scholarly journals Facilitating Consumers Choice of Healthier Foods: A Comparison of Different Front-of-Package Labelling Schemes Using Slovenian Food Supply Database

Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 399
Author(s):  
Urška Pivk Kupirovič ◽  
Hristo Hristov ◽  
Maša Hribar ◽  
Živa Lavriša ◽  
Igor Pravst
Keyword(s):  
Food Supply ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
Rating System ◽  
World Health ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Nutrition Labelling ◽  
Conflicting Information ◽  
Protective Food ◽  
Labelling Schemes

Summary indicator front-of-package nutrition labelling schemes are gaining momentum. In Europe, an example of such a scheme is Nutri-Score, which was first introduced in France. Supported by additional research, the scheme has the potential to expand into other countries. Such a scenario opens a series of questions related to the use of Nutri-Score in the territories with pre-existing food labelling schemes. A key question is whether different nutrition labelling schemes would provide conflicting information for consumers when applied to same foods. The goal of our study was, therefore, to evaluate the alignment of different front-of-package nutrition labelling schemes. The study was conducted using cross-sectional data on the composition of selected categories of prepacked foods with high penetration nutrition/health claims and symbols in the Slovenian food supply. We evaluated a variety of existing front-of-package nutrition labelling schemes: three interpretive nutrition rating systems (Nutri-Score, Health Star Rating (HSR), Traffic light system), four health symbols (Protective Food symbol, Choices, Finnish heart, and Keyhole symbol), and also three nutrient profile models developed for other purposes (Office of Communications (United Kingdom, Ofcom), World Health Organization Regional office for Europe (WHOE) and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)). Overall, our results indicate that interpretive nutrition rating systems (i.e., Nutri-Score) are mostly less strict than the nutrient profiles of tested health symbols. A risk of conflicting information would happen in a scenario where food is eligible to carry a health symbol, but is at the same time rated to have lower nutritional quality by an accompanying interpretive nutrition rating system. When Protective Food symbol and Nutri-Score are used together, this would occur for 5% of foods in our sample. To avoid such risks, schemes for health symbols could be adapted to be stricter than interpretive nutrition rating systems used in the same territory/market, but such adaptations are challenging and should be well planned. While our study showed that, in most cases, Nutri-Score is a less strict model than tested health symbols, the rating-system approach might offer useful support and incentive for food producers towards gradual food reformulation.

scholarly journals Nutrient Profiling Is Needed to Improve the Nutritional Quality of the Foods Labelled with Health-Related Claims

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urška Pivk Kupirovič ◽  
Krista Miklavec ◽  
Maša Hribar ◽  
Anita Kušar ◽  
Katja Žmitek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Supply ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
World Health ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sales Data ◽  
Nutrient Profiling ◽  
Health Related

Health-related claims on food products influence consumers and their food preferences. None of the European countries have restricted the use of health claims to foods of high nutritional quality despite the regulatory background provided by the European Union in 2006. We evaluated the nutritional quality of foods labelled with claims available in the Slovenian market using two nutrient profile models—Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and European World Health Organization Regional office for Europe model (WHOE)—and compared the results to the nutritional quality of all available foods. Data for prepacked foods in the Slovenian food supply were collected in 2015 on a representative sample (n = 6619) and supplemented with 12-month product sales data for more accurate assessments of the food supply. A considerable proportion of foods labelled with any type of health-related claim was found to have poor nutritional quality. About 68% of the foods labelled with health-related claims passed FSANZ criterion (75% when considering sales data) and 33% passed the WHOE model (56% when considering sales data). Our results highlight the need for stricter regulations for the use of health-related claims and to build upon available nutrient profiling knowledge to improve nutrition quality of foods labeled with health-related claims.

scholarly journals Marketing of Foods to Children through Food Packaging Is Almost Exclusively Linked to Unhealthy Foods

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Živa Lavriša ◽  
Igor Pravst
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
World Health ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Product Packaging ◽  
Nutrient Profile ◽  
Public Health Strategies

