Hot Cereals Research Articles

Grain Products Are a Top Source of Energy and Nutrients among Nova Scotian Adults Following a Gluten-Free Diet.

To determine the food sources of energy and 13 core nutrients, 89 diet recalls were analyzed from an explanatory mixed-methods pilot study with adults following a gluten-free diet (GFD) for any reason. Nonconsecutive dietary recalls were collected through a web-based, Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour (ASA24®-Canada-2016) Tool. Mean nutrient intakes were compared with Dietary Reference Intakes. Food items (excluding supplements) were extracted and categorized according to the Bureau of Nutritional Sciences Food Group Codes. Percentages of total dietary intakes from food sources were ranked. Grain products were the highest ranked contributor of energy (21.4%), carbohydrate (30.3%), fibre (29.1%), and iron (35.3%). Breakfast cereals, hot cereals, yeast breads, and mixed grain dishes (mainly rice or pasta-based) were the most important nutrient contributors for grains, despite most (64.3%) commercial cereals and breads being unenriched. Legumes and seeds were not frequently consumed. Nutrient density in the GFD could be improved with more emphasis on gluten-free (GF) whole grains, legumes, seeds, and enriched breads and cereals. More research is needed on the nutrient composition of GF foods to identify food sources of folate, other B vitamins, zinc and magnesium-nutrients of concern for those requiring a GFD.

Dietary Patterns Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors for Puerto Ricans with and Without Type 2 Diabetes Living in Boston, Massachusetts (P18-063-19)

ObjectivesOur aim was to derive dietary patterns that are associated with cardiometabolic risk (CMR) and to quantify their prospective associations with 2-year changes in CMR factors for Puerto Ricans (PR) with and without Type 2 diabetes. MethodsWe used baseline data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, a longitudinal epidemiological study of 45–75-year-old PR living in Boston. Those taking antilipemic medications were excluded. Dietary patterns were derived for participants with and without diabetes separately, using reduced rank regression with 37 food groups as predictors and 5 CMR factors as response variables. Simplified dietary pattern scores (DPscore) reflecting food groups with factor loadings > |0.20| were divided into tertiles to examine associations with population characteristics. We then used multivariable regression to quantify associations between continuous DPscores and changes in 5 individual CMR factors. ResultsFor participants with diabetes, 13 food groups explained 64% of the DPscore variation, with positive loadings for pizza, Mexican food, vegetables, diet soft drinks/soda, sweetened beverages, meat, white bread, other grains or pasta, and processed meat; and negative loadings for reduced fat dairy, nuts and seeds, starchy vegetables, soups, and hot cereal. For participants without diabetes, 11 food groups explained 54% of the DPscore, including positive loadings for pizza, Mexican food, meat, white bread, solid fats, sweet baked goods, processed meat, and rice; and negative loadings for intake of nuts and seeds, hot cereal, poultry and water. In multivariable regressions, baseline DPscore was not significantly associated with 2-year change in CMR factors. ConclusionsWe identified population-specific foods that potentially contribute to excess CVD risk for PR with and without diabetes living in the US. Targeted dietary interventions should consider the specific foods identified in this research to improve CVD prevention. Funding SourcesNational Institute of Health, National Heart Blood and Lung Institute, National Institute on Aging.

Gluten Content of Brand Name Food Products in a Food and Nutrient Database That Includes Leading U.S. Food Brands (FS10-02-19)

