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Only 80 cals, and cheaper by far than the multi-calorie restaurant iced coffees!

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -While Swiss over 50 years are likely to grab a yoghurt for a between-meal snack, in Britain an iced coffee from one of the high-street café shops can contain the calorie content of the evening meal. Older Swiss look for freshness and taste when they snack, according to a survey released by Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP (Swiss federal agricultural research centre). Top of the list of preferred snacks is fresh fruit, followed by milk products, such as fresh or flavoured milk, and plain or flavoured yoghurt.

The survey targeted people over 50 years, the fastest-growing segment of the population. Life-expectancy has been increasing since the middle of the 20th century, according to the Swiss Federal Statistics Office SFSO.

The results should help food manufacturers to provide food better adapted to consumers’ tastes. These tastes change with age and over-50s’ taste buds and sense of smell diminish. More than half of the over-50s reported saying that flavoured Swiss yoghurts were too sweet (Ed. note: Swiss plain yogurts generally have 6 grams of sugar, from the lactose in the milk, while fruit-added ones vary from 8-14 grams. By comparison, British fruit yogurts are often sweeter, up to 18 grams).

This segment of the population requires food with less energy content but richer in micro-nutrients such as proteins, minerals and oligoelements, according to the report.

Iced coffee drinks with large doses of milk and sugar are becoming a popular summer drink and snack, thanks in part to chain restaurants and cafes, but a press release from the World Cancer Research Fund-UK (WCRF) warns that some iced coffee drinks, even without the whipped cream, have the calorie content of supper, or about 25 percent of the 2,000 calories recommended daily for a woman.

The organization looked at iced coffees sold at several popular restaurants in Britain, such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee, and Caffé Nero. WCRF says that a healthy diet and reduced body weight are the most likely ways to reduce the risk of cancer, after stopping smoking. According to WCRF, “there is convincing evidence that excess body fat is a cause of six types of cancer: postmenopausal breast cancer, bowel cancer, and cancers of the esophagus, pancreas, lining of the womb and kidney.”

Related, UK WCRF report: BBC, The Sun