scholarly journals Determining the balance between nutrition and sustainability of 173 food products using stepwise optimisation

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roline Broekema ◽  
Hans Blonk
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Food Composition ◽  
Nutritional Properties ◽  
Dietary Reference Values ◽  
Nutrition Balance ◽  
Grain Products

AbstractIntroductionThe balance between nutrition and environmental impact is key for determining whether a product is future-proof. This balance refers to the Sustainability Nutrition Balance (SNB). A product that provides nutrients which improve the quality of the current diet with a low sustainability impact has a better SNB-score than a product that contains nutrients that we tend to consume in excess (like salt or saturated fat) and/ or with a high sustainability impact. For 173 food products, we calculated the SNB-score. These scores are valuable to guide product development in the direction of future healthy and sustainable diets.Materials and methodsBased on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Food Consumption Database 173 products were selected, making up a European average diet. EFSA Food Composition Database was used to gather the nutritional properties of the products, like energy, dietary fibre, vitamin D, magnesium. About 60 nutritional properties were considered. The environmental impact of the products was calculated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. EFSA's Dietary Reference Values for Nutrients and Tolerable Upper Intake Values for Vitamins and Minerals were consulted to determine the nutritional constraints for a healthy diet.To analyse the SNB-score the amount of a product in the diet is varied in steps. At every step the diet is optimised for nutritional constraints, using quadratic programming. This allows identification of trends in terms of the environmental impact of the diet on indicators like climate change and land use. An increase of impact with an increase in amount of product leads to a higher SNB-score. This indicates that the group of products which is nutritionally equivalent to the product of focus is a more sustainable alternative. The lower the SNB-score, the more future-proof a product is in terms of sustainability and nutrition.Results and discussionThis analysis has led to a palette of SNB-scores for the 173 products in the European average diet. Meat tends to have a higher SNB-score than dairy and whole grain products can have a negative SNB-score. This means the environmental impact of the product decreases when whole grains are consumed in increasing amounts. The palette of SNB-scores serves as a benchmark for product development. To create more future-proof products the SNB-scores can be improved by changing the nutritional or environmental profile by altering recipes or production processes.

scholarly journals Food Innovation as a Means of Developing Healthier and More Sustainable Foods

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2069
Author(s):  
Adrián Rabadán ◽  
Roberto Nieto ◽  
Rodolfo Bernabéu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Lower Number ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Food Neophobia ◽  
Novel Technologies ◽  
Balanced Diet ◽  
Areas Of Interest ◽  
By Products

The current demand for healthy and sustainable foods has encouraged the development of new alternatives even in traditional products. Improved foods may be produced by reducing the amount of some ingredients, adding new ones, or replacing traditionally used ingredients for others. By reformulating their products, manufacturers can offer healthier choices for an ever-growing number of consumers interested in maintaining a balanced diet. In addition, the market demand for more sustainable foods contributes to a lower environmental impact in their production. In this regard, current areas of interest include the production of foods using a lower number of inputs, as well as the utilization of food by-products, to improve the amount and quality of available foods. Another aspect to be considered is that not all consumers are willing to eat foods produced with new ingredients or novel technologies. Hence, the development of innovations in food products should take into account the influence of so-called “consumer food neophobia”.

Environmental Impact Evaluation of Istanbul Wastewater Treatment and Marine Disposal Systems

1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Ozturk ◽  
T. Zambal ◽  
A. Samsunlu ◽  
E. Göknel
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Sea Of Marmara ◽  
General Evaluation ◽  
Marine Outfall ◽  
Secondary Stage ◽  
Pre Treatment

Metropolitan Istanbul Wastewater Treatment System contains 14 marine outfalls, seven of which include secondary stage biological treatment processes. The others have only mechanical treatment units including bar screens and grit chambers. Only one mechanical pre-treatment and marine disposal system, Yenikapi plant, has been operated since 1988 among these 14 plants and six of them are ready for construction. In this paper, the environmental impact of Yenikapi pretreatment and marine disposal system on the water quality of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara has been investigated. Long term water quality measurements which were performed in pre-and post-dischange applications have been evaluated. Water quality parameters including pH, DO, BODs, TKN, P and total coliforms were measured at various sampling stations around the discharge points. A general evaluation of marine outfall systems to be constructed in the scope of Istanbul wastewater treatment project, on the water quality of the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus has been presented.

scholarly journals Assessing nutritional value of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals in the province of Quebec (Canada): a study from the Food Quality Observatory

