Nutritional Quality of Plant-Based Drinks Sold in Italy: The Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study

Foods

卷:9

Nicoletta Pellegrini¹  Alice Rosi²  Daniela Martini³  on behalf of the SINU Young Working Group⁴  Donato Angelino⁴  Marika Dello Russo⁵  Giorgia Vici⁶ 

[1] Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy;

[2] Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy;

[3] Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milan, Italy;

[4] Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy;

[5] Institute of Food Sciences, National Research Council, 83100 Avellino, Italy;

[6] School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62032 Camerino, Italy;

关键词: plant-based drinks;    milk alternatives;    nutrition declaration;    nutritional values;    food labeling;   

DOI  :  10.3390/foods9050682

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Plant-based drinks represent a heterogeneous class of beverages, made from several vegetal sources, with a market rapidly expanding around the world. These beverages are mainly drunk in the replacement of milk. Thus, aims of the present study were to: (i) evaluate the nutritional declaration of 330 plant-based drinks currently available on the Italian market; (ii) compare their nutrition facts based on type, presence or not of organic certification and nutrition (NC) or health claims (HC), and of specific claims (“no added sugars” and “source of calcium”); (iii) compare their nutrition composition with cow’s milk. A high variability in terms of nutrient profile among products was observed. Limited difference was found between products belonging to both organic and NC categories, while products carrying HC showed lower energy, carbohydrates, sugar, and higher protein contents than the related counterparts. Compared to cow’s milk, plant-based drinks showed differences in terms of nutrient profile, mostly regarding the lower protein content (except for soy drinks). Overall, due to the variability, findings from the present survey show that plant-based drinks sold in Italy cannot be considered tout court as milk substitutes and support the importance of improving knowledge towards food labeling to make conscious food choices.

【 授权许可】

Unknown