Barley Glucans Added to FDA Oat-Heart Claim

Barley Glucans Added to FDA Oat-Heart Claim

WASHINGTON—Based on the totality of scientific evidence, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has amended the existing oat beta-glucan heart health claim to allow certain barley products, whole grain barley and certain dry milled barley products as appropriate sources of beta-glucans eligible to claim they could reduce the risk of heart disease. The interim final rule, effective Dec. 23, 2005, stipulates barley-containing foods with labels bearing the health claim must provide at least 0.75 g of soluble fiber per serving.

In response to a petition filed by Spokane, Wash.-based National Barley Foods Council (NBFC), FDA (www.fda.gov) reviewed 11 human clinical trials for review, deeming five of these sufficient for consideration of proposed amendment. The studies showed consuming whole-grain barley or dry-milled barley products in place of wheat and rice ingredients for four to five weeks significantly lowered serum total and LDL-cholesterol levels. Based on this review, FDA concluded the serum-cholesterol-lowering efficacy of barley’s beta-glucan and of oat’s beta-glucan are comparable, and “like oat beta-glucan, 3 g/d of barley beta-glucan is a sufficient daily dietary intake to achieve a reduction in serum total and LDL cholesterol.”

Under the claim, eligible barley sources of beta-glucan soluble fiber include dehulled and hulless whole-grain barley and certain dry-milled barley products, such as bran, flakes, grits, pearl, flour, meal and sieved barley meal. However, FDA excluded wet-milled barley products after determining this process may cause changes to the grain other than particle size and may change the physiochemical properties of the fiber.

“Barley has a distinct advantage over some other grains in that betaglucan soluble fiber is found throughout the entire barley kernel,” said Mary Sullivan, executive administrator for NBFC (www.barleyfoods.org). “In some other grains, the fiber is only found in the outer bran layer; so if these grains are processed, the fiber can be easily lost.”

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