Why join the GI Symbol ProgramMore and more people are choosing low GI foods for their long-term health and well being, to reduce their risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, manage their blood glucose levels, improve their energy levels and help maintain a healthy weight. The GI Symbol Program is the only independent worldwide GI certification program. The Symbol is a Registered trademark in Australia, the European Union, Japan, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and Registration is pending in other territories. When shoppers see this distinctive symbol they know that the food or beverage has been tested and proven to meet the GI Symbol Program’s certification criteria as a healthy choice within their food group. So here are 5 great reasons to join the GI Symbol Program:
Is your product eligible?To earn certification, foods and beverages must: 1. Be a good source of carbohydrate (contain around 10 grams of carbohydrate per single serve size). 2. Be a healthy choice in their food category meeting strict nutritional criteria including specified limits for energy (kilojoules/calories), total and saturated fat, sodium (salt), and where appropriate, dietary fibre and calcium. An interactive GI qualifier coming soon. It will tell you if your product meets the GI criteria or click HERE for a list of the Guidelines for Product Acceptability. 3. Have had their GI independently tested by an accredited laboratory. Approved laboratories use the internationally standardised procedure and have had their data quality verified by Glycemic Index Foundation. Click HERE for Product Testing. The GI Symbol Program approval process step by stepStep 1 If appropriate GI or nutritional criteria tests have not been carried out, the Applicant submits product samples for testing to an approved laboratory. Click HERE for details about the recommended laboratories. Step 2 Step 3 Click HERE for GI Symbol Program Licence Fee PDF. Step 4 Click HERE for GI Symbol Program Symbol Usage and Advertising Guidelines PDF. The Glycemic Index Foundation provides the Applicant with a high resolution image of the GI Symbol for use on product packaging. Artwork for all proposed packaging and promotional material must be sent to the Glycemic Index Foundation for pre-approval. GI marketing claimsThe statement of the GI value of a food on the label is technically a ‘nutrition function’ claim as it reflects the physiological effect of the food’s carbohydrate on blood glucose levels, though in some parts of the world it is regulated as a nutrition content claim, reflecting the fact that it relates to the carbohydrate content of a food. What regulatory issues do you need to be aware of?International differences in the way GI claims are regulated Marketing claims about the benefits of low GI foods How scientists measure the GIA food’s GI value must be measured in human subjects (we call this in vivo testing) according to an internationally standardised method. In the standard method of GI testing, a minimum of 10 volunteers consume a 50 gram carbohydrate portion of the test food (e.g., 1 cup of rice) on one occasion and a 50 gram carbohydrate portion of the reference food on another occasion. Pure glucose dissolved in water is the usual reference food and its GI is set at 100. The test is carried out in the morning after an overnight fast. The food is eaten within 10–12 minutes, and blood glucose levels are measured at frequent intervals over the next two hours. Each volunteer’s blood glucose response to the test food is then plotted on a graph and compared with his or her response to the reference food (figure 1); that graphic response is referred to as the area under the curve - the exact percentages are calculated using a computer program.
Figure 1: Blood glucose response of reference and test food over 2 hours
If the test food response area (i.e., the area under the curve) is 70 per cent of the reference food, then the GI of the test food is 70. Not everyone will give exactly the same number, of course, but the law of averages applies. If we tested them over and over again, they will all tend to congregate around the same number. Because each person is his or her own control, testing foods in volunteers with diabetes gives approximately the same GI values as testing normal subjects. In practice, the average result in the group of ten healthy individuals is the published GI value of the food. A food’s GI value cannot be predicted from its composition, carbohydrate content, or even the GI values of related foods. The only way to know a food’s GI value is to test it, following the standardised methodology we’ve just described. Why is glucose used as the reference food? What about in vitro testing? One of these in vitro tests measures ‘rapidly available glucose’ (RAG) (ie the glucose released within 20 minutes of the start of an incubation of food plus enzymes). Differences in food preparation, shaking rate and amount and type of enzyme can markedly affect the final result. The RAG test cannot distinguish the effect on GI of adding viscous fibre or acid to a food, and does not distinguish effects that alter gastric emptying like acidity, osmolality or concentration of sugars. It also fails to pick up subtle effects on the degree of gelatinisation with small changes to moisture and heating. These factors have all been found to affect the GI of a food with in vivo testing. For these reasons, in vitro testing is not internationally recognised as a valid means of assessing the impact of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels, and as such, these tests should not be used as an estimate of the GI on food labels. They may have some use in the development of new products before they are submitted for proper in vivo GI testing, however. GI testing standardsAUSTRALIA The Australian Standard: Glycemic Index of Foods is for use by food manufacturers, accreditation bodies, regulators, educational institutes, testing laboratories, and research organisations. The Standard sets out a recognised scientific method to determine the GI of foods. To be part of the GI Symbol Program, a food must have had its GI tested according to the methods described in the Australian Standard. Click HERE to buy a copy of the Australian Standard: Glycemic Index of Foods. For more information on the new GI Standard, contact Dr Alan Barclay.
INTERNATIONAL The Australian Standard: Glycemic Index of Foods has been submitted with modifications to the International Standards Organisation for possible adoption by member countries around the world including Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa the UK and the US. Recommended GI testing laboratoriesCurrently, few facilities around the world test GI values by following the standard international testing protocol. The Glycemic Index Foundation recommend the following: AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND The University of Sydney’s Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGIRS) NORTH AMERICA UK AND EUROPE
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