The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products

Nutrients

Bridget A. Hollingsworth¹  Donna R. Miles¹  Chandra Pandav²  Lindsey Smith Taillie³  Barry M. Popkin³ 

[1] Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB 8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA;Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi 110029, India;Department of Nutrition and Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB 8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA;

关键词: nutrient profile models;    nutrient profiling;    front-of-package labels;    warning labels;    ultra-processed foods;    noncommunicable diseases;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu13082799

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The rapid rise in prevalence of overweight/obesity, as well as high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and other nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases, has led the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to propose a front-of-package labeling (FOPL) regulation. An effective FOPL system applies a nutrient profile model that identifies foods high in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat that would receive a warning label for consumers to effectively discern between more and less healthy foods. Previous Nutrition Alchemy data collected by the food industry (n = 1306 products) estimated that approximately 96% of foods in India would have at least one warning label based on the FSSAI proposed FOPL. This near universal coverage of warning labels may be inaccurate and misleading. To address this, the current study compared two nutrient profile models, the WHO South-East Asia Region Organization (SEARO) and the Chilean Warning Octagon (CWO) Phase 3, applied to food products available in the Indian market from 2015–2020, collected through Mintel Global New Products Database (n = 10,501 products). Results suggest that 68% of foods and beverages would have at least one ‘ high-in’ level warning label. This study highlights the need to include a more comprehensive sample of food products for assessing the value of warning labels.

【 授权许可】

Unknown