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Abstract Aim To explore the acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information of older adults in a long‐term care facility. Design A qualitative descriptive design was used in this study. Methods Sixteen older adults in a long‐term care facility were recruited using purposive sampling between March and May 2021. Data were collected via face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews, based on open questions regarding acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information and flexible question formulation, and the data were analysed using an inductive–deductive method. A health promotion model was used as a conceptual framework to regulate the refinement of themes. Results Three themes were identified in this study. The first theme discussed the individual characteristics and experiences of older adults that contributed to their acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information. The second theme described behaviour‐specific cognitions of and the effects on the participants regarding the influencing factors involving various internal individual elements and external physical environment. The third theme explored the positive behavioural outcomes of the participants resulting from these acquisition behaviours. Conclusion Acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information of older adults in long‐term care facilities were affected by both individual characteristics and external physical environment factors. Access to nutritional information can help older adults cultivate a healthy diet. Although they exhibited a significant interest in nutrition, the participants still encountered several difficulties. Based on the actual care needs of the older people, appropriate nutritional information interventions should be provided by healthcare providers working in long‐term care facilities so as to improve the ability of the older people to acquire information independently. Patient or public contribution All 16 participants actively participated in the interview process and the preliminary preparation of the article.

Aim: To explore the acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information of older adults in a long‐term care facility. Design: A qualitative descriptive design was used in this study. Methods: Sixteen older adults in a long‐term care facility were recruited using purposive sampling between March and May 2021. Data were collected via face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews, based on open questions regarding acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information and flexible question formulation, and the data were analysed using an inductive–deductive method. A health promotion model was used as a conceptual framework to regulate the refinement of themes. Results: Three themes were identified in this study. The first theme discussed the individual characteristics and experiences of older adults that contributed to their acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information. The second theme described behaviour‐specific cognitions of and the effects on the participants regarding the influencing factors involving various internal individual elements and external physical environment. The third theme explored the positive behavioural outcomes of the participants resulting from these acquisition behaviours. Conclusion: Acquisition behaviours for nutrition‐related information of older adults in long‐term care facilities were affected by both individual characteristics and external physical environment factors. Access to nutritional information can help older adults cultivate a healthy diet. Although they exhibited a significant interest in nutrition, the participants still encountered several difficulties. Based on the actual care needs of the older people, appropriate nutritional information interventions should be provided by healthcare providers working in long‐term care facilities so as to improve the ability of the older people to acquire information independently. Patient or public contribution: All 16 participants actively participated in the interview process and the preliminary preparation of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diet and light foods