IJCCR 2013, Vol.3, No.1, 1-6 http://ijccr.sophiapublisher.com 1 Research Report Open Access Designing and Developing a RTS Convenience Snack for Diabetics Ruby Balchandani 1 , Anil S Nandane 1 , Saswata Biswas 2 1. Dept. of Food Processing Technology, A.D. Patel Institute of Technology, New VV Nagar Anand Gujarat 388121 2. Institute of Rural Management, Anand Gujarat Corresponding author email: bhanderi@nddb.coop International Journal of Clinical Case Reports 2013, Vol.3, No.1 doi: 10.5376/ijccr.2013.03.0001 Received: 14 Dec., 2012 Accepted: 17 Dec., 2012 Published: 18 Dec., 2012 Copyright: © 2013 Balchandani R., et al. This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article as: Balchandani et al., 2013, Designing and Developing a RTS Convenience Snack for Diabetics, International Journal of Clinical Case Reports, Vol.3, No.1 1-6 (doi: 10.5376/ijccr.2013.03.0001) Abstract India has the dubious distinction of being home to one in five persons with diabetes worldwide. The WHO predicts that the number of people with diabetes is to double in the next couple of decades and the major brunt will be borne by developing countries (including India). The surveys were conducted on diabetes, for doctors, and the meal and calorie requirements for diabetics were found. A pre-project survey of diabetic patients and doctors was carried out and the collected data was analysed using differential and inferential statistical analysis. Based on this, a mid-day snack was formulated containing components across various food groups while simultaneously considering their glycemic index. The subjects’ (diabetic patient) fasting blood sugar (FBS), pre prandial blood sugar (PE) before evening snack and post prandial blood sugar (PP2BS) were checked with their present regular diet as well as after administering formulated snack. There was a significant difference between the PP2BS levels, almost a 30 mg/dl positive shift when the subjects consumed their own snack which means that the formulated snack lowered their blood sugar levels to a significant extent, having a satiety of 2 hours and contributing significantly in nutrition based on a 2 000 kcal diet. Keywords Diabetes; Blood glucose level; RTS Convenience snack; Glycemic index; Nutritional composition Introduction According to American Association of Diabetes Educators (http://www.aadenet.org) nearly 200 million people suffer from this killer disease all over the world. 60 new cases are diagnosed every 5 mins, about 30 people die of the consequences of diabetes every day & the numbers are on a continuous rise. Diet therapy is an essential component of successful diabetes management (Jenkins et al., 1978; Pendsey, 2002). Diabetics need to break their per day calorie consumption in small parts for better maintenance of their blood glucose level so that it doesn’t reach a peak or a valley but stays at a safe plateau level. The three big meals i.e. breakfast (Clark et al., 2006), lunch & dinner generally comprise of homemade, the calorie content not going overboard according to the doctor’s instruction. So, these major meals disturbing the blood glucose level is ruled out, per se (Simpson et al., 1981). India generally ‘snacks’ translate to traditional ‘oily samosas, bhajiyas, farsan, vada, bhelpuri etc.’, which are a powerhouse of calories. The general notion is that something which is not sweet, is safe for consumption. In India, very few people are diet conscious, and despite their desire to remain healthy, do not eat in ‘calorie-limits’. Just a piece of snack disturbs the otherwise well maintained blood-glucose level, leading to severe consequences in future. 1 Results and Analysis 1.1 Descriptive Statistical Analysis of the Preliminary Survey Data On the basis of literature and doctors’ survey, it can be recommended that a diabetic should consume 5~6 meals in a day including 3 major and 2~3 minor meals. The total calorie content of major meal should be around 600 kcal and for minor meal about 150~200 kcal (for individuals with moderate work). The time gap between subsequent meals should be around 3 hours. According to the analysed data all 40 subjects consumed 3 major meals in a day i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner, which is appropriate as per the medical guidelines. Most subjects i.e. 37 consumed only 1 minor meal in a day, 2 subjects consumed 2 minor meals whereas 1 subject didn’t consume any minor meal at all. This approach is not appropriate as per