ObjectivesDescribe the gluten content of leading U.S. brands of cookies, crackers, hot cereals, ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals, specially formulated bars (e.g., Clif, Luna bars), granola bars, savory snacks, and candies. MethodsTo address the needs of researcherers examining the role of gluten in gastrointestinal health, gluten was added to a U.S. food and nutrient database. Few foods have been chemically analyzed for their gluten content. Thus, gluten values were assigned to foods based on the assumptions that: 1) foods that do not include any gluten containing grains or their derivatives- wheat, rye or barley may be presumed to contain 0 grams of gluten; and 2) a specified fraction of vegetable protein found in wheat, rye, barley and their derivatives (0.75) may be presumed to be gluten (factor selected based on studies in which gluten content of some gluten containing grains were determined by chemical analysis). Gluten values were assigned to brand name products in the database, thus presenting a unique opportunity to describe the gluten content of brand name products in the U.S. marketplace. For each food category the % of products containing gluten was calculated, and the mean and range in gluten content among gluten containing products were determined. ResultsFood categories with the highest proportion of products containing gluten were cookies (97.1%), crackers (82.7%), hot cereals (66.0%), and RTE cereals (64.8%). Categories with the lowest proportions were candies (15.7%) and savory snacks (25.0%). The mean gluten content among gluten containing products was highest for hot cereals (2.62 grams/serving), crackers (1.82 grams/serving), RTE cereals (1.76 grams/serving), and savory snacks (1.51 grams/serving). Granola bars and specially formulated bars had the lowest content (0.27 and 0.31 grams/serving respectively). The range in gluten content per serving for gluten containing products was lowest for granola bars (0.002–1.11 grams/serving) and highest for RTE cereals (0.001–7.03 grams/serving). ConclusionsThere is considerable variation in the gluten content of brand name products in the categories examined in this study. Studies quantifying dietary gluten intake may need to consider using a dietary assessment method that captures product brand. Funding SourcesAmerican Gastroenterological Association. Supporting Tables, Images and/or Graphs▪

Perceived Barriers to Increased Whole Grain Consumption by Older Adults in Long-Term Care

ABSTRACTMany older adults fail to consume adequate amounts of dietary fiber from food sources, including whole grains. Little information is available about consumption of dietary fiber and whole grains by residents of long-term care facilities. Surveys were mailed to 3,000 randomly selected US members of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics who worked in practice groups related to elder care. Net response rate was 22.7% (n = 681). Cost was a barrier to whole grain use for 27.1% of respondents, followed by dietary needs (22.1%), contracts in place (20.3%), and overall nutritional content (20.1%). Over 75% of respondents stated their patients require dietary fiber supplementation. Nutrition professionals most frequently (23.6%) reported spending $11–20 monthly per patient on dietary fiber supplements. Although a majority of facilities served whole grain foods daily, 89.5% of respondents would like to serve more whole grains. Ready-to-eat cereals, bread, bagels, and hot cereals were the most common whole grain products served at the facilities where survey respondents worked. An economic analysis of the benefits of increased consumption of whole grains and other high-fiber foods versus the use of laxative supplements may be helpful to administrators of long-term care facilities.

Potential dietary outcomes of changing relative prices of healthy and less healthy foods: The case of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals

Many prevalent and costly health disorders in the U.S. can be attributed in part to poor diets, overconsumption of calories, and physical inactivity. Taxing less healthy foods and subsidizing healthy foods as a strategy to improve diet and health has attracted growing interest among policy makers and researchers. We test this strategy by using national household purchase data to estimate a censored, price and expenditure endogenous demand system for 12 food groups that are commonly consumed at breakfast: low- and high-nutrition ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, eggs, breads, hot cereals, breakfast bars, juice, whole and reduced-fat milk, yogurt, meats, and coffee. The estimated demand elasticities are applied to nationally representative food intake data to simulate—under the assumption of perfectly price elastic supply—the potential dietary improvement from taxing low-nutrition and subsidizing high-nutrition ready-to-eat breakfast cereals. We find that the demand for both types of cereals is own-price inelastic, suggesting that consumers are not likely to make large shifts in consumption of cereals if the price changes. Thus only limited dietary improvement can be expected from taxes and subsidies. Furthermore, when the healthfulness of breakfast foods is evaluated using a comprehensive list of nutrients and food components, a price intervention strategy may result in unintended, adverse impacts. Our simulation results suggest that the hypothetical price intervention actually increases the calorie content of foods consumed at breakfast.

