Hospitals, Medical Distributors Largely Overlook New FDA Sugar Recommendations

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In November 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that people consume no more than 50 grams of sugar per day. This marked the first time the FDA adopted a position on sugar intake, and many experts acknowledge the guidance is long overdue given the growing number of health issues linked to high sugar consumption.

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A category of medical nutrition that is consistently overlooked in the discussion about reducing sugar consumption are nutritional shakes – which include recognizable products like Boost^® and Ensure^®. These beverages are often recommended to people fighting illness to help them maintain weight, or to older adults who need added calories and protein to overcome malnutrition.

While doctors and dietitians often recommend patients these products, many people do not realize these drinks are loaded with added sugar or corn syrup as a primary source of calories. Specifically:

• A single 8-ounce serving of Ensure Complete contains 20-22 grams of sugar, which is almost half of the FDA recommended limit for daily sugar intake.
• A person who uses Ensure Complete as sole source nutrition with a 1,500 calorie per day diet would consume about 95g of total sugar every day – nearly twice the FDA recommendation.
• A single 8-ounce serving of Boost Original contains 20 grams of sugar, with corn syrup and sugar (sucrose) as the two primary ingredients, other than water. In total, 33% of the calories in Boost Original come from sugar.
• As a comparison, an 8-ounce can of Coca-Cola® contains 26 grams of sugar.

This is a primary reason why the American Society of Geriatricians in 2014 labeled the leading nutrition shake brands as "liquid candy bars", summarizing these products are too high in sugar, provide modest amounts of protein, and are essentially 'junk food' even if they have added vitamins.

Trovita Health Science – the makers of ENU^® complete nutritional shakes – has taken on the mission of changing the paradigm of nutritional health by creating unique products that deliver real, ready-to-drink nutrition with significantly lower sugar levels and no use of corn syrup, sucrose or artificial sweeteners.

Only 13% of ENU's total calories come from sugar sources, such as tapioca and rice, rather than corn syrup and sucrose. And to promote good muscle health, ENU offers nearly triple the amount of protein provided in the leading nutrition shakes. Unlike with Ensure Complete, a patient using ENU as sole source nutrition to meet a 1,500 calorie per day diet would consume just 49g of sugar – a level that is compliant with the new FDA recommendation.

Despite growing dissatisfaction with the quality of the leading nutrition formulas, many hospitals and medical distributors in the U.S. are not allowing patients access to newer nutrition products, like ENU, that offer lower sugar content. Hospital systems remain status quo by primarily offering higher sugar nutrition shakes as a result of contracts that are in place with the large manufacturers.

Will Brown, CEO of Trovita Health Science noted, "Healthcare professionals and patients should demand higher quality alternatives to the complete nutrition shakes and enteral feeding formulas that are most often used today."

Brown continued, "We believe that more hospital purchasing groups and medical distributors will recognize ENU's differentiated offering for patients and decide to make ENU more widely available. How long will hospitals and distributors be able to ignore the FDA's concern with sugar before patients and family members begin to question the overall quality of care? There have been significant advancements in medical treatments over the past 20 years, but some areas of medical nutrition have not kept pace. Today Trovita's products give hospitals and clinics the opportunity to improve patients' nutritional health."

In addition to selling directly to hospitals, medical distributors, pharmacies and clinics, ENU Nutritional Shakes are available for direct purchase by consumers at DrinkENU.com. New subscription plans are now available, along with 1 to 2 day home delivery options for most of the United States.

About Trovita Health Science

Trovita Health Science is an emerging specialty health and nutrition company, dedicated to developing and commercializing products that address unmet needs in clinical and sports nutrition. Trovita is recognized for innovation in the adult and sports nutrition categories, and was named a Division Winner in the 2014 Minnesota Cup, while ENU was also selected as the 2014 CPG Editor's Choice Award Winner for the best new innovation in weight management products. ENU is certified by Informed-Choice and has been verified through laboratory testing as being free of all banned substances. ENU is trusted for use in sport.

TROVITA HEALTH SCIENCE
William Brown, CEO
Email:  [email protected]
Phone:  855-266-6733

Related Links: http://www.DrinkENU.com 
http://www.TrovitaHealth.com

SOURCE Trovita Health Science

Related Links

www.trovitahealth.com