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Food or cure
By VAIDA SAMUOLYTĖ
It is an old truth – if you want to be healthy, watch what you are eating.
Considering current situation, we should add – learn to choose from the vast
range of products those, which can really be referred to as organic, healthier,
etc.
Partisans of healthy lifestyle can celebrate: only very few self-respecting fellowcountrymen would dare to say that they do not care at all about healthy nutrition and
do not consider what they eat and what kind of products they buy.
“When making my choice of products - be it milk, meat or vegetables - I usually
prefer Lithuanian products. Why? Because I believe that our food producers are more
concerned about the quality of raw materials and food products”, says Andrius
Pečkys, the manager of Neo Group, one of the largest companies in Klaipėda area. He
jokes: “Maybe our producers haven’t “learnt” yet how to make sausages from Es
alone?”
Mr. Pečkys claims that he studies the labels carefully and chooses more natural,
healthier products with less artificial additives.
I quit smoking, so I had to start taking care of what I eat – I pay more attention to the
products themselves as well as to the production methods”, the head of the company
tells about his habits.
Most of Lithuanian entrepreneurs could agree with this statement - both the producers
and the retailers agree that Lithuanians pay increasingly more attention to the contents
of the products they buy, read the labels more carefully and choose healthier, higherquality products.
Betrayed Lithuanian cuisine
Traditional fat Lithuanian dishes are remembered when visiting foreign business
partners or guests have to be treated. If we take a tour in the centre of Vilnius it
becomes obvious that there are more Chinese restaurants than traditional Lithuanian
inns here.
“People are more and more concerned about healthy nutrition lately. I can make this
conclusion because the number of people who are consulting dieticians is increasing.
Not just people who want to loose weight come to me – I start getting more clients
who want to learn to eat healthy”, says dietician Daiva Pipiraitė.
Such concern about food is not a result of good life.
“The variety of food products is vast these days. Some are refreshing, others are
nutritious, the third are energising and so on and so forth. The new millennium
characterised by high pace of life, emotions, stress, and impact of harmful after-effect
of civilisation makes the modern people think about health benefits, not only pleasure
and fullness. Scientists, doctors, people from food industry join their forces for
common goal – they develop healthy food products, propagate and implement
principles of healthy nutrition. Healthy lifestyle and correct nutrition became one of
the most popular topics discussed in the local and world press as well as in our
everyday conversations”, Dr. Algirdas Liutkevičius, head of Technological laboratory
of Food Institute at Kaunas Technological University, continues.
The trend of healthy nutrition is quite strong in Europe. At the very beginning were
organic, natural, low-fat food products. Currently, about 50% of diary products sold in
Scandinavian countries would be classified as low-fat or reduced-fat-content products
according to the Lithuanian standards.
Longing for the “real” food
A French friend proudly says setting on a table a rather modestly looking jar of jam:
“Try it – it’s a real jam. I bought it at the monastery store; the nuns make it from the
cherries they grow themselves.” In Lithuania, we still remember and many of us are
still enjoying jams made by mothers or grandmothers, but the healthy food tag is
already becoming a serious push to choose this and not another product. By the way,
surveys show that customers choose organic products not only for their impact on
health and better taste but also for the sake of style.
When asked about healthy food products sold in their chains of stores, representatives
of all major supermarkets – Rimi, Iki, VP Market – unanimously mentioned organic
foods rather than low-fat products or functional foods. Healthy food is identified with
organic products in Lithuania. In some chain stores there are special shelves marked
with their own trademark, in other stores one should look for products with organic
food signs among other products of the same type: bread among bread products, etc.
Representatives of chain stores also concurred on one more issue: some four or five
years ago such products were almost unavailable and very few people were looking
for them. Although organic foods still account for a very small share of the entire
product range of the supermarkets, this share is constantly growing.
“For instance, in 2003 we had over 40 denominations of Lithuanian and imported
organic food products, this year we have over 240,” Viktorija Jakubauskaitė,
representative of VP Market for Public Relations quoted.
When talking about organic foods, representatives of chain stores mentioned the
produce of Lithuanian farmers and imported products: fruits, vegetables, bread
products, grain, and juice. So far, organic products praised by the retailers, producers
and farmers do not make their way to the hearts and plates of the buyers easily.
Retailers believe that the main reason for the lack of popularity is the high price of
organic food products.
“Not all our farmers manage to pack their products properly or make attractive
colorful labels,” Raminta Stanaitytė-Česnulienė, representative of UAB Rimi Lietuva
for Public Relations recited other reasons for minor popularity of organic foods.
If these shortcomings were rectified, the prices would increase even more and they are
high as they are.
The customers themselves, in addition to the high prices, indicate more reasons why
they do not choose organic products: they do not know how special they are, they
don’t see their advantages compared to the traditional products and they doubt if these
products are organic at all.
Another problem is that customers really do not know yet how such products are
marked. Products with organic or special qualities should be marked with signs
“Organic product”, “Guaranteed product”, “Ekoagros” or GTG. But when the chain
stores or certain producers mark organic foods with their own signs, imported goods
bear other signs, it results in confusion, and the trust of consumers in such goods is
even more diminished.
Honestly, one might get confused not only when choosing organic foods but also
when looking for higher-quality, healthier food products. According to the specialists,
analyzing the label information is one of the most reliable ways of choosing the right
product.
