Healthier noodles for diabetics in the works

Food technologists from the Food Innovation Research Centre preparing Hokkien prawn mee with two different types of noodles - wholegrain and wholegrain with beta-glucan - for a taste test. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Invited guests sampling the new noodle prototypes . ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

SINGAPORE - In the future, tucking into your favourite Hokkien prawn mee dish could be a healthier affair for diabetics, if yellow noodles made with beta-glucan becomes commercially available.

These noodles, along with rice noodles containing resistant starch, were introduced at a food tasting session at the Food Innovation & Resource Centre (FIRC) at Singapore Polytechnic on Monday (Sept 25).

Both prototypes have a lower glycemic index (GI), which means the carbohydrates they contain are broken down by the body into glucose at a slower rate.

This can behelpful for people with diabetes, as those with the condition have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal.

The two types of noodles were developed by the FIRC in collaboration with the Health Promotion Board (HPB).

The partnership between HPB and FIRC, which provides food enterprises with technical expertise in product and process development, will see the noodle prototypes tested in trials, which will be completed by the end of the year.

They will then work with food manufacturers to develop the prototypes into commercial products.

Senior Minister of State for Health Chee Hong Tat and Parliamentary Secretary for Health Amrin Amin, as well as several food manufacturers, sampled the noodles at the event.

More than 400,000 Singaporeans have diabetes, and one in three are likely to get the disease in their lifetime - an issue prompting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to talk about it in his National Day Rally in August this year.

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