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Burgen® Soy-Lin:
Development of an innovative functional staple food

One aspect of the option strand, Contemporary food issues - Marketplace, is the development of health enhancing foods, for example, functional foods. an example of an innovative functional food is Burgen Soy-Lin bread - the focus of this tutorial.

Outcomes

This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcomes:
H2.1 The student evaluates the relationship between food, its production, consumption, promotion and health

Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Food Technology Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (1999)

This tutorial involves reading the article and summarising the key points. One way to summarise is to use the method below. Read through the method and continue with the activity below.

Skim read

Re-read and note key words and phrases

Re-read and write sentence summaries

Evaluate

Collate

Each of these points is explained below in more detail.

Skim read

In less than five words write down the theme of the text.

Re-read and note key words and phrases

Go back and re read every paragraph or just the parts that provide the information you want.

Write down a word or phrase (either your own, or from the text) which captures the information in each relevant paragraph.

Re-read and write sentence summaries

Using your key word or phrase from step 2, write a sentence or two in your own words which sums up the relevant paragraph.

Evaluate

Read over what you have written. Does it summarise the text? Re-work sentences or add extra sentences.

Collate

Draw the information together into a passage which is logical and concise.

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Activity

Read the following article and complete these questions:

1. Explain the role research and development had in the development of Burgen® Soy-Lin.
2. Which groups in the community would benefit from this innovation?
3. Functional foods are those that offer us a prophylactic effect, that is, they can help protect us from disease or the side effects of a condition. Food products made from foods containing phytochemicals could be classed as functional foods. Burgen Soy-Lin is the functional food, phytoestrogen is the ingredient which makes it a functional food. Outline the potential benefits of consuming the phytoestrogen found in Burgen® Soy-Lin.

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Burgen® Soy-Lin TM: Development of an innovative functional staple food

Jorgensen, K., Suter, D.A.I., Thomson, W.K., Dalais, F.S., Rice, G.E. and Wahlqvist, M.L. (1998) Burgen® Soy-Lin TM: Development of an innovative functional staple food, Food Australia, Vol 50, No 6, June, pp 297-99.

Kirsten Jorgensen is Manager Product Development and Dr Dai Suter is General Manager at Weston Food Laboratories, 1 Braidwood Street Enfield, NSW 2136. Bill Thomson is Principal, Thomson Woodward Partners, 99 Queens Parade, Newport Beach, NSW 2106. Dr Fabian Dalais is a Post Doctoral Fellow and Professor Mark Wahlqvist is Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Monash Medical Centre, Monash University, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton, Vic 3168. Dr Greg Rice is Chief Chemist, Department of Perinatal Medicine, Perinatal Research Centre, Royal Women's Hospital, 132 Grattan Street, Carlton, Vic, 3053.

The following headings might help you navigate your way through the article.

Overview

The study

The opportunity

Other nutritional benefits

Conclusion

During the past ten years there has been an ever increasing body of literature demonstrating the benefits of phytoestrogens and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption in the diet. Evidence is mounting in the areas of:

In October 1990 a publication in the British Medical Journal (Wahlqvist & others 1990), triggered the imagination of George Weston Foods Ltd. The study described the effect of increasing the level of phytoestrogens in the diet of 25 menopausal Western women. The results were promising. An increase in phytoestrogen, from soy and linseed intake, had a significant effect on menopause indicators.

In Asian cultures post menopausal women rarely experience the symptoms that Western women do. It is said, for example, that in the Japanese language, there is no word for the primary symptom of menopause, 'hot flushes'.

Research to date (Adlercreutz & others 1992) has indicated that one of the reasons for this lies in the difference between the typical Asian diet and the typical Western diet. One major difference is the high level of consumption of phytoestrogens, primarily from soy, in the Asian diet. Phytoestrogens are plant estrogens that are structurally similar to the female hormone estrogen. In the soy bean the primary phytoestrogens are isoflavones, and in linseed, lignans. A further benefit of an increase in consumption in soy and linseed is a consequential increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) intake, primarily omega 3 fatty acids.

It is with this background that George Weston Foods contacted Professor Mark Wahlqvist at Monash University with a view to firmly establishing the link between phytoestrogen intake and the impact on menopausal symptoms. The concept was to significantly increase the level of phytoestrogens in the typical Australian diet, without resorting to the adoption of a typical Asian diet.

In 1994 a proposal was developed for a joint study into the effects of phytoestrogens on the symptoms of menopause, to be conducted at the Monash Medical Centre and the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne.

Extensive product development was conducted by Weston Food Laboratories to determine the most appropriate vehicle incorporating soy and linseed to use in the study. Consideration was given to the total diet of post menopausal women, and their general concerns regarding weight gain. As a result, products developed that meant an addition to the diet, eg biscuits or American style muffins, were discarded in favour of a product that would be a substitution in the diet. The final product, bread, was formulated to supply a significant quantity of phytoestrogens in four slices to be consumed daily. The resulting bread was deemed to be highly acceptable by study participants. 