Rapid quantitation of avenanthramides in oat-containing products by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-TQMS).

Avenanthramides (AVNs) are a family of nitrogen-containing phenolic compounds produced in oat; AVN 2c, 2p, and 2f are the three major members. An LC-MS/MS method was developed, with the limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) being, respectively, 0.29ng/mL and 1.96ng/mL for AVN 2c, 0.24ng/mL and 0.60ng/mL for AVE 2p, and 0.42ng/mL and 2.2ng/mL for AVN 2f. The method was validated in oat-containing hot cereal and snack bar samples. The recovery of AVN 2c, 2p, and 2f from these two oat products was 95-113%, and the relative standard deviations ranged from 5% to 9%. This method was used to evaluate oat products and raw oat samples. The effects of location and variety on AVN composition were investigated. The method presented here provides a novel and rapid tool to quantitate the abundance of AVN 2c, 2p, and 2f in oat-containing products.

Optimize Nutritional Intakes when Struggling against Barriers’ to Quality Nutritional Intakes

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com with this phrase, “less is more.” Yes, less money, less chewing and less volume of oral intake is needed with this simple solution. Some of the tastiest and comforting foods that come to our minds can be transformed into calorie and protein packed foods by the simple addition of powdered nonfat dry milk. Soups, mashed potatoes, hot cereals and shakes/smoothies can have nonfat dry milk mixed easily into them. All of these items are very cost effective and are easy to eat. They become even more rich and luxurious with this addition. The best news of all is that for each 1/3 cup of nonfat dry milk used; your food is fortified with approximately 120 calories and 12 grams of protein.

Facts about Quinoa

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate nutrition guide recommends that Americans consume half of their grains from whole grain foods. Whole wheat bread and oatmeal are whole grain foods that are familiar to most Americans, but lots of other whole grain foods are also available. An example of an unfamiliar whole grain food is quinoa (pronounced keen-wa). Quinoa is a nutritious seed that is simple to prepare. It can be served as a hot cereal or side dish, as a cold salad similar to pasta salad, or it can be used in recipes in place of rice or other grains. It also has the advantage of being gluten free, which is a must for people diagnosed with celiac disease. Follow the link to learn more about quinoa and what it has to offer. This 3-page fact sheet was written by Alexandra Dati, Gail Kauwell, and Amy Simonne, and published by the UF Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, May 2014.
 FCS80035/FY1408: Facts about Quinoa (ufl.edu)

Part of a Complete Breakfast: Cereal Characters of the Baby Boom Era TimHollis. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2012.

Part of a Complete Breakfast: Cereal Characters of the Baby Boom Era Tim Hollis. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2012.The colorful dust jacket of Tim Hollis's Part of a Complete says it all: in the upper-left corner tilts Toucan Sam with his bright yellow and orange beak, and the bottom features a 1960s-style console television with the fronts of boxes of Cap'n Crunch, Pink Panther Flakes, Alpha-Bits, Fruity Pebbles, Freakies, King Vitamin, Froot Loops, and Apple Jacks lined up in two vivid rows. On each box appears a cereal character familiar to any member of the baby-boom generation who ate cereal or watched television in its first decades. Hollis, a baby boomer himself, pays tribute to the era in which he grew up in a 4,200-squarefoot addition to his house near Birmingham, Alabama, which he has turned into a museum of 1960s childhood memorabilia. Included in the museum are numerous displays of vivid cereal character memorabilia, including boxes, premiums, toys, and advertisements. Almost all of the images in Hollis's highly visual book come from artifacts in his museum of nostalgia.Hollis likes nostalgia. He is an avid collector and author of twenty-one books that chronicle popular culture and history topics such as Walt Disney records, local children's television shows, Florida tourism advertising, and knee-slapping rural comedies. His book on cereal characters fits nicely into the mix and addresses an area of advertising, television and animation history, and children's culture that has gone relatively undocumented. Hollis is not an academic, and his book includes no citations, although it does have a bibliography of about two dozen sources, as well as YouTube sites that carry classic cereal commercials. He also notes that Duke University now houses the archives of the Benton and Bowles advertising agency, which handled the General Foods/ Post account for decades, and has several of its cereal commercials on its Web site at http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/.What Hollis offers is a decade-by-decade approach to mascot-driven cereal advertising geared to children. He begins with a chapter titled Breakfast Pals: The World before Television, which covers the birth of the cereal industry in America. In 1854, immigrant Ferdinand Schumacher started a small company that ground oats, which Americans regarded as food for horses, into oatmeal. Hot cereals pre-dated cold ones in America, and the first trademarked cereal character was the William Penn look-alike that appeared in the late 1870s on round containers of Quaker Oats, developed by Henry Crowell of Ravenna, Ohio. Cream of Wheat followed suit, with a smiling African-American chef in its early advertisements. It did not take long for more cereals to enter the market, including Kellogg's Corn Flakes, packaged around 1907 in boxes adorned with a lovely young woman dubbed the Sweetheart of the Corn, and Force, a wheat product heralded by a cartoon character named Sunny Jim. …

