bmiSMART™ Approves of Giving Consumers More Information Through New Food and Beverage Labels

SALT LAKE CITY, April 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- bmiSMART Managing Director David Mastroianni today approved of the British Royal Society for Public Health's recent recommendation to add activity icons to calorie counts on labels. While most food and beverage labels require calories, they do not help consumers equate those calories into their exercise equivalents. Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the British Royal Society, suggests an "Activity Label" could be the answer.

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Activity labels would inform the public of how many minutes of walking or running it would take to burn the number of calories listed the product label. When the British Royal Society surveyed individuals, 53 percent of respondents said seeing this activity equivalent of calories would encourage them to "positively change their behavior" by controlling their portions, selecting different foods and exercising more.[1]

This movement by England's public health department is garnering attention in American news as well. Last week, National Public Health Week (April 4-10, 2016), NBC reported on Cramer's label recommendation in the April 6 "War on Weight" segment: "Most people have no idea how much work it takes to work off some of America's favorite snacks and beverages." For instance, it takes 83 minutes of walking or 43 minutes of running to burn off two slices of pizza. Cramer's suggestion? "What we want to do is prompt people to think differently."[2]

And different thinking is definitely needed. Most Americans regularly eat more calories then they expend. This chronic imbalance between food consumption and expenditure has resulted in more than 160 million Americans falling in the overweight or clinically obese range, making America the world leader in "fat adult populations."

Mr. Mastroianni sees Britain's activity icons as part of a larger trend—mindful weight wellness. "Consumers are increasingly concerned about what they're eating and drinking," Mastroianni says, "and they value more information on food and beverage labels. Informing individuals gives them pause—a pause that can lead to a more mindful approach to healthy weight loss and lasting weight management."

Mindfulness is the foundation of the bmiSMART Weight Wellness philosophy. bmiSMART products are meant to be taken before or following a meal, depending upon an individual's food choices in each "meal moment." By pausing to consider what kind of foods or beverages are being consumed, and then taking the appropriate bmiSMART product, individuals in clinical studies lost up to four times more weight than control group subjects.[3] Mastroianni explains that the system functions as a set of weight loss tools, with each tool helping to meet a unique need.

bmiSMART I-Remove: If a meal contains fatty foods, taking bmiSMART I-Remove after the meal supplies Litramine™, which binds to and removes fat from the body, limiting its digestion.

bmiSMART I-Block: If a meal contains heavy carbohydrates, or if the person chooses to eat a sugary dessert, I-Block contains a proprietary ingredient Tanitol™ that blocks the absorption of calories from carbohydrates or sugars.

bmiSMART I-Control: The bmiSMART line even helps curb overeating in the first place by reducing appetite through a proprietary ingredient Redusure™. Taken 30 minutes before a meal with a full glass of water, I-Control's soluble fiber complex swells, leaving people with a comfortably full feeling and greater ability to control portion sizes and in-between meal snacking.

As a system, the bmiSMART line aligns with the trend towards increased awareness and provides a way to enjoy food moments without incurring the health risks and lifestyle limitations that can accompany weight gain and obesity.

For more information contact:  
Sharon Benedict 
Director Marketing Communications 
InQpharm North America 
Email 
801.824.8278

[1]  www.rsph.org.uk

[2]  NBC Nightly News, April 6, 2016

[3] Grube B., et al. (2015). IQP-VV-102, a Novel Proprietary Composition for Weight Reduction: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial for Evaluation of Efficacy and Safety. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/413075

SOURCE bmiSMART