The purpose of this article is to review the current situation with regard to sodium intake in the European Union, provide an update on the efforts being made to reduce the sodium content of food ...products in various industries via food reformulation and identify the factors motivating food reformulation.
A review was conducted of published literature as well as government and nongovernment organization websites and publications.
Food reformulation efforts have been made in the bread, meat, dairy and convenience foods industries. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of <5g/day of dietary salt intake (<2g/day sodium) provides an internationally accepted baseline for reformulation efforts. Most Europeans continue to consume salt above the recommended limit. About half of the EU member states have legislated change in the form of taxation, mandatory nutrition labeling and regulated nutrition/health claims.
These actions have encouraged sodium reductions in existing food products, but food safety, consumer acceptance, cost and complications arising from the use of sodium alternatives remain limitations to food reformulation.
Processed products elaborated using red meats are considered as unhealthy and rejections from health-conscientious consumers are increasing. In this regard, the aim of this study is to reformulate ...traditional lamb burgers replacing partially or totally the lamb meat, the lamb fat and the thickener (corn starch) by oils and flours from different seeds and nuts. Physical parameters, proximate analysis and consumer evaluation of the reformulated burgers were analyzed. By partially replacing lamb meat by defatted almond flour an increase in the protein concentration of burgers (p < 0.05), with similar energy values, was observed. Burgers samples produced using chia and poppy defatted flours resulted in low-calorie burgers with higher carbohydrate content (p < 0.05). The study suggest that the use of seeds and nuts oils and flours results in burgers with similar physical properties and consumer preference that the traditional burgers, but with improved health benefits that would encourage consumption. Consumer segmentation using the Food Neophobia Scale suggests that non-neophobic consumers were those that showed higher preference for most of the novel burgers. Novel healthier burgers would receiver further acceptance when aimed to this specific consumer segment.
•Oils from nuts can be used to increase the nutritional quality of burgers.•The replacement of lamb meat by almond flour results in high-protein burgers.•High amounts of defatted seed flours reduced consumer preference.•Non-neophobic consumers showed higher preference for most of the novel burgers.
In the last 30 years, most European countries have seen an unhealthy diet and life-style contribute to the overweight and obese population reaching epidemic proportions and to increasing incidence of ...non-communicable diseases. Scope and Approach: Since 2005, and with the support of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and DG Sanco, European government, researchers and industry have increased food reformulation activity, with salt the primary focus at the European Commission (EC) level. In this context, food reformulation can be defined as the modification of food composition by reducing certain ingredients, with the main goal of developing healthier food products. Key Findings and Conclusions: Some European legislation addresses food reformulation by setting maximum levels for certain food components or by defining health targets. Currently, there are ongoing initiatives in the EU, led by industries and governments and based on the most recent research, that include programs and strategies to reduce or replace salt, fat and sugar content to make foods more nutritionally balanced.
•High levels of salt, sugar and fat intake increase the incidence of non-communicable diseases.•Food reformulation is a concept used for reducing salt, sugar and fat content in food.•Food reformulation is an action taken by European government and food industry.•Some EU Member States developed nutrition action plans referring to salt, sugar and fat intake reduction.
Summary
This study evaluated the anticipated food and beverage product reformulation by industry before the Chilean Law of Food Labeling and Advertising (Law 20.606) was implemented in June 2016 ...requiring a front‐of‐package (FOP) warning label for products high in sodium, total sugars, saturated fats, and/or total energy. Fieldworkers photographed a purposive sample of packaged food and beverage products in February 2015 (n = 5421) and February 2016 (n = 5479) from six different supermarkets in Santiago, Chile. The same products collected in both years (n = 2086) from 17 food and beverage categories with added critical nutrients (nutrients of concern: sodium, total sugars, and saturated fats) were included in this longitudinal study. The average change in energy and critical nutrient content was estimated by category. The number of warning labels potentially avoided because of reformulation was determined. Between February 2015 and February 2016, no category experienced reductions >5% average change in energy or critical nutrient content; and some increased in critical nutrient content. Few products (<2%) would have avoided at least one warning label with reformulation. In a diverse sample of food and beverage products, there was minimal reformulation by industry in anticipation of the implementation of the 2016 Chilean Law of Food Labeling and Advertising.