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Julie Perron ◽  
Sonia Pomerleau ◽  
Pierre Gagnon ◽  
Joséane Gilbert-Moreau ◽  
Simone Lemieux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Quality ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
Breakfast Cereal ◽  
Food Category ◽  
Breakfast Cereals ◽  
Sales Data

Abstract Objective: The Food Quality Observatory was created in the province of Quebec (Canada) in 2016. In this study, the Observatory aimed to generate a methodology to (1) test the use of sales data combined with nutrient values to characterise the nutritional composition of ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereals offered and purchased in the province of Quebec (Canada) and (2) verify the extent to which a front-of-pack label based on the percentage of daily value (DV) for total sugar, as a strategy to improve the food supply, would be distributed in this food category. Design: Nutritional information were obtained by purchasing each RTE breakfast cereal available in the Greater Montreal area. Cereals were then classified according to their processing type. Setting: The nutritional values of 331 RTE breakfast cereals available in Quebec were merged with sales data covering the period between May 2016 and May 2017. A total of 306 products were successfully cross-referenced. Results: Granola and sweetened cereals were the most available (36·6 % and 19·6 %, respectively) and purchased (19·8 % and 40·9 % of sales, respectively). When compared with other types of cereals, granola cereals had a higher energy, fat, saturated fat, protein content and a lower Na content. A larger proportion of chocolate (65 %) and sweetened cereals (49 %) were above 15 % of the DV for sugar. Conclusions: This study showed that the methodology developed generates important data to monitor nutritional quality of the food supply and ultimately contribute to improve the nutritional quality of processed foods.

scholarly journals The Importance of Environmental Factors in the Planning of Container Terminals: The Case Study of the Port of Augusta

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2153
Author(s):  
Nadia Giuffrida ◽  
Maja Stojaković ◽  
Elen Twrdy ◽  
Matteo Ignaccolo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Container Terminal ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Container Terminals ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Clean Environment ◽  
Different Levels

Container terminals are the main hubs of the global supply chain but, conversely, they play an important role in energy consumption, environmental pollution and even climate change due to carbon emissions. Assessing the environmental impact of this type of port terminal and choosing appropriate mitigation measures is essential to pursue the goals related to a clean environment and ensuring a good quality of life of the inhabitants of port cities. In this paper the authors present a Terminal Decision Support Tool (TDST) for the development of a container terminal that considers both operation efficiency and environmental impacts. The TDST provides environmental impact mitigation measures based on different levels of evolution of the port’s container traffic. An application of the TDST is conducted on the Port of Augusta (Italy), a port that is planning infrastructural interventions in coming years in order to gain a new role as a reference point for container traffic in the Mediterranean.

scholarly journals The Design and Development of a Food Composition Database for an Electronic Tool to Assess Food Intake in New Caledonian Families

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1668
Author(s):  
Juliana Chen ◽  
Solène Bertrand ◽  
Olivier Galy ◽  
David Raubenheimer ◽  
Margaret Allman-Farinelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Caledonia ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Food Composition ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Portion Size ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Specific Food ◽  
Country Specific

The food environment in New Caledonia is undergoing a transition, with movement away from traditional diets towards processed and discretionary foods and beverages. This study aimed to develop an up-to-date food composition database that could be used to analyze food and nutritional intake data of New Caledonian children and adults. Development of this database occurred in three phases: Phase 1, updating and expanding the number of food items to represent current food supply; Phase 2, refining the database items and naming and assigning portion size images for food items; Phase 3, ensuring comprehensive nutrient values for all foods, including saturated fat and total sugar. The final New Caledonian database comprised a total of 972 food items, with 40 associated food categories and 25 nutrient values and 615 items with portion size images. To improve the searchability of the database, the names of 593 food items were shortened and synonyms or alternate spelling were included for 462 foods. Once integrated into a mobile app-based multiple-pass 24-h recall tool, named iRecall.24, this country-specific food composition database would support the assessment of food and nutritional intakes of families in New Caledonia, in a cross-sectional and longitudinal manner, and with translational opportunities for use across the wider Pacific region.

scholarly journals Better Animal Feeding for Improving the Quality of Ruminant Meat and Dairy

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1076
Author(s):  
Manuel Delgado-Pertíñez ◽  
Alberto Horcada
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Production System ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Sensory Characteristics ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Animal Feeding ◽  
Ruminant Meat ◽  
High Yields

The quality of meat and dairy products can be evaluated from the perspective of the farmer seeking high yields and profits or the consumer for whom sensory characteristics are the most important, although health and ethical aspects, such as animal welfare and the environmental impact of the production system, are increasingly becoming concerns worldwide [...]