The nutritional composition of foods marketed to children is important, as it can significantly influence children’s preferences. The objective of this research was to evaluate the presence of child-oriented food products in the food supply and to investigate their nutritional composition. The sample included 8191 prepacked foods in the Slovenian food supply available in the market in 2015. The nutrient profile (World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe nutrient profile model) of the products with child-targeted promotions was compared to the nutrient profile of those without child-targeted promotions. Food categories with the highest proportion of products with child-focused promotions were “Breakfast Cereals” (17%), “Chocolate and Sugar Confectionery” (15%) and “Edible Ices” (13%). Altogether, 93% of all products with child-focused promotions and 73% of products without such promotions were classified as “not permitted”. The proportion of “not permitted” foods was significantly higher in products with child-targeted promotions, compared with products without child-targeted promotions (p < 0.0001), and this trend was observed in a majority of food categories. To protect children from exposure to the marketing of foods with less favourable nutritional compositions, public health strategies should be focused also towards limiting promotions of unhealthy foods to children on product packaging, not only in media.

scholarly journals Visual information on labels in commercial baby foods on Bulgarian market

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Rangelova ◽  
A Partzova
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
World Health ◽  
Complementary Foods ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Baby Foods ◽  
Infants And Young Children ◽  
Nutrition And Health Claims

Abstract Background Production and sale of commercial baby foods in Bulgaria has grown in the last years. The evidence suggests that inappropriate promotion and advertising of commercial complementary foods can affect unfavourably child nutrition. The World Health Assembly has urged all Member States to “end inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children”. Methods The survey is part of WHO Regional Office for Europe project: Commercial foods for infants and young children in the WHO European Region. The data was collected in November 2017 in two districts in Sofia, Bulgaria using the mobile questionnaire, developed by WHO. The presence on various types of visual information on the package was recorded for 771 products on the market. Results The results reviled that 94.4% of the labels of baby foods on the market in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia, use the pictures of ingredients and 52.9% - the cartoon images. The use of images of infants and young children presented in 8.7 % of the products and 6.9% of them marketed as suitable for babies under six months old, in violation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. 0.4 % of baby foods use images of mothers in the labels. The “other” visual information related to various claims including “quality”, “bio” (i.e. organic) and various other nutrition and health claims. Conclusions There is inappropriate promotion of commercial complementary foods on Bulgarian market. Key messages Special measures, including legislative to limit inappropriate practices for the advertising of foods for infants and young children, are needed. Raising the parents’ awareness of the criteria for selecting commercial complementary foods is necessary.

scholarly journals Infectious disease outbreaks in the African region: overview of events reported to the World Health Organization in 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Mboussou ◽  
P. Ndumbi ◽  
R. Ngom ◽  
Z. Kassamali ◽  
O. Ogundiran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
World Health ◽  
African Region ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Member States ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
The World

Abstract The WHO African region is characterised by the largest infectious disease burden in the world. We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis using records of all infectious disease outbreaks formally reported to the WHO in 2018 by Member States of the African region. We analysed the spatio-temporal distribution, the notification delay as well as the morbidity and mortality associated with these outbreaks. In 2018, 96 new disease outbreaks were reported across 36 of the 47 Member States. The most commonly reported disease outbreak was cholera which accounted for 20.8% (n = 20) of all events, followed by measles (n = 11, 11.5%) and Yellow fever (n = 7, 7.3%). About a quarter of the outbreaks (n = 23) were reported following signals detected through media monitoring conducted at the WHO regional office for Africa. The median delay between the disease onset and WHO notification was 16 days (range: 0–184). A total of 107 167 people were directly affected including 1221 deaths (mean case fatality ratio (CFR): 1.14% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07%–1.20%)). The highest CFR was observed for diseases targeted for eradication or elimination: 3.45% (95% CI 0.89%–10.45%). The African region remains prone to outbreaks of infectious diseases. It is therefore critical that Member States improve their capacities to rapidly detect, report and respond to public health events.

scholarly journals Breakfast Cereals Intended for Children: Opportunities for Reformulation and Potential Impact on Nutrient Intake

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1772
Author(s):  
Mariana Santos ◽  
Filipa Matias ◽  
Ana Isabel Rito ◽  
Isabel Castanheira ◽  
Duarte Torres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Fiber ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Saturated Fatty Acids ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Nutrient Profile ◽  
Dietary Fiber Intake ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
The Impact

Ready-to-eat cereals (RTECs) have become a popular breakfast option claiming to provide important nutrients to children’s diets, despite being a source of excess sugar and, therefore, a health concern. Thus, food reformulation constitutes an important public health strategy that could benefit from inputs provided by nutrient profiling. This study aimed to assess the adequacy of the RTECs for children available in Portuguese supermarkets, applying three nutrient profile models (NPMs)—the nutrient profile model of the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe (WHO-EURO), the profile of the private-sector EU Pledge (EU-Pledge), and the national model developed by the Directorate-General of Health (NPM-PT)—in order to explore the potential for reformulation of the RTECs identified as not adequate and evaluate the impact of RTECs’ reformulation on the nutritional quality of Portuguese children’s diets. In total, 78 RTECs intended for children were assessed and two scenarios—current (not considering reformulation) and alternative (considering reformulation to accomplish the nutrient profile requirements)—were considered to assess the impact of reformulation on nutritional quality. Across all RTECs, only 5.1% could be promoted to children according to the considered NPMs. The most common nutrients requiring reformulation were sugar, saturated fatty acids (SFA), salt, and dietary fiber. The scenarios of reformulation considered could reduce the RTECs average content of total sugars, SFA, and salt by 43%, 8.7%, and 1.1%, respectively, and dietary fiber intake could be increased by 34%. Thus, these results support policies to implement reformulation strategies for developing healthier food products to be promoted to children.

scholarly journals Estidama and the Pearl Rating System: A Comprehensive Review and Alignment with LCA

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5041
Author(s):  
Ayyagari Ramani ◽  
Borja García de Soto
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Sustainable Buildings ◽  
System A ◽  
Robust Implementation ◽  
New Construction ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Sustainability Standards

Multiple sustainability standards and rating systems have been developed to draw attention to constructing sustainable buildings. The Pearl Rating System (PRS) is a mandate for all new construction projects in Abu Dhabi. Hence, it is important to understand the main components, advantages, and limitations of the PRS. The feasibility and the practical relevance of the PRS are still being studied. This paper addresses this gap and critically evaluates the PRS against some of the well-established rating systems like LEED and BREEAM. The analysis suggests that the PRS considers the cultural aspect of sustainability, in addition to the environmental, societal, and economic aspects. It was also found that most rating systems, including the PRS, have a very superficial inclusion of life cycle assessment (LCA). The paper finally concludes with other observations and outlook for a more robust implementation of the PRS.

World Health Organization

1951 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-389
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Care ◽  
World Health ◽  
Executive Board ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Rules Of Procedure ◽  
Sixth Session ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Health Organization

During the sixth session of the Executive Board in Geneva from June 1 to June 9, 1950, it was reported that some difficulties had been encountered in the establishment of a regional office for Europe. Six member states had not replied to the request sent them on the subject, seven had expressed reservations, six had sent in negative replies, and only eight had indicated their approval. It was also proposed that rules of procedure of the Assembly be changed to permit the participation in discussions of representatives of the Executive Board in either plenary or committee meetings. During the biennial revision of the list of non-governmental organizations with which WHO maintained official relations, a total of eighteen were retained. The Executive Board also agreed that, while WHO was not an organization for sending supplies to governments, it was nonetheless true that supplies were occasionally indispensable to enable a government to carry out a specific program. A total of $100,000 had been thus distributed to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Finland, India, Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan, Monaco, Portugal, Thailand and Yugoslavia for the control of malaria and leprosy, the improvement of nursing care and similar activities.

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