In saturated markets, companies are continually launching new products. Food innovations particularly play a decisive role in this case. One new concept is food pairing, which signifies that the more ...aromatic compounds two foods have in common, the better they taste together. Food pairing offers an opportunity to develop innovative foods. However, some consumers are risk-averse or exhibit food neophobia. Studies on food neophobia indicate that innovative foods could face rejection. The factor that represents a marketing barrier is not only the sensory rejection of the products when tasting them but also the refusal to even try such innovative products. Therefore, the idea of whether consumers are generally open to food pairing is important to examine. Nonetheless, research into this issue is lacking thus far. The subject of how consumers judge usual, novel, and unusual pairing principles was investigated in this study. The topic of whether a target group for food pairing products exists and characterized the target group was also analysed. To achieve the objective of the study, an online survey of German consumers (n = 1,064) was conducted; these consumers judged the five flavour combinations of each category (usual, novel, unusual). The results revealed a four-cluster solution, with one-third of the sample expressing an openness to food pairing. The whole sample judged the usual combinations as suitable; by contrast, the novel and unusual combinations were deemed to be mainly appropriate for the food pairing cluster. The proposed measurement methodology for testing the openness of food pairing, which distinguishes between usual, novel, and unusual pairings, has demonstrated its usefulness. Those consumers who are open to food pairing have a high level of food involvement and a low degree of food neophobia. Furthermore, they show the highest organic food purchase frequency.
•One-third of consumers is open for food pairing.•Consumers who are open to food pairing have a high food involvement and low food neophobia.•Consumers who are open to food pairing have the highest frequency of purchasing organic food.
Salt reduction initiatives around the world Webster, Jacqueline L; Dunford, Elizabeth K; Hawkes, Corinna ...
Journal of hypertension,
06/2011, Volume:
29, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
To provide an overview of national salt reduction initiatives around the world, describe core characteristics and develop a framework for future strategy development.
National strategies were ...identified from existing reviews and from searches of the literature and relevant websites. Standardized information was extracted about governance and strategy development, baseline assessments and monitoring and implementation.
Thirty-two country salt reduction initiatives were identified. The majority of activity was in Europe (19 countries). Most countries (27) had maximum population salt intake targets, ranging from 5 to 8 g/person per day. Twenty-six of the 32 strategies were led by government, five by nongovernment organizations and one by industry. Twenty-eight countries had some baseline data on salt consumption and 18 had data on sodium levels in foods. Twenty-eight countries were working with the food industry to reduce salt in foods, 10 had front-of-pack labelling schemes and 28 had consumer awareness or behaviour change programs. Five countries had demonstrated an impact, either on population salt consumption, salt levels in foods or consumer awareness. These strategies were led by government and were multifaceted including food reformulation, consumer awareness initiatives and labelling actions.
This is the first review to concisely summarize the most important elements of the many existing salt reduction programmes and highlight the characteristics most likely to be important to programme efficacy. For most countries, implementing a national salt reduction programme is likely to be one of simplest and most cost-effective ways of improving public health.
Summary
Food reformulation aimed at improving the nutritional properties of food products has long been viewed as a promising public health strategy to tackle poor nutrition and obesity. This paper ...presents a review of the empirical evidence (i.e., modelling studies were excluded) on the impact of food reformulation on food choices, nutrient intakes and health status, based on a systematic search of Medline, Embase, Global Health and sources of grey literature. Fifty‐nine studies (in 35 papers) were included in the review. Most studies examined food choices (n = 27) and dietary intakes (n = 26). The nutrients most frequently studied were sodium (n = 32) and trans fatty acids (TFA, n = 13). Reformulated products were generally accepted and purchased by consumers, which led to improved nutrient intakes in 73% of studies. We also conducted two meta‐analyses showing, respectively, a −0.57 g/day (95%CI, −0.89 to −0.25) reduction in salt intake and an effect size for TFA intake reduction of −1.2 (95% CI, −1.79 to −0.61). Only six studies examined effects on health outcomes, with studies on TFA reformulation showing overall improvement in cardiovascular risk factors. For other nutrients, it remains unclear whether observed improvements in food choices or nutrient intakes may have led to an improvement in health outcomes.
Dietary energy density is thought to be a contributor to obesity, but the extent to which different magnitudes and types of reductions to food energy density decreases daily energy intake is unclear. ...The primary objective was to systematically review and meta-analyse experimental studies that have examined the effect that manipulating energy density of food has on total daily energy intake. Secondary objectives were to examine moderators of the effect that altering energy density has on daily energy intake and effects on body weight.
A systematic review and multi-level meta-analysis of studies on human participants that used an experimental design to manipulate the energy density of foods served and measured energy intake for a minimum of 1 day.
