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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The World Health Organisation recommends governments to consider the use of fiscal policies to promote healthy eating. However, there is very limited evidence of the effect of food taxation in a real-life setting, as most evidence is based on simulation studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of the Danish tax on saturated fat in terms of changes in nutritional quality of the diet, that is, changes in saturated fat consumption, as well as other non-targeted dietary measures, and to model the associated changes in mortality for different age groups and genders. SUBJECTS/METHODS: On the basis of household scanner data, we estimate the impact of the tax on consumption of saturated fat, unsaturated fat, salt, fruit, vegetables and fibre. The resultant changes in dietary quality are then used as inputs into a comparative risk assessment model (PRIME (Preventable Risk Integrated ModEl)) to estimate the effect of these changes on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mortality. RESULTS: The tax resulted in a 4.0% reduction in saturated fat intake. Vegetable consumption increased, and salt consumption increased for most individuals, except younger females. We find a modelled reduction in mortality with 123 lives saved annually, 76 of them below 75 years equal to 0.4% of all deaths from NCDs. CONCLUSIONS: Modelling the effect of the changes in diet on health outcomes suggests that the saturated fat tax made a positive, but minor, contribution to public health in Denmark European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2016) 70, 681-686; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2016.6; published online 13 April 2016, INTRODUCTION Diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading preventable causes of global morbidity and mortality, (1, 2) and among the World Health Organisation (WHO) regions the European region has the [...]

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Insects have been the subject of recent attention as a potentially environmentally sustainable and nutritious alternative to traditional protein sources. The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that insects are nutritionally preferable to meat, using two evaluative tools that are designed to combat over- and under-nutrition. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We selected 183 datalines of publicly available data on the nutrient composition of raw cuts and offal of three commonly consumed meats (beef, pork and chicken), and six commercially available insect species, for energy and 12 relevant nutrients. We applied two nutrient profiling tools to this data: The Ofcom model, which is used in the United Kingdom, and the Nutrient Value Score (NVS), which has been used in East Africa. We compared the median nutrient profile scores of different insect species and meat types using non-parametric tests and applied Bonferroni adjustments to assess for statistical significance in differences. RESULTS: Insect nutritional composition showed high diversity between species. According to the Ofcom model, no insects were significantly 'healthier' than meat products. The NVS assigned crickets, palm weevil larvae and mealworm a significantly healthier score than beef (P < 0.001) and chicken (P < 0.001). No insects were statistically less healthy than meat. CONCLUSIONS: Insect nutritional composition is highly diverse in comparison with commonly consumed meats. The food category 'insects' contains some foods that could potentially exacerbate diet-related public health problems related to over-nutrition, but may be effective in combating under-nutrition. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2016) 70, 285-291; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2015.149; published online 16 September 2015, INTRODUCTION As the world population rises, the global food system faces an impending crisis, (1) and a major component of this crisis is the forecast that the livestock sector is [...]

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The World Health Assembly recommends that children's exposure to marketing of unhealthy foods should be reduced. Nutrient profile models have been developed that define 'unhealthy' to support regulation of broadcast advertising of foods to children. The level of agreement between these models is not clear. The objective of this study was to measure the agreement between eight nutrient profile models that have been proposed for the regulation of marketing to children over (a) how many and (b) what kind of foods should be permitted to be advertised during television viewed by children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A representative data set of commercials for foods broadcast during television viewed by children in the UK was collected in 2008. The data set consisted of 11 763 commercials for 336 different products or brands. This data set was supplemented with nutrition data from company web sites, food packaging and a food composition table, and the nutrient profile models were applied. RESULTS: The percentage of commercials that would be permitted by the different nutrient profile models ranged from 2.1% (0.4%, 3.7%) to 47.4% (42.1%, 52.6%). Half of the pairwise comparisons between models yielded kappa statistics less than 0.2, indicating that there was little agreement between models. CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers considering the regulation of broadcast advertising to children should carefully consider the choice of nutrient profile model to support the regulation, as this choice will have considerable influence on the outcome of the regulation. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013) 67, 815-820; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2013.112; published online 26 June 2013 Keywords: nutrient profile; advertising; nutrition; regulation, INTRODUCTION Over the past three decades, childhood obesity has increased in prevalence in almost every country for which data are available. (1) Obesity in childhood is significantly associated with risks [...]