Total dietary fiber intakes in the US population are related to whole grain consumption: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009 to 2010

Whole grain (WG) foods have been shown to reduce chronic disease risk and overweight. Total dietary fiber is associated with WG and its health benefits. The purpose was to determine whether associations exist between WG intake (no-WG intake, 0 ounce equivalent [oz eq]; low, >0-<3 oz eq; high, ≥3 oz eq) and total dietary fiber intake among Americans 2 years and older. One-day food intake data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009 to 2010 (n = 9042) showed that only 2.9% and 7.7% of children/adolescents (2-18 years) and adults (≥19 years) consumed at least 3 WG oz eq/d, respectively. For children/adolescents and adults, individuals in the high WG intake group were 59 and 76 times more likely to fall in the third fiber tertile, respectively, compared with those with no-WG intake. Total dietary fiber intake from food sources varied by WG intake group for children/adolescents and adults with more total dietary fiber consumed from ready-to-eat (RTE) and hot cereals and yeast breads/rolls in the high WG intake group compared with the no-WG intake group. Major WG sources for children/adolescents and adults included yeast bread/rolls (24% and 27%, respectively), RTE cereals (25% and 20%, respectively), and oatmeal (12% and 21%, respectively). Among those with the highest WG intake, WG RTE cereal with no added bran was the greatest contributor to total dietary fiber compared with other RTE cereal types. Whole grain foods make a substantial contribution to total dietary fiber intake and should be promoted to meet recommendations.

