The organization - that recently changed its name to give it a more international sounding outlook - said on Wednesday that it had come up with several possible definitions for available (net) carbohydrates, glycemic carbohydrates, and glycemic response. It is now giving the public and members of the food industry a chance to comment on these proposals.
It said that feedback will help the AACC's glycemic task force - which includes representatives from academia, industry and government - create measurable definitions that will enable determination of available and glycemic carbohydrate in grams per serving (or per 100g) of food. This should help consumers better understand how a given food will affect blood sugar levels.
Currently, different approaches are used around the world, with some countries using "glycemic index." In the US, for example, the amount of high glycemic (or net) carbohydrate is often calculated by subtracting low glycemic carbohydrate from total carbohydrate and displayed on food packages outside the nutrition facts panel.
These different ways of doing business means that inconsistencies occur with different foods, manufacturers, and regions because there is no generally accepted definition.
The definitions were put forward by the members of a scientific review process and input from a recent symposium on carbohydrate quality.
The proposed definitions are the following: (1)Available (net) carbohydrate can be absorbed as monosaccharides and metabolized by the body; (2) Glycemic carbohydrate, expressed as glycemic glucose equivalents, is the portion of available carbohydrate that elicits a blood glucose response; (3) Glycemic response is the change in blood glucose concentration induced by ingested food.
Anybody who wants to comment should go to the organization's website.
The AACC decided in October last year that the glycemic index needed demystifying and therefore formed a committee to try and bring some clarity to the question.
"We need to take a scientific approach and also decide what is feasible," said Julie Jones.
She explained that one of the problems with describing the glycemic index is that it can change depending on which foods are eaten together.
"If I eat lentils at lunch - their glycemic number will change depending on what I eat for dinner," she said.
She added that different types of the same food can have different glycemic numbers.
"For example, Irish oatmeal, generally eaten in the UK, has a lower glycemic number than a traditional oatmeal that tends to be eaten in the US," she said.