Nutritional Analysis

Planning and modifying RECIPES Important to eat wide range of foods to ensure good mixture of nutrients is consumed throughout day and week. Recipes are good starting point for planning meals Sometimes need to adapt recipes to improve nutritional value and meet current healthy eating guidelines (see p 147 Eatwell Guide) Normally adapt to be lower in sugar (less, fruit) fat (unsaturated) and salt (herbs, spices, garlic) and higher in fibre (wholegrain or brown bread/rice/pasta) Meals should be planned following food groups and proportions of Eatwell Guide Vary/change portion sizes for different age groups eating the same meal to allow for different nutritional needs i.e. teenager and younger sibling Swapping some ingredients for others to be more suitable for a specific target group i.e. lasagne: minced beef for Quorn or lean mince, low fat cheddar, add side salad for more nutrients Diets is made up of all meals, snacks and drinks consumed over longer period of time (week or month) Diet will determine body weight, growth and health If health problems, diet need to be modified: Obesity = reduce calories/energy intake. Tooth decay = reduce free sugars. Coeliac disease = gluten free Planning and modifying MEALS Planning and modifying Diets

Meal planning: portion size and cost (p150 -151) Individuals have different nutritional and energy needs – portion sizes should be adjusted accordingly In recent years plate became bigger and portion sizes can be too large, especially for children – encourage you to eat more Serve children’s meals on smaller plates to prevent overeating Teenager need relatively larger portion sizes to provide for growth spurts and (usually) increased physical activity Elderly less active and reduced amount of lean muscle tissue – smaller portion sizes Cost of food Increased in recent years – become larger part of family budget More difficult for low-income families, student, elderly – spend larger proportion of income on food. Can now use price comparison sites to compare cost of shopping baskets – save money especially if you are prepared to shop in different stores www.mysupermarket.co.uk Plan in advance – less waste, same ingredients used for different recipes i.e. fresh pineapple used for fruit salad dessert and leftover used for pizza next day Special offers – buy one get one free BOGOF Shopping list – only buy items on list Reduced items shelf when shopping at end of the day – short date mark means it need to be used or frozen Don’t shop when hungry – lead to impulse buy Value lines Internet shopping - avoid impulse buy and pester power by children, although increase in advertising might encourage you to buy food you don’t really need

Modify recipes, meals, diets for: LOW SUGAR Natural ingredients or sugar alternatives to replace free sugars LOW FAT Cooking methods HIGH FIBRE p165 activity DIETARY GROUPS Vegetarian (lacto, lacto-ovo, vegan) Coeliac disease = Gluten free alternatives Lactose intolerant = Dairy free alternatives (www. alpro.com/uk/foodservice) LIFE STAGES Young children (1 – 4 years) School children (5 – 12 years) Teenagers Adults Elderly (over 65)

How to carry out nutritional analysis Nutritional analysis lets you find out the nutritional value of a recipe, meal or diet and whether it is suitable for a specific target group Using books, website or specially designed software i.e. Food for a PC, http://explorefood.foodafactoflife.org.uk/ Some software will compare nutrients with individual dietary reference values (DRV). Allows you see if target group has too little or too much of a particular nutrient Usually in alphabetical order and show amount of ingredient per 100g of food Can be very time consuming, although using spreadsheets speed up process Examination style questions: 1. Look at the table for blueberry pancakes in the textbook on p172 You can see that blueberry pancakes are fairly low in iron (only 1.14mg per serving/portion). Teenage girls require 14.8mg of iron a day compared to 8.7mg for teenage boys (a) Why do teenage girls needs more iron than boys? (p154) (b) How could you change/modify the recipe to provide more iron (look at what you have learned about iron on p135 – 137) (c) Calculate the percentage of the iron DRV that one serving of the pancake provides for (i) teenage girls (ii) teenage boys (d) What could you add to the rest of the day’s meals to reach the DRV for iron? Using Food Tables

2. Look at the apple crumble activity in textbook p170 Discuss how you can adapt/modify the recipe to follow the healthy eating guidelines on p147 (look at fibre, sugar, fats, fruit and veg, cooking methods, extra side dishes/sauces/decorations etc.) 3. Look at p116 in textbook. Complete the breakfast activity. 4. Look at p126 in textbook. Complete research and extension activity on breakfast cereals. 5. Look at p129 in the textbook. Complete the activity on potatoes. 6. Look at p134 in textbook. Complete menu for four year old activity. 7. Look at p136 in textbook. Complete iron activity. 8. Look at p137 in textbook. Complete extension activity on iron. 9. Look at p139 in textbook. Complete research activity on salt. 10. Look at p144 in textbook. Complete research activity on water.

Using computer software Food for a PC, http://explorefood.foodafactoflife.org.uk/ Millimetres and grams are almost the same, so you can easily convert them Quick and efficient Analyse nutritional value to produce a table, chart or graph and compare nutrients with DRV of target group for: Recipes = input ingredients and amounts Meals = input foods (type i.e. brown or white bread) along with amounts. Might be for special dietary need like vegans. Diets = keep a dietary diary including all foods, drinks and snacks eaten throughout the day including weekends, as you probably eat different at weekends Examination style questions: 1. Look at p175 in textbook. Complete dietary diary activity. 2. Look at p126 in textbook. Complete folic acid activity without the practical aspect, just find a recipe. 3. Look at p131 in textbook. Complete berry activity without the practical aspect, just find a recipe. 4. Look at p133 in textbook. Complete calcium and Vit D activity without the practical aspect, just find a recipe. 5. Plan a main meal for a family of four. The meal should contain a source of HBV protein, carbohydrates and at least two to three portions of their ‘5-a-day’. Calculate the nutritional information on the computer. 6. Young children need to be encouraged to eat healthily and to try different foods. Find a recipe for homemade fish fingers together with a selection of starchy carbohydrate dishes and vegetable dishes to accompany the fish finger to create a healthy meal. Calculate the nutritional value of your chosen meal from the recipes on the computer.