Liverpool scientist gets approval for food patent

LIVERPOOL - Dhyaneshwar (Danny) B. Chawan, Ph.D., a 30-year, veteran food-industry scientist has nine patents to his credit, but his latest may be the most timely and promising yet.

On Jan. 5, Chawan received patent approval from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a technology

that processes cereal-grain-based foods, which results in the human body digesting them at a slower rate, thus decreasing blood sugar, carbohydrate, and caloric intake by up to 40 percent. The process cuts the absorption of processed complex carbohydrates in snack foods, breads, pastas, and other foods.

The invention, which Chawan has worked on for three years, is aimed at helping people who have type-2 diabetes, are on diets requiring them to monitor and limit strictly their sugar intake, or just want to take some pounds off, says Chawan, owner and president of Srim Enterprises, a food consulting and research firm he runs from his Liverpool home.

Type-2 diabetes, also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes, may account for about 90 percent of the roughly 20 million cases of diabetes in the United States. It's closely associated with being obese or overweight, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 31 percent of U.S. adults are obese and another 33 percent are overweight, according to the CDC. A CDC study publ