Shrinking the Price Gap for Whole Grains

SUMMARY Whole grains have historically cost more than refined grains, creating an additional barrier to consumer acceptance. Although this price gap has diminished over the past few years, the ideal outcome would be to see whole grain foods achieve price parity with refined/enriched grain foods. The price premium for whole grain foods is due to many reasons, including processing issues and supply-and-demand. While the gap is indeed closing, especially since 2005, when the Dietary Guidelines changed and the Whole Grain Stamp was introduced, regional and category differences still exist. There are many knowledge gaps in this area, because government data lag years behind current time. (A recent USDA ERS report on this topic included information only through 2006–2007.) However, official data are not key to understanding this problem: a trip through a typical grocery store confirms the state of the situation. Factors Contributing to the Price Gap Whole grain foods should cost less than refined grain foods, since a bushel of wheat can make 60 loaves (24 oz each) of whole grain bread and only 42 loaves of refined/enriched bread (2). It’s not that simple, however. There are increased production costs in working with whole grains. Whole grain flour costs more (since it’s a niche product) and extra ingredients like additives and dough conditioners may be needed. Longer rising times or baking times may limit throughput and fixed costs are spread over fewer units. Distribution costs may also be higher for whole grain products. They have a shorter shelf life, and their higher price may mean slower sell-through, resulting in more potential waste. In short, economies of scale and other factors result in a price premium for whole grain products. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that whole grains also offer greater value than refined grains. Refining grains removes half to two-thirds or more of scores of nutrients; even grains that are enriched have only had five of those nutrients returned (and not in the same original proportions). Part of the “solution” to the price gap may involve educating consumers to understand that whole grains may sometimes cost more because they are worth much more. The Price Gap is Shrinking USDA data from 2006 show that the price premium for whole grains varies widely by region and by market within regions (4). In the nonmetro Pacific West and in San Francisco markets, the gap was the smallest, with whole grain consumers paying about 23–24% more than refined grain consumers. At the same time, in the nonmetro Middle Atlantic, consumers paid the highest premium for whole grains, spending about 66% more than refined grain consumers. In addition to regional differences, there are category differences. In a 2009 grocery store survey (3) of best-price choices for both whole grain and refined grain foods, eleven categories showed a premium for whole grains, while five (cold cereal, hot cereal, granola bars, granola, and wraps/tortillas) actually offered less expensive whole grain options than refined grain ones. Overall, the price gap is shrinking. In the period 1998 to 2006, areas with the smallest gap decreased from about a 35% premium to about 23%, while those with the highest gap decreased from a peak of about 66% to about 45%(4). The 2012 Gap: A Grocery Store Visit Official data lag so far behind the momentum of the whole grain surge that a look at today’s real-world conditions may be more instructive than analysis of numbers that are six or even three years old. A May 2012 visit to supermarkets in Portsmouth, NH (1), showed that many whole grain foods have already achieved price parity with refined foods, while others retained the whole grain premium and a few even offered a savings for whole grains. For instance, see Table I. As we compare products, it also becomes apparent that de1 Oldways and the Whole Grains Council, Boston, MA, 02116, U.S.A. E-mail: Cynthia@oldwayspt.org http://dx.doi.org/10.1094 / CPLEX-2013-1001-17B © 2013 AACC International, Inc. Table I. Price comparison of selected whole grain and refined grain products. Product Refined vs. Whole Thomas’ bagels both cost same Chi-Chi 12” tortillas both cost same King Arthur Flour both cost same Success Rice both cost same P. F. Goldfish Crackers both cost same Newtons Cookies both cost same Manichewitz Matzos whole = 17% more Joseph’s Pita Bread whole = 26% more Generic Sandwich Bread whole = 33% more Generic Pasta (rotini) whole = 24% more

Whole Grains Workspace

SUMMARY Consumers consistently seek great-tasting food at a great value. But, more recently, foods need to provide variety, wholesome health, or convenience benefits. While consumer demographics may dictate the ranking of these consumer benefits, value offerings of naturally wholesome and great-tasting foods continue to grow in the market. Providing naturally wholesome foods provides a wide array of health opportunity targets. Many whole grain foods, like hot and ready-to-eat cereals, are well-suited for weight management and healthy heart consumer targets. However, whole grains can also support digestive health or fiber-enriched products that are appropriate for certain key consumer targets. The intersection of specific health-driven benefits, great taste, and great consumer value offers food manufacturers a platform for growth. Introduction Consumers have a variety of choices in any food category. In most food categories, the hierarchy of benefit drivers favors taste, but other secondary benefits include convenience, value, health, fun, and variety (Figure 1). Experimental Methods A keyword search was conducted qualitatively in the literature to identify and reference consumer benefits for different food categories. Those search results were extracted, reviewed, and categorized by benefit type by researchers. Various benefit types exhibited close alignment with grain formulations, and some exhibited very close association with whole grain products. Those whole grain products were further studied for individual health state claims and development. Results and Discussion The study revealed three levels of alignment to company goals and mission characterized as “largest,” “some,” and “other” levels of alignment. Conclusion The study of whole grain workspace revealed significant alignment of company goals and mission against enhanced health states among consumers in the literature. Furthermore, the workspace indicated formulation enhancements that could be moderately to very easy to develop and implement. Acknowledgments The author wishes to acknowledge A. Monsalve, Ph.D., S. E. Williams, MS, and K. M. Setter, MPH, for their contributions to this presentation. MOM Brands is the largest family-owned cereal company in the United States. The company has produced quality cereal products since 1919 and manufactures many varieties of oatmeal, family favorite ready-to-eat and all-natural cereals as well as its original, farinabased hot cereal. Today, one in ten servings of cereal breakfast eaten every day is a MOM Brands cereal. No other cereal company has more products in the Top U.S. 50 cereal brands. Dedicated to finding better ways to make a better breakfast at a better price, MOM Brands is continually innovating to produce, package, and transport its cereals in ways that reduce environmental impact. 1 MOM Brands Company, Lakeville, Minnesota 55446, U.S.A. E-mail: crelm@mombrands.com. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094 / CPLEX-2013-1001-18B © 2013 AACC International, Inc. Fig 1. Consumer benefit drivers Fig 2. Health framework workspace

