FAOWHO Scientific Update on carbohydrates in human strongnutritionstrong.pdfVIP

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61 (Suppl 1), S132–S137 2007 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 0954-3007/07 $30.00 /ejcn FAO/WHO Scientific Update on carbohydrates in human nutrition: conclusions J Mann, JH Cummings, HN Englyst, T Key, S Liu, G Riccardi, C Summerbell, R Uauy, RM van Dam, B Venn, HH Vorster and M Wiseman European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61 (Suppl 1), S132–S137; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602943 Keywords: carbohydrates; human nutrition; chronic diseases; FAO; WHO; scientific update The Scientific Update involved consideration of a number of provides a practical basis for measurement and labelling, but key issues that have arisen since the Joint FAO/WHO Expert does not allow a simple translation into nutritional effects. Consultation on Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition was Each chemical class of carbohydrate has overlapping phy- held in 1997 (FAO, 1998) or where new data may have siological properties and health effects. As a result several altered conclusions drawn some 10 years ago. The Scientific terms have been used to describe their functional properties. Update enabled some firm conclusions to be drawn and For example, many terms exist to describe sugars in the diet. identified a number of areas where more research is required While it is straightforward from an analytical point of view to enable definitive recommendations. The review papers to determine the total sugar content of food and their prepared as part of this Scientific Update applied the criteria division into monosaccharides and disaccharides, it is used by the 2002 WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet,