Reference

Definition

Trowell et al., 1976

Dietary fibre consists of the plant polysaccharides and lignin which are resistant to hydrolysis by digestive enzymes of man.

Health and Welfare Canada, 1985

Dietary fibre is the endogenous components of plant material in the diet which are resistant to digestion by enzymes produced by humans. They are predominantly non-starch polysaccharides and lignin and may include, in addition, associated substances.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), 1987

Dietary fiber is the material isolated by AOAC method 985.29 (see Table 2).

Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO), 1987

Dietary fiber is the endogenous components of plant materials in the diet which are resistant to digestion by enzymes produced by humans.

Health Canada, 1988

A novel fibre source is a food that was manufactured to be a source of dietary fibre, and that (1) had not traditionally been used for human consumption to any significant extent, or (2) had been chemically processed (e.g., oxidized) or physically processed (e.g., finely ground) so as to modify the properties of the fibre, or (3) had been highly concentrated from its plant source.

Anonymous, 1989 (Germany)

Dietary fiber is substances of plant origin, that cannot-be broken down to resorbable components by the body's own enzymes in the small intestine. Included are essentially soluble and insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (cellulose, pectin, hydrocolloids) and lignin and resistant starch. Substances like some sugar substitutes, organic acids, chitin and so on, which either are not or are incompletely absorbed in the small intestine, are not included.

Anonymous, 1992 (Belgium)

Dietary fiber is the components of the foods that are normally not broken down by the body's own enzymes of humans.

Anonymous, 1993 (Italy)

Dietary fiber is the edible substance of vegetable origin which normally is not hydrolyzed by the enzymes secreted by the human digestive system.

FAO/WHO, 1995 (Codex Alimentarius Commission)

Dietary fibre is the edible plant or animal material not hydrolysed by the endogenous enzymes of the human digestive tract as determined by the agreed upon method. (The Codex also approved AOAC methods 985.29 and 991.43 [see Table 2]).