In support of World Diabetes day on 14 November, Morgan’s
Candy Floss worked together with chef Lesley Jacob from the Food and Beverage
Institute and Dr Arnold van Dyk to create a suitable substitute that would
enable children and adults with diabetes to taste and enjoy sugar-free candy
floss without having to worry about blood-sugar spikes or side-effects.
The product
Morgan’s Sugar-free candy floss is made with a
sugar-alcohol that is widely considered the safest sugar substitute for
diabetics. Upon testing the product we found that even a half an hour after the
subject has consumed the product the blood-sugar levels remain at a very safe,
stable range. We would love to have it officially clinically tested in 2020, to
ensure the product is a tested diabetic friendly product. The sugar-alcohol
spins and tastes like real candy floss but, like candy floss, has a limited
shelf life of 1 to 2 weeks depending on the conditions. It is sold in a 500ml
transparent tub, which ensures it is protected from contamination, is perfect
for retail, and is the preferred safe portion.
World Diabetes Day 2019
Last year, we sold over 500 units of sugar-free candy floss
to everyone from corporates to hospitals and the everyday person. Demand for it
quickly spread nationwide when a parent posted a picture of it on the facebook
site for children with diabetes called, ‘Powered by Insulin’. Unfortunately, we
had only planned and budgeted to sell these units in the month of November to
raise money and awareness for DSA (Diabetes South Africa). We had tremendous
success with it and are thinking about expanding a branch exclusively for
Morgan’s Sugar-free Candy floss.
Summary
Morgan’s candy floss is owned and run by Morgan Pelser. A
grade 11 student in Cambridge. Both the Normal and the Sugar-Free candy floss
have registered barcodes.
14 November of each year marks the celebration of World Diabetes Day. Established in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation with support from WHO in response to growing concerns about the health and economic threat posed by diabetes, World Diabetes Day became an official UN day in 2006. The World Diabetes Day 2018 campaign promotes universal health coverage for affordable and equitable access to diabetes management, including improving the knowledge and capacities of people with diabetes and their families to take charge of their own care, to reduce economic hardship in households which have few strategies for coping with the economic burden of diabetes.
Diabetes – Key facts
The number of people with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
The global prevalence of diabetes* among adults over 18 years of age has risen from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014 (1).
Diabetes prevalence has been rising more rapidly in middle- and low-income countries.
Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
In 2016, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Another 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose in 2012**.
Almost half of all deaths attributable to high blood glucose occur before the age of 70 years. WHO estimates that diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2016.
Healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment for complications.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes
is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce
enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycaemia, or raised
blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to
serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood
vessels.
In
2014, 8.5% of adults aged 18 years and older had diabetes. In 2016, diabetes
was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths and in 2012 high blood glucose was
the cause of another 2.2 million deaths.
Type 1 diabetes
Type
1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent, juvenile or childhood-onset)
is characterized by deficient insulin production and requires daily
administration of insulin. The cause of type 1 diabetes is not known and it is
not preventable with current knowledge.
Symptoms
include excessive excretion of urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant
hunger, weight loss, vision changes, and fatigue. These symptoms may occur
suddenly.
Type 2 diabetes
Type
2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent, or adult-onset) results from
the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises the majority
of people with diabetes around the world, and is largely the result of excess
body weight and physical inactivity.
Symptoms
may be similar to those of type 1 diabetes, but are often less marked. As a
result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, once
complications have already arisen.
Until
recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults but it is now also
occurring increasingly frequently in children.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational
diabetes is hyperglycaemia with blood glucose values above normal but below
those diagnostic of diabetes, occurring during pregnancy.
Women
with gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of complications during
pregnancy and at delivery. They and their children are also at increased risk
of type 2 diabetes in the future.
Gestational
diabetes is diagnosed through prenatal screening, rather than through reported
symptoms.
Impaired glucose tolerance and impaired
fasting glycaemia
Impaired
glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG) are intermediate
conditions in the transition between normality and diabetes. People with IGT or
IFG are at high risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes, although this is not
inevitable.
What are common
consequences of diabetes?
Over
time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
Adults with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk of heart attacks and strokes (1).
Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection and eventual need for limb amputation.
Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. 2.6% of global blindness can be attributed to diabetes (2).
Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure (3).
How can the burden of
diabetes be reduced?
Prevention
Simple
lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing or delaying
the onset of type 2 diabetes. To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its
complications, people should:
achieve and maintain healthy body weight;
be physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days. More activity is required for weight control;
eat a healthy diet, avoiding sugar and saturated fats intake; and
avoid tobacco use – smoking increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Diagnosis and treatment
Early
diagnosis can be accomplished through relatively inexpensive testing of blood
sugar.
Treatment
of diabetes involves diet and physical activity along with lowering blood
glucose and the levels of other known risk factors that damage blood vessels.
Tobacco use cessation is also important to avoid complications.
Interventions
that are both cost-saving and feasible in developing countries include:
blood glucose control, particularly in type 1 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes require insulin, people with type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medication, but may also require insulin;
blood pressure control; and
foot care.
Other
cost saving interventions include:
screening and treatment for retinopathy (which causes blindness)
blood lipid control (to regulate cholesterol levels)
screening for early signs of diabetes-related kidney disease and treatment.
WHO response
WHO
aims to stimulate and support the adoption of effective measures for the
surveillance, prevention and control of diabetes and its complications,
particularly in low and middle-income countries. To this end, WHO:
provides scientific guidelines for the prevention of major noncommunicable diseases including diabetes;
develops norms and standards for diabetes diagnosis and care;
builds awareness on the global epidemic of diabetes, marking World Diabetes Day (14 November); and
conducts surveillance of diabetes and its risk factors.
The WHO “Global report on diabetes” provides
an overview of the diabetes burden, the interventions available to prevent and
manage diabetes, and recommendations for governments, individuals, the civil
society and the private sector.
The
WHO “Global strategy
on diet, physical activity and health” complements WHO’s
diabetes work by focusing on population-wide approaches to promote healthy diet
and regular physical activity, thereby reducing the growing global problem of
overweight people and obesity.
* Defined
as fasting blood glucose equal to or higher than 7 mmol/L, or on medication for
raised blood glucose, or with a history of diagnosis of diabetes.
** High
blood glucose is defined as a distribution of fasting plasma glucose in a
population that is higher than the theoretical distribution that would minimize
risks to health (derived from epidemiological studies). High blood glucose is a
statistical concept, not a clinical or diagnostic category.
