About Us
Not all brands of Konjac powder are the same. In recognition of this challenge, Kapiti Health Foods stands as a source of trusted food grade Konjac Glucomannan for the local market, as well as a way to share knowledge and demystify some of the medical research around its use in the western diet.
Our Articles
New Zealand’s Food Standard 1.2.7 was developed by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). This standard is enforced by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and explains the elements of a legitimate health claim. There are 2 kinds of health claims:
- General level health claims are claims that do not reference a serious disease
- High level health claims are claims that reference a serious disease
A health claim is defined as when there is a direct link between a food and a certain health effect, whether in labelling or advertising. There are more than 200 relationships between certain foods and their health effects that are already approved by the FSANZ. For example, an approved claim regarding dietary fibre states that dietary fibre contributes to regular laxation. Therefore, dietary fibre can help relieve constipation. A food can meet the standard for making such a claim if it is up to the right standard.
Other general health claims, although not high level health claims, can be established with supporting evidence. Establishing a health claim involves collating scientific evidence that shows a correlation between a food and a certain health effect. This evidence should also include high quality studies, such as double blind placebo-controlled randomised trials. These kinds of studies help to eliminate bias and therefore aid towards the credibility of a health claim.
We have done our best to include as many high quality studies as possible in our articles. However, more research trials regarding glucomannan and gut health need to be undertaken to cover gaps in knowledge. We acknowledge that in order to ensure credible health claims, we need more studies in these areas as well.