Sources of cadmium exposure among healthy premenopausal women

Background Cadmium, a persistent and widespread environmental pollutant, has been associated with kidney function impairment and several diseases. Cigarettes are the dominant source of cadmium exposure among smokers; the primary source of cadmium in non-smokers is food. We investigated sources of cadmium exposure in a sample of healthy women. Methods In a cross-sectional study, 191 premenopausal women completed a health questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire. The cadmium content of spot urine samples was measured with inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry and normalized to urine creatinine content. Multivariable linear regression was used to estimate the strength of association between smoking habits and, among non-smokers, usual foods consumed and urinary cadmium, adjusted for age, race, multivitamin and supplement use, education, estimated total energy intake, and parity. Results Geometric mean urine creatinine-normalized cadmium concentration (uCd) of women with any history of cigarette smoking was 0.43 μg/g (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38–0.48 μg/g) and 0.30 μg/g (0.27–0.33 μg/g) among never-smokers, and increased with pack-years of smoking. Analysis of dietary data among women with no reported history of smoking suggested that regular consumption of eggs, hot cereals, organ meats, tofu, vegetable soups, leafy greens, green salad, and yams was associated with uCd. Consumption of tofu products showed the most robust association with uCd; each weekly serving of tofu was associated with a 22% (95% CI: 11–33%) increase in uCd. Thus, uCd was estimated to be 0.11 μg/g (95% CI: 0.06–0.15 μg/g) higher among women who consumed any tofu than among those who consumed none. Conclusions Cigarette smoking is likely the most important source of cadmium exposure among smokers. Among non-smokers, consumption of specific foods, notably tofu, is associated with increased urine cadmium concentration.

Comparison of energy intake and satiety for whole grain barley, wheat and refined rice

This study compared the effect of whole grain high‐fiber barley, whole grain wheat and refined rice on energy intake and satiety. Fifty healthy subjects were recruited for this crossover design. Subjects consumed a hot cereal and a snack mix followed by an ad lib lunch once per week. Energy intake was measured through pre and post plate waste as part of the smorgasbord lunch. Through the use of a visual analog scale, hunger and fullness were measured for within and between treatment differences. Data analysis was completed using Proc mixed for between treatment differences and proc t‐test for within treatment differences. Energy intake at lunch did not significantly differ between treatments (p&lt;0.8626). Satiety differed between and within treatments. Subject's felt significantly less hungry on the barley compared to the wheat (p&lt;0.0208). Additionally, the subjects reported significantly less hunger before lunch compared to baseline (p&lt;0.0017) for barley, but not for wheat (p&lt;0.2085) or rice (p&lt;0.0717). The greatest fullness was experienced on the barley compared to the wheat (p&lt;0.0530). Compared to baseline, subjects felt the fullest before lunch on the barley followed by the wheat, and rice. Longer term studies are needed to assess the impact of whole grain foods on energy intake, satiety and weight management.ConAgra Foods Inc.