“When choosing a product, it is really advisable to read the label carefully. The name
and contents of the product basically say everything about the product. Besides, it
doesn’t take long for the customers to identify a producer whose products suit their
taste best. Products supplemented with bacteria, minerals and vitamins must be
labeled accordingly and the contents must indicate it”, said Aušra Ištarienė, head of
Food Department of the State Food and Veterinary Service. She encourages food
producers to contact their service when they are uncertain about the labeling of food
products and get everything cleared out.
Should one trust the signs on the labels? “Label is the image of the producer, the
contact between the producer and the customer. Lithuania is a small country and it is
very easy to spoil your reputation but very difficult to gain it back”, she said.
Food with the beneficent bacteria
However, natural, organic or low-fat food is not sufficient for modern person who is
always in haste and suffers from stress. Even doctors themselves give a mild smile
when explaining the rules of healthy life that are obviously too difficult to follow in
our reality: sleep well, do sports, spend time in the fresh air, avoid stress. Therefore, it
is needed to find fast and effective means to help the emaciated body at least a little
bit.
Therefore, TV advertising claiming that your child will be not only full but also
healthier if he eats certain curd cheese or yogurt sounds very attractively. Even those
who are very skeptical about advertising swallow the bait: “Well, since I am buying
yogurt for my child anyway, I better buy the one being advertised. Whether these
bacteria help or not, it might still be a better product then a regular one.”
The market was fast to respond to the needs of the society and food products, which
offer some additional benefits, appeared on the shelves of the stores. Scientists
already have a special term to define them.
“Functional food is the kind of food, which is supplemented with biological
substances during the production process or such substances are removed. Using such
products gives targeted positive physiological effect for the human body. Functional
food satisfies the requirements of healthy nutrition, physiological needs of the body
and maintains optimal health and well-being”, quoted Alvija Šalaševičienė, research
associate of Food Institute at Kaunas Technological University.
According to her, the qualities of functional food are acquired by adding one or
several additional substances to the food products: dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals,
probiotic bacteria, polyunsaturated fatty acids, peptides, proteins, antioxidants and
other.
In many foreign countries functional food is not something new and special labeling
of such products has been approved. In Lithuania, the list of functional food has been
prepared and it is still to be approved.
The experience of European countries shows that major part of functional food
consists of dairy products – 60%. 25% of functional food market consists of fat-based
food, 10% - bread and grain products, 5% - drinks.
“One of the most frequently used probiotic cultures is of Lactobacillus (LAB) type. It
is also called bio-protective culture. Probiotics are live food ingredients of biological
origin characterized by positive physiological effect. They regulate and restore the
micro flora of the body, fight infections, improve the immunity,” told Mrs.
Šalaševičienė.
Such well-known food producers as Valio, Nestle, BioGala, Probi and others use
probiotics in their production.
Towards healthier food
One can already find Lithuanian-made products, which could be attributed to the
category of functional food.
“There are a number of reasons encouraging us to develop and produce healthier
food; one of them is the increasing demand for such food. Consumers came to like our
products with reduced fat contents, additive-free products or those with fewer
additives. Our “Probio” sausages are becoming increasingly popular,” tells Egidija
Vaicekauskienė, director of ŽŪB Nematekas.
“Probio” sausages with probiotic cultures are attributed to the category of functional
food. According to Mrs. Vaicekauskienė, these sausages first appeared in the stores
five years ago, but they were initially called “Bio” sausages. Since July 1 this year the
name of this product line was changed, following the requirements of the European
Union.
“Probio” is an abbreviation of “probiotics”, “probiotic cultures”, the manager of
Nematekas comments on the new name.
According to her, the technologists of the company consulted with the researchers of
Food Institute when developing this product. This cooperation continues – scientists
analyze the contents of omega-3 acids in various meat products, they will prepare new
technologies of meat products, which will enable Nematekas to expand its range of
functional products.
“We started producing the products of “Bifido” line three years ago. “Bifido” diary
products are very useful for the health because they contain probiotics – lactulose,
which balances gastrointestinal activity,” Liutauras Našliūnas, business analyst of AB
Rokiškio Sūris tells about the healthy products of the company.
He admitted that the technologists of this company also consulted with the scientists
of the Food Institute when developing these products.
Both Mrs. Vaicekauskienė and Mr. Našliūnas tell that investments into the production
of healthier products have not paid back. Healthier products account for merely 1015% of the total production of Nematekas, “Bifido” line accounts for 2% of the sales
of Rokiškio Sūris.
Under photographs:
DIETICIAN DAIVA PIPIRAITĖ CLAIMS THAT HEALTHY FOOD WAS IMPORTANT IN THE TRADITIONAL LITHUANIAN CUISINE AS WELL
EGIDIJA VAICEKAUSKIENĖ, DIRECTOR OF ŽŪB NEMATEKAS: “OF COURSE, WE ARE NOT GOING TO SELL SAUSAGES IN THE
PHARMACIES BUT HEALTHY FOOD HELPS US FEEL BETTER.”
THE MARKET WAS FAST TO RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF THE SOCIETY AND FOOD PRODUCTS, WHICH OFFER SOME
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS, APPEARED ON THE SHELVES OF THE STORES.
PROBIOTICS: LIVE FOOD INGREDIENTS OF BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN CHARACTERIZED BY POSITIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECT.
EUROPEANS WITH HIGHER INCOME LEVEL WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR HEALTH HAVE ALREADY EVALUATED THE
BENEFITS OF FUNCTIONAL FOOD.