Journal
NUTRIENTS
Volume 10, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/nu10070832
Keywords
nutritional quality; nutrition claims; nutrient profiling; Canada; foods and beverages; food label
Categories
Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategic Operating Grant [201103SOK-118150]
- University of Toronto
- CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship [GSD-152299]
- Department of Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Fellowship
- CIHR Post-Doctoral Fellowship [MFE-140953]
- CIHR Strategic Training Grant in Population Intervention for Chronic Disease Prevention [TGF-53893]
- CIHR Collaborative Training Program in Public Health Policy
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Nutrient content claims, health claims, and front-of-pack symbols (henceforth referred to as nutrition claims in the present study) are often found on food labels in Canada. However, it is currently unknown whether foods and beverages (F&Bs) carrying nutrition claims have a more favourable nutritional profile than those without such claims. This study examined differences in the global nutritional quality, as determined by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (FSANZ-NPSC), of Canadian F&B bearing nutrition claims as compared to those without, as well as in their nutritional composition. Data (n = 15,184) was obtained from the University of Toronto 2013 Food Label Information Program. Forty-two percent of F&Bs carrying nutrition claims (n = 2930/6990) were found to be ineligible to carry claims based on the FSANZ-NPSC, in comparison to 66% of F&Bs without (n = 5401/8194, p < 0.001). Sugars and sweets, and miscellaneous products were the food categories with larger proportions of foods carrying nutrition claims not meeting the FSANZ-NPSC eligibility criteria. F&Bs with nutrition claims had fewer calories, less saturated fat, sodium, and sugar, and higher content of protein and fibre than comparable products without nutrition claims (p < 0.05 in all cases). In conclusion, nearly half of F&Bs carrying nutrition claims in Canada did not meet the FSANZ-NPSC threshold, although Canadian products carrying nutrition claims have an overall healthier profile than their counterparts without such claims.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available