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Food is responsible for around one-fifth of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from products consumed in the UK, the largest contributor of which is meat and dairy. The Committee on Climate Change have modelled the impact on GHG emissions of three dietary scenarios for food consumption in the UK. This paper models the impact of the three scenarios on mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A previously published model (DIETRON) was used. The three scenarios were parameterised by fruit and vegetables, fibre, total fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, cholesterol and salt using the 2008 Family Food Survey. A Monte Carlo simulation generated 95% credible intervals. RESULTS: Scenario 1 (50% reduction in meat and dairy replaced by fruit, vegetables and cereals: 19% reduction in GHG emissions) resulted in 36910 (30 192 to 43 592) deaths delayed or averted per year. Scenario 2 (75% reduction in cow and sheep meat replaced by pigs and poultry: 9% reduction in GHG emissions) resulted in 1999 (1739 to 2389) deaths delayed or averted. Scenario 3 (50% reduction in pigs and poultry replaced with fruit, vegetables and cereals: 3% reduction in GHG emissions) resulted in 9297 (7288 to 11 301) deaths delayed or averted. CONCLUSION: Modelled results suggest that public health and climate change dietary goals are in broad alignment with the largest results in both domains occurring when consumption of all meat and dairy products are reduced. Further work in real-life settings is needed to confirm these results. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2012) 66, 710-715; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2012.34; published online 11 April 2012 Keywords: cardiovascular disease; sustainable diets; UK; cancer; meat; dairy, INTRODUCTION The UK target for climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 (ref. 1)--a target that was made legally binding by [...]

Background/Objectives: Nutrient profile models have the potential to help promote healthier diets. Some models treat all foods equally (across-the-board), some consider different categories of foods separately (category specific). This paper assesses whether across-the-board or category-specific nutrient profile models are more appropriate tools for improving diets. Subjects/Methods: Adult respondents to a British dietary survey were split into four groups using a diet quality index. Fifteen food categories were identified. A nutrient profile model provided a measure of the healthiness of all foods consumed. The four diet quality groups were compared for differences in (a) the calories consumed from each food category and (b) the healthiness of foods consumed in each category. Evidence of healthier diet quality groups consuming more of healthy food categories than unhealthy diet quality groups supported the adoption of across-the-board nutrient profile models. Evidence of healthier diet quality groups consuming healthier versions of foods within food categories supported adoption of category-specific nutrient profile models. Results: A significantly greater percentage of the healthiest diet quality group&apos;s diet consisted of fruit and vegetables (21 vs 16%), fish (3 vs 2%) and breakfast cereals (7 vs 2%), and significantly less meat and meat products (7 vs 14%) than the least healthy diet quality group. The foods from the meat, dairy and cereals categories consumed by the healthy diet quality groups were healthier versions than those consumed by the unhealthy diet quality groups. Conclusions: All other things being equal, nutrient profile models designed to promote an achievable healthy diet should be category specific but with a limited number of categories. However models which use a large number of categories are unhelpful for promoting a healthy diet. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2010) 64, 553-560; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.31; published online 10 March 2010 Keywords: nutrient profile; nutrition assessment; nutrition surveys, Introduction Many countries use food-based dietary guidelines to frame a recommended diet, which can then be promoted by a series of dietary interventions. Food-based dietary guidelines either indicate that some [...]

Author(s): A Kaur; P Scarborough; S Hieke; A Kusar; I Pravst; M Raats; M Rayner Correction to: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication 13 July 2016; doi:/doifinder/10.1038/ejcn.2016.114 Updated [...]