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The study

George Weston Foods liaised between the Monash Medical Center and the Royal Women's Hospital, and a small bakery in Melbourne was commissioned to manufacture the bread for the research. The bakery was supplied with a complete bread mix manufactured by George Weston Foods for this specific research project.

The researchers at the Monash Medical Center and the Royal Women's Hospital designed a double blind, randomised, cross over study to assess the effects of high phytoestrogen intake on menopausal symptoms. The hypothesis was that a diet high in phytoestrogens may have similar effects to estrogen in alleviating menopausal symptoms. The parameters included urinary phytoestrogens, hot flush rate and intensity (the primary symptoms of menopause), vaginal cell maturation index (an indicator of estrogenicity) and bone mineral content. The 52 subjects were randomised to diets high in soy, linseed or wheat as a means of increasing phytoestrogens intake. The results from the study were:

The results of the study confirm that phytoestrogens found in soy and linseed are of benefit in alleviating menopausal symptoms (Dalais & others 1998), and clearly supported other studies indicating that phytoestrogens play a role in the alleviation of menopausal symptoms.

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The opportunity

George Weston Foods saw an opportunity to develop a commercial formulation of the bread, enabling consumers to obtain a significant quantity of phytoestrogens and omega 3 fatty acids in a product suited to the Australian diet. The resulting bread is now commercially available and is marketed as Burgen® Soy-LinTM Soy and Linseed Loaf (Figure 1).

 
Burgfig.gif
Figure 1. Burgen® Soy-Lin TM Soy and Linseed Loaf

The chosen formulation involved careful consideration of the research results. The balance of soy, linseed and wheat had to be carefully calculated to optimise the phytoestrogen level (isoflavones and lignans) as well as omega 3 fatty acids.

The results of the research study and the launch of Burgen® Soy-LinTM were announced at the International Congress on the Menopause in Sydney in November 1996. The concept behind the research and the resulting commercial product captured the imagination and interest of the general public, the medical profession and the media. Burgen® Soy-LinTM received overwhelming acceptance in terms of organoleptic acceptability and ease of incorporation into the everyday diet.

In March 1997, Tip Top Bakeries commercially launched Burgen® Soy-LinTM to a huge media reception. It received nationwide coverage on television, radio and in the print media. The interest generated by the whole concept was far in excess of Tip Top Bakeries' estimates and created a huge demand for Burgen® Soy-LinTM by women looking for an alternative or an adjunct to their hormone replacement medication. The Tip Top Consumer Information 1800 phone line was inundated with consumers demanding to know where they could purchase Burgen® Soy-LinTM. Feedback came through from supermarkets where consumers were reported waiting at the loading docks for the Tip Top Bakeries delivery vans to arrive! Burgen® Soy-LinTM had created its own category by fulfilling a need in the community to easily incorporate a food into the diet which is high in phytoestrogens and omega 3 fatty acids without a substantial change in eating habits.

By early April 1997 Burgen® Soy-LinTM accounted for 5.3% volume share of the total bread market, and 23.4% of the grain (including deposited breads) bread category. This is a phenomenal growth, and a 2% increase in the value of the total bread market was also recorded. (Source: Scanpath Info-Fusion week 6/4/97).

In a very short time other major bakeries recognized the benefits of adding soy and linseed to baked products. The result was a wide range of breads in the market to suit all consumer tastes, which still contribute to the consumer intake in phytoestrogens and omega 3 fatty acids. Further to this, other food categories are now also recognising the benefits of phytoestrogens and omega 3 fatty acids sourced from soy and linseed. Breakfast cereals, crispbreads and soy milks using this concept are now available in supermarkets.

According to the Bread Research Institute, bread consumption per person has remained relatively static for the past ten years, but in the last 12-18 months there does appear to have been an increase in consumption (Griffiths 1997). It is suggested that this rise is substantially due to a high level of consumption of Burgen® Soy-LinTM and other soy and linseed breads by post menopausal women who traditionally are low bread consumers.

The innovation of introducing significant levels of phytoestrogens and omega 3 fatty acids in a food product that is easily incorporated into the diet, has now been recognized overseas. Burgen Soy and Linseed Loaves have been launched in the UK and New Zealand, with interest being expressed by a number of other countries.

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Other nutritional benefits

Burgen® Soy-LinTM could be considered to be the first most complete functional food available to the consumer, which has been developed in recent times. Four slices per day provides a significant amount of phytoestrogens (220mg), and 3.5g of alpha linolenic acid. It has now been documented that the alpha linolenic acid found in linseed can be converted by the body to the long chain fatty acids such as those found in fish (EPA or DHA) (Emkem & others 1994). It is estimated that 550mg of EPA and DHA may be obtained from 3.5g of alpha linolenic acid meeting current estimates for the recommended daily intake for EPA and DHA. Linseed has the highest level of plant sourced alpha linolenic acid and is a renewable resource. Fish stocks in today's world are becoming increasingly stressed, so Burgen® Soy-LinTM is an easy alternative for the consumer to eating fish as a source of essential omega 3 fatty acids.