Thirty-one eligible studies sampling both children (n = 4) and adults (n = 27) contributed 90 effects comparing the effect of higher vs. lower energy density of served food on daily energy intake to the primary meta-analysis. Lower energy density of food was associated with a large decrease in daily energy intake (SMD = - 1.002 95% CI: - 0.745 to - 1.266). Findings were consistent across studies that did vs. did not manipulate macronutrient content to vary energy density. The relation between decreasing energy density and daily energy intake tended to be strong and linear, whereby compensation for decreases to energy density of foods (i.e. by eating more at other meals) was minimal. Meta-analysis of (n = 5) studies indicated that serving lower energy dense food tended to be associated with greater weight loss than serving higher energy dense food, but this difference was not significant (- 0.7 kg difference in weight change, 95% CIs: - 1.34, 0.04).
Decreasing the energy density of food can substantially reduce daily energy intake and may therefore be an effective public health approach to reducing population level energy intake.
Registered on PROSPERO ( CRD42020223973 ).
Portion sizes of many foods have increased over time. However, the size of effect that reducing food portion sizes has on daily energy intake and body weight is less clear. We used a systematic ...review methodology to identify eligible articles that used an experimental design to manipulate portion size served to human participants and measured energy intake for a minimum of 1 d. Searches were conducted in September 2020 and again in October 2021. Fourteen eligible studies contributing eighty-five effects were included in the primary meta-analysis. There was a moderate-to-large reduction in daily energy intake when comparing smaller v. larger portions (Standardised Mean Difference (SMD) = –0·709 (95 % CI: –0·956, –0·461), approximately 235 kcal (983·24 kJ)). Larger reductions to portion size resulted in larger decreases in daily energy intake. There was evidence of a curvilinear relationship between portion size and daily energy intake; reductions to daily energy intake were markedly smaller when reducing portion size from very large portions. In a subset of studies that measured body weight (four studies contributing five comparisons), being served smaller v. larger portions was associated with less weight gain (0·58 kg). Reducing food portion sizes may be an effective population-level strategy to prevent weight gain.
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•the ideal sodium content for Brazilian consumers was 395 mg Na/100 g of bread.•The percentual minimum of acceptable Na reducing in bread was 42% (267 mg Na/100 g)•The percentual ...minimum of sodium reduced not to be rejected was 85% (58 mg Na)•This methodology can also be applied to breads as food matrix.•The results subsidize products reformulation without compromising consumer acceptability.•The results establish a safe region in bakery products sodium reduction reformulations.
Global public policies have advocated strategies for reducing sodium consumption due to the high incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) worldwide. The objectives of this study were to identify the bread loaves sodium content considered as ideal by the consumers and determine hedonic thresholds. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 114 consumers evaluated the ideal sodium content in bread loaves by the Just About Right (JAR) test, (first sensorial stage) studying four decreased levels of sodium (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%) from the mean values observed from bread in 11 food composition tables from various regions of the world, and Brazil. This ideal sodium content was used as the control in pairwise acceptance tests with five other reduced-sodium samples of bread loaves (10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 100% of reduction from the control), and hedonic threshold tests were performed with 156 consumers (a second stage sensorial test of five sessions). The data from the JAR were analyzed by a regression analysis graph and correlated with the consumption of salt and family income range by a Principal Component Analysis with a 5% significance level. In the Hedonic Threshold tests, each paired session was analyzed by Student's t-test (test t), and an adjusted regression graph was built. The Compromised Acceptance Threshold (CAT) was performed, where the calculated t corresponded to the tabulated t. In the Hedonic Rejection Threshold (HRT), the hedonic scale five (“indifferent” term) was considered. The average sodium content of bread marketed in different regions of the world was 457 mg Na/100 g of bread, and the ideal sodium content observed was 395 mg Na/100 g of bread. The gender, age and income family rates as well as attitudes and knowledge regarding the salt consumption of the trial consumers were not directly related to the evaluations of the bread loaves in the JAR test, according to the Principal Components Analysis at p ≤ 0.05. From this ideal content, a 42% reduction was possible according to the CAT test (267 mg Na/100 g of bread), and more reductions were acceptable until an 85% (to 58 mg Na/100 g of bread) reduction, as the samples began to be rejected according to HRT test. These findings demonstrated that this methodology can be applied to sodium reduction product formulations and bread as a food matrix. With this kind of methodology, it is possible to provide to the bakery industry a methodology to know a safe region to work on food reformulations and subsidize the formulation of new products without compromising consumer acceptability, in addition to meeting the demand for safer food.
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