YIELD STRESS OF HOT CEREALS BY THE VANE METHOD

ABSTRACTi

Zinc and Copper Intakes and Their Major Food Sources for Older Adults in the 1994–96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII)

Zinc and copper are two trace minerals essential for important biochemical functions and necessary for maintaining health throughout life. Several national food surveys revealed marginally to moderately low contents of both nutrients in the typical American diet. Using data from the respondents >/= 60 y old in the 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII), we examined average dietary intakes of zinc, copper and relevant dietary factors; primary dietary contributors of zinc and copper; and Zn:Cu ratios of the primary dietary contributors. Data were analyzed with the use of a chi(2) test, Student's t test and multivariate analysis of covariance with Bonferroni correction. The daily zinc intake was 12 +/- 6.4 mg for men and 8.0 +/- 4.0 mg for women (P < 0.05); the daily copper intake was 1.3 +/- 0.7 mg for men and 1.0 +/- 0.5 mg for women (P < 0.05). Foods such as beef, ground beef, legumes, poultry, ready-to-eat and hot cereals, and pork constituted the major sources of zinc. Copper consumption was contributed mainly by legumes, potato and potato products, nuts and seeds, and beef. The less-than-recommended intakes of zinc and copper by the elderly were likely associated with age, low income and less education. The intakes of zinc and copper could be improved by more frequent consumption of food sources rich in these minerals. An inherent limitation of this study was the use of the 24-h dietary recall method, which may underestimate usual dietary intakes. Nonetheless, this study affirms the need for assessment of zinc and copper nutriture in the elderly.

Purchasing behaviour of higher-and lower-income shoppers: a look at breakfast cereals

Scanner data for breakfast cereals are used to estimate demand elasticities for six supermarket stores in two distinct socioeconomic areas. Three stores are in lowincome locations and three are in high-income locations. A time series cross-section model is estimated for five product categories across six cross sections over forty-two weeks. Results show lower-income shoppers to have more elastic demands for four of the five product categories: private label cold cereals, the top ten brands of cold cereals, all other brands of cold cereals, and hot cereals. Price is not statistically significant for a fifth product category, snack cereals.

Alleviation of constipation in the elderly by dietary fiber supplementation.

To alleviate the constipation problem among the elderly residents of Essex County Geriatric Center, New Jersey, a fiber-supplemented dietary regimen was started. Under this regimen, bran was added to the hot breakfast cereal, thus increasing the crude fiber content of the diet to 6-8 gm compared with the former 4-6 gm. As estimated from recent analysis data, the total dietary fiber was increased from 25 to 40 percent by the addition of bran. This amount of fiber proved effective in preventing constipation in 60 percent of the residents even though many of them had previously required laxatives. Additional programs of dietary fiber supplementation were devised for residents who did not respond to the cereal supplementation or who required nasogastric feedings. In the year following initiation of the program at this Center, the use of laxatives was virtually eliminated, and the institution's pharmacy reported a saving of $44,000 in expenditures for laxative drugs. Recipes are included for the bran-supplemented hot cereal, a special fiber-prune juice supplement, and a fiber-rich liquid for tube-feedings.

SUPRARENAL TUMOR WITH METASTASES

The case reported in this paper was one of Hutchinson's tumor of the left suprarenal medulla with metastases to the skull and sacrum. <i>History.</i>—A boy, aged 3 years, was admitted to the hospital in January, with the complaint of paralysis of the face and a tumor in the abdomen. The family history was unimportant. It was noted that the child had never been in good health, had not eaten or gained weight normally, and had never slept soundly; the appetite had been poor during the last four or five months. In the November preceding hospitalization there had been a severe gastrointestinal upset, with nausea and vomiting for two days; obstinate constipation had persisted for a week. Two days later, the child burned his lip with hot cereal, and the mother first noticed paralysis of the left side of the face. Shortly after this, there was considerable edema of the