestinal motility and the Microbiota. It seemed that the Kiwi had a secret formula.
However, EFSA itself in its scientific opinion reaches a much less exclusive conclusion: evidence does not demonstrate that the effect of green Kiwi on defecation is higher than the one that could be expected because of its dietary fiber content.
Figures can be put. Keep in mind that 200 grams of Kiwi provide approximately six grams of fiber. This is the amount that, according to studies, produces the beneficial effect. But that amount is not, much less, exclusive to Kiwi. We can get a similar fiber contribution in other foods that are often much cheaper. For example:
- A cup of cooked lentils (about 180 g) contains more than 15 grams of fiber.
- A ration of raspberries (125 g) provides about 8 grams of fiber.
- A comprehensive pasta dish (80 g dry) is around 7 grams of fiber.
- Two medium pears also add up to 6 grams of fiber.
In this way we see that the Kiwi can work and is very healthy. But the approved benefit is not a ‘magical’ property, but the result of its fiber content, which is a nutrient present in many other foods.
In your skin is where its benefits lies. Although a priori it may seem necessary to peel the entire fruit, including kiwis, Science tells us something different. In past studies it was made clear that Kiwi on your skin contains a fiber rich fountain and vitamin E, although it is recommended to wash it well before consumption.
The same occurs in other types of fruits, where much of the fiber is also found in the shell that is in essence is viscous fiber. A guy that helps reduce appetite when gastric emptying and stimulating hormones that They promote satiety.
The door open to advertising picaresque. The Kiwi case feels a precedent, but also reminds us of the strategies that the industry has been using for years. Regularization allows a product to contain a significant amount of a nutrient with an already approved health statement such as vitamin D, can use a slogan to promote it.
He Most famous example is Actimel’s. Danone did not get the EFSA to approve specific statements for bacteria L. Casei. The solution? Enrich the product with vitamins D and B6, for which the declaration “contributes to the normal functioning of the immune system” is authorized. From there, to the famous slogan “help your defenses” there is a very short step and, above all, legal.
Valuing food by a nutrient. This strategy that we have seen in the food industry leads us directly to the tendency to value food by a single function. In the case of Actimel only for its function for the immune system and now the Kiwi to go to the bathroom. In this way, a food is not valued in conjunction with all its nutrients.
Eating two kiwis a day can help with constipation, but it will not serve as “antidote” if the rest of our diet is based on poor ultraprocesses in fiber.
The great forgotten: the nutritional profiles. To prevent an industrial bun and saturated fats from being advertised as an iron source that helps diminish, simply because it is enriched, European legislation foresaw in 2006 The creation of the “Nutritional profiles“
The idea was simple: a food could only use a health statement if it met basic nutritional criteria, such as imposing limits on the amount of sugar added. EFSA presented a proposal in 2008, but Industry pressures And the lack of political consensus left her in a drawer for more than a decade. Although the European Commission He has tried to reactivate it, today we continue without them.
A double -edged news. The approval for the Kiwi is, therefore, double -edged news. It is positive that the benefit of an entire and fresh food is recognized with a scientific basis. But it also demonstrates how a company with resources can navigate the complex regulatory system to obtain a marketing advantage that, although it is true, does not tell the whole story.
Kiwi helps, yes, but the real solution to many health problems, including constipation, is almost never in a single “superfood”, but in the whole of our dish, where fiber is one of the great protagonists.
Images | Lesly Juarez
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