scholarly journals Nutritional Quality of Undergraduate Student Meals in an All-You-Care-to-Eat Campus Dining Facility (P04-156-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Olson ◽  
Katie Vieyra ◽  
Alexandra Polasky ◽  
Amy Best ◽  
Lois Durant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Whole Grains ◽  
Research Award ◽  
George Mason University ◽  
Reported Data

Abstract Objectives To assess the overall nutritional quality of meals chosen by undergraduate students during weekday lunches at campus all-you-care-to-eat dining halls. Methods A previously validated exit survey was used to collect self-reported data from undergraduate students on foods and beverages they consumed during a single visit to two all-you-care-to-eat dining halls on the George Mason University Fairfax campus, during 4 weeks. (n = 468) Nutritional quality of each meal was evaluated on a 7-point rubric, according to the ‘Wellness Meal’ standards from the Partnership for a Healthier America: ≤700 kilocalories, ≤10% calories from saturated fat, ≤800 mg sodium, ≥2 ounces whole grains, ≥1 cup lowfat dairy, ≥ 1.75 cups fruits and vegetables, and ≥ 2 ounces lean protein. Results Of the maximum score of 7 on the meal nutritional quality rubric, 4 participants earned the highest score of 5, whereas 43, 150, 132, 88, and 51 participants had scores of 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0, respectively. The most commonly attained rubric standard was saturated fat, where 60% of participants consumed ≤ 10% calories from saturated fat and average consumption was 9.1% (± 5.4%) of calories. The least achieved rubric category was lowfat dairy, where only 2% of students consumed 1 cup equivalent, followed by only 9% of participants having consumed the 2 ounce equivalent of whole grains. Approximately one-third of students met calorie, lean protein, sodium, and fruit/vegetable standards. Conclusions Despite a wide variety of food options in the campus all-you-care-to-eat dining halls during the lunch hours, most undergraduate students consumed meals of subpar nutritional quality, with the vast majority meeting fewer than half the categories on the meal nutritional quality rubric. All-you-care-to-eat university dining halls may be a prime location for nutrition education and interventions. Funding Sources This research was funded by the George Mason University Provost's Multidisciplinary Research Award.

scholarly journals Drying Characteristics and Physical and Nutritional Properties of Shrimp Meat as Affected by Different Traditional Drying Techniques

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. T. Akonor ◽  
H. Ofori ◽  
N. T. Dziedzoave ◽  
N. K. Kortei
Keyword(s):  
Ash Content ◽  
Moisture Loss ◽  
Drying Methods ◽  
Moisture Removal ◽  
Solar Drying ◽  
Nutritional Properties ◽  
Drying Characteristics ◽  
Red Color ◽  
Drying Techniques

The influence of different drying methods on physical and nutritional properties of shrimp meat was investigated in this study. Peeled shrimps were dried separately using an air-oven dryer and a tunnel solar dryer. The drying profile of shrimp meat was determined in the two drying systems by monitoring moisture loss over the drying period. Changes in color, proximate composition, and rehydration capacity were assessed. The rate of moisture removal during solar drying was faster than the air-oven drying. The development of red color during drying was comparable among the two methods, but solar-dried shrimps appeared darker (L⁎=47.4) than the air-oven-dried (L⁎=49.0). Chemical analysis indicated that protein and fat made up nearly 20% and 2% (wb) of the shrimp meat, respectively. Protein and ash content of shrimp meat dried under the two dryer types were comparable but fat was significantly (p<0.05) higher in oven-dried meat (2.1%), compared to solar-dried meat (1.5%). Although rehydration behavior of shrimp from the two drying systems followed a similar pattern, solar-dried shrimp absorbed moisture more rapidly. The results have demonstrated that different approaches to drying may affect the physical and nutritional quality of shrimp meat differently.

Using Key Characteristics to Balance Cost and Quality During Product Development

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Product Quality ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Process Variation ◽  
Aircraft Manufacturing ◽  
Product Features ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Manufacturing Variation ◽  
Positive Return

Abstract Corporations are spending significant resources to reduce the effect of manufacturing variation on product quality as well as adopt lower cost manufacturing and assembly technologies to reduce the end costs in product development. However, to ensure that these investments have a positive return, efforts must be made to put resources into those areas where there will be the largest return. This paper describes a formalized method to make these decisions. The analysis focuses the tradeoff studies on the Key Characteristics (KCs) of the product. KCs, in use in a variety of industries, are the product features that are most sensitive to existing manufacturing and process variation and will affect the end quality of the product. Two examples from the aircraft manufacturing environment are used describe the application of the proposed methods.

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