Burgen® Soy-LinTM has been evaluated by the Nutrition Unit of the University of Sydney in terms of glycaemic index (Brand-Miller 1997). The glycaemic index of the Burgen® Soy-LinTM is 19, (white bread has glycaemic index of 70), the lowest value for any bread yet tested by the University. Therefore the bread may be of benefit to those consumers wishing to control blood sugar levels. The Tip Top Consumer Information phone line has received calls from diabetic consumers supporting this view.

Burgen® Soy-LinTM is also very high in fibre (10%), compared to wholemeal bread, which typically has a dietary fibre level of 6.5% (English & Lewis 1991), the benefits of which are well recognized (Egger & others 1991). The Consumer Information phone line has received numerous calls from consumers describing their improvements in regularity since consuming the bread.

Burgen® Soy-LinTM has also been awarded the National Heart Foundation 'tick'. NHF criteria are strict in terms of fatty acid profile (polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat ratio), sodium content (less than 450mg/100g) and fibre content (greater than 5%). Burgen® Soy-LinTM contains 10% of the RDI per serve for calcium and phosphorous.

In summary, Burgen® Soy-LinTM:

All these factors combine to create a loaf with the potential to provide the benefits of:

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Conclusion

We believe that the development of Burgen® Soy-LinTM bread is a significant innovation which comprehensively recognises the special dietary needs of more than 5 million over 40 year olds in Australia.

A new staple food for the Western diet has grown out of epidemiological studies of Asian diets, sound scientific research and human feeding trials. This bread has already been successfully introduced into Australian, New Zealand and UK markets using a promotional strategy which rigorously targeted health professionals and consumers.

Burgen® Soy-LinTM is an example of what can be achieved when industry joins forces with the appropriate research institutions.

We would like to thank the AIFST for the honour it has bestowed on George Weston Foods Ltd by selecting our application as the 1998 winner of the Food Industry Innovation Award.

We would like to acknowledge Professor Mark Wahlqvist and his research team for the research studies and results which contributed to the success of Burgen® Soy-LinTM. We would also like to thank Robert McNamara (Cereform) and Stuart Borthwick (Weston Food Laboratories) and all the other team members at WFL, Tip Top Bakeries and IPR Shandwick for their contribution to the success of this venture.

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References

Adlercreutz, H 1995. Phytoestrogens: Epidemiology and a possible role in cancer protection. Enviromental Health Perspectives 103 (suppl 7):103-112

Adlercreutz, H. Hamalainen, E & Gorgach, S. 1992. Dietary phytoestrogens and the menopause in Japan. Lancet 339:1233

Anderson, J W, Johnstone, BM & Cook -Newell, ME. 1995, Meta-analysis of the effects of soy protein intake on serum lipids. New England Journal of Medicine 333: 276-282.

Brand-Miller, J. 1997. University of Sydney, personal communication, 30 April .

Broughton, KS, Johnson, CS, Pace, BK, Liebman, M & Kleppinger, K. 1997. Reduced asthma symptoms with n-3 fatty acid ingestion are related to S-series leukotriene production. Am J Clin Nutr. 65:1011-7.

Cleland, LG. 1997. Nutrition issues for Australia in the new millenium, Sydney.

Clifton, P. 1997. Polyunsaturates or monounsaturates: is there an answer? Perspectives in Food and Nutrition (7): 4-5.

Dalais, FS, Rice, GE, Murkies, AL, Bell, RJ & Wahlqvist, ML. 1995. Effects of dietary phytoestrogens in post menopausal women. Climacteric - in press.

Egger, G, Wolfenden, K, Pares, J & Mowbray, G. 1991. Increasing bread consumption decreases laxative sales in an elderly community. Med. J. Aust.: 155: 820-1.

Emken, EA, Adlof, RO & Gulley, MR. 1994. Dietary linoleic acid influences desaturation and acylation of deuterium labeled linoleic and linolenic acids in young adult males. Biochimic et Biophysica Acta 1213: 277-288.

English, R. & Lewis, J. 1991. Nutritional Values of Australian Foods. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Griffiths, T. 1997. Bread Research Institute, personal communication, 25 November.

Knight, DC & Eden, JA. 1995. Phytoestrogens - a short review. Maturitas 22: 167-175.

Makrides, M, Nevmann, M, Simmer, K, Pater, J & Gibson, R. 1995. Are long chain fatty acids essential nutrients in infancy? Lancet 345: 1463-1468

Murkies, AL, Lombard, C, Strass, BJG, Wilcox, G, Burger, HG & Morton, MS. 1995. Dietary flour supplementation decreases postmenopausal hot flushes: effect of soy and wheat. Maturitas 21:189-195.

Siscovick, DS, Raghunathan, IK, Weinmann S & others. 1995. Dietary intake and cell membrane levels of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of primary cardiac arrest. J.A.M.A. 274: 1363-1367.

Wahlqvist, M, Wilcox, G, Burger, HG & Medley, G. 1990. Oestrogenic effects of plant foods in postmenopausal women. Br. Med. J. 301:905-6.

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