Impact of Measures Aiming to Reduce Sugars Intake in the General Population and Their Implementation in Europe: A Scoping Review

Objectives: Implementing public health measures is necessary to decrease sugars intake, which is associated with increased risk of noncommunicable diseases. Our scoping review aimed to identify the types of measures implemented and evaluated to decrease sugars intake in the population and to assess their impact.Methods: Following a review of systematic reviews (SRs) published in 2018, we systematically searched new SR (May 2017–October 2020) in electronic databases. We also searched the measures implemented in Europe in the NOURISHING database. Two researchers selected the reviews, extracted and analysed the data.Results: We included 15 SRs assessing economic tools (n = 5), product reformulation and labels/claims (n = 5), and educational/environmental interventions (n = 7). Economic tools, product reformulation and environmental measures were effective to reduce sugar intake or weight outcomes, while labels, education and interventions combining educational and environmental measures found mixed effects. The most frequently implemented measures in Europe were public awareness, nutritional education, and labels.Conclusion: Among measures to reduce sugar intake in the population, economic tools, product reformulation, and environmental interventions were the most effective, but not the more frequently implemented in Europe.

Nudging sugar portions: a real-world experiment

Background Sugar overconsumption is a major contributor to overweight and obesity, with daily consumption greatly exceeding the WHO’s recommendations. The aim of the present study was to determine whether using a functionally modified sugar shaker as a food environment nudge could be an effective means to reduce the sugar used in hot beverages. Methods Sugar shakers were functionally modified to reduce the amount of sugar in each pour by 47%. A real-world experiment was conducted to compare the amount of added sugar per hot beverage during default and nudge conditions over the course of four weeks (17,233 hot beverages sold) in a university take-away café. In addition, 59 customers were surveyed to evaluate the acceptance of the intervention. Results Modifying the functional design of sugar shakers resulted in a reduction of added sugar by 20% (d = 1.35) compared to the default condition. In the survey, most participants evaluated the intervention strategy positively. Conclusion The present real-world experiment demonstrates that a simple environmental intervention can significantly reduce sugar consumption in public places while meeting with consumer approval, making it a promising means of reducing sugar overconsumption.

Odor–Taste–Texture Interactions as a Promising Strategy to Tackle Adolescent Overweight

The adolescence period is characterized by a considerable risk to weight gain due to the high consumption of food rich in sugar. A promising strategy to reduce sugar consumption may lie in exploiting the ability of our senses to interact to each other (cross-modal interactions). The aims were to investigate the cross-modal interactions and gustatory function in normal-weight and overweight adolescents. Fifty adolescents (25 overweight and 25 normal-weight) were involved. Subjects rated liking and attribute intensity in pudding samples obtained by adding vanilla aroma (0.1%; 0.3%), butter aroma (0.05%; 0.1%) or a thickener agent (1%; 1.5%) to a base formulation. The gustatory function was also measured through the “taste strips” methodology. Overweight adolescents were found to have a significantly (p < 0.001) worse ability to correctly identify all tastes. Cross-modal interactions occurred differently according to their body mass index, with a significant increase (p < 0.05) in sensory desirable characteristics (e.g., sweet and creaminess) due to aroma addition, especially in overweight subjects. Furthermore, butter aroma significantly increased hedonic responses only in overweight subjects. Tricking our senses in the way of perceiving sensory attributes could be a promising strategy to develop innovative food formulations with a reduced sugar amount, which will lead to a potential decrease in caloric intake and help to tackle the obesity epidemic.

Perturbations in plant energy homeostasis prime lateral root initiation via SnRK1-bZIP63-ARF19 signaling

Plants adjust their energy metabolism to continuous environmental fluctuations, resulting in a tremendous plasticity in their architecture. The regulatory circuits involved, however, remain largely unresolved. In Arabidopsis, moderate perturbations in photosynthetic activity, administered by short-term low light exposure or unexpected darkness, lead to increased lateral root (LR) initiation. Consistent with expression of low-energy markers, these treatments alter energy homeostasis and reduce sugar availability in roots. Here, we demonstrate that the LR response requires the metabolic stress sensor kinase Snf1-RELATED-KINASE1 (SnRK1), which phosphorylates the transcription factor BASIC LEUCINE ZIPPER63 (bZIP63) that directly binds and activates the promoter of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR19 (ARF19), a key regulator of LR initiation. Consistently, starvation-induced ARF19 transcription is impaired in bzip63 mutants. This study highlights a positive developmental function of SnRK1. During energy limitation, LRs are initiated and primed for outgrowth upon recovery. Hence, this study provides mechanistic insights into how energy shapes the agronomically important root system.

Product Development using SWOT Analysis

The objective of this research is to give recommendation for a bakery chain operator called Greggs in terms of improving their breakfast menu selection to generate more sales. The research method uses SWOT analysis to produce a strategic development plan. Greggs is one of the largest United Kingdom bakery stores and performs well in generating revenue as the turnover. The uncertainty of Brexit, the minimum wage set by the government, the highest proportion of people who usually eat breakfast on the go, development of a mobile app, breakfast preference to a healthier fresh meal and reduce sugar consumption, competitor, extreme winter weather, and the government policy have an impact on Gregg revenue. Based on the SWOT analysis result it can be concluded that Gregg needs to utilize the position as the market leader to promote the benefit of high-quality healthy food, use the revenue to start on research for healthy products innovation, use the healthy breakfast trend to introduce vegan breakfast menu, add more drink option for the breakfast deal to make it more convenient for people to commute, keep focusing on the quality and taste development with a competitive price, add more menu that correspondent with consumer demand, and try to efficiently spend the revenue based on priority to cut operating cost.

Examining the Relationship between Sugar Content, Packaging Features, and Food Claims of Breakfast Cereals

Excessive free-sugar intake has become highly prevalent in numerous countries, and Portugal is not the exception. One product category that contributes to the daily intake of free sugars is breakfast cereals. In the current work, we identified 289 exemplars from two major retailers in Portugal and collected information on their nutritional profile (e.g., sugar, salt, fiber per 100 g), price, packaging features, type of food claims present (e.g., statements about the composition, sensory features, the origin of the product), and ingredients list. Overall, the sugar content of breakfast cereals was high (Mean = 19.9 g), and less than 10% of the products complied with the current national guidelines (i.e., 5 g of sugar per 100 g of product). Sugar (or other sugar sources) was listed in the top three ingredients for over 85% of the products. On average, each product included about four claims (Mean = 3.9), and sugar content was lower when the claims were related to the product composition. Critically, the sugar content was particularly high for children-oriented products (Mean = 26.4 g). Correlation analysis showed that breakfast cereals with higher sugar content also were cheaper and had lower quantities of fiber, proteins, and salt. Our findings suggest the need to implement strategies to reduce sugar in this product category (e.g., incentivize manufacturers to reformulate products). Also, our results may inform strategies aimed at promoting consumers’ awareness about the sugar content in breakfast cereals and other processed foods, facilitating healthier decision-making.

A Brief Motivational Intervention Differentially Reduces Sugar-sweetened Beverage (SSB) Consumption

Background Environmental and behavioral interventions hold promise to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSBs) consumption. Purpose To test, among frequent SSB consumers, whether motivations to consume SSBs moderated the effects of (a) a workplace SSB sales ban (environmental intervention) alone, and (b) a “brief motivational intervention” (BI) in addition to the sales ban, on changes in SSB consumption. Methods We assessed whether (1) baseline motivations to consume SSBs (craving, psychological stress, or taste enjoyment) impacted changes in daily SSB consumption at 6-month follow-up among frequent (&gt;12oz of SSBs/day) SSB consumers (N = 214); (2) participants randomized to the BI (n = 109) versus to the sales ban only (n = 105) reported greater reductions in SSB consumption at follow-up; and (3) motivations to consume SSBs moderated any changes in SSB consumption. Results In response to the sales ban alone, individuals with stronger SSB cravings (+1 SD) at baseline showed significantly smaller reductions in daily SSB consumption at 6-month follow-up relative to individuals with weaker (−1 SD) SSB cravings (2.5 oz vs. 22.5 oz), p &lt; .01. Receiving the BI significantly increased reductions for those with stronger SSB cravings: Among individuals with stronger cravings, those who received the BI evidenced significantly greater reductions in daily SSB consumption [M(SE) = −19.2 (2.74) oz] than those who did not [M(SE) = −2.5 (2.3) oz, p &lt; .001], a difference of 16.72 oz. Conclusions Frequent SSB consumers with stronger SSB cravings report minimal reductions in daily SSB consumption with a sales ban only, but report greater reductions if they also receive a motivational intervention. Future multilevel interventions for institutions should consider both environmental and individualized multi-level interventions. Clinical Trial information NCT02585336.