7-3

D. MEYER, Sensus Operations, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Oostelijke Havendijk 15, 4604 RA Roosendaal, Netherlands

Dietary fiber (DF) was first a hypothesis then later described, as the remnants of plant foods not digested in the human small intestine. Some people would prefer that DF remain associated or obtained solely from the edible parts of plants (e.g., fruits, vegetables, and grains). Is there a difference between the DF existing as the complete complex-matrix of a plant compared to it being used as an individual DF food ingredient (i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, b-glucan, psyllium, inulin, etc.)? New carbohydrates are being produced to have the chemical and physical properties of DF in addition to being not digested. These include polydextrose, Fibersol-2, and resistant starch. Today there is great interest in the broad array of soluble oligosaccharides with degree-of-polymerization (DP) values of 3 and greater. These nondigestible oligosaccharides are promoted for their ability to serve as energy sources for intestinal bacteria. Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) is now a well recognized example of an oligosaccharide, which serves as an energy source for intestinal Bifidobacterium species. This oligosaccharide is considered as a source of DF in Japan under the Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) labeling system, but not in the United States. In Europe the fiber status of FOS and inulin differs among various countries, but in the majority these components are DF for labeling purposes. Other nonconventional sources of DF considered under the FOSHU labeling system include chitin, chitosan, glucomannan, lactulose, isomaltooligosaccharide (mixture of isomaltriose, panose, isomaltose, maltose, and glucose), theanderose, gentiooligosaccharides (mixture of b-glucobiose and b-glucotriose), raffinose and stachyose. There are many sources of carbohydrates, which are nondigestible in the human small intestine, but they have varying acceptance among different countries as sources of DF. The acceptance of these many different nondigestible carbohydrates, currently described as nonconventional sources of DF, requires additional scientific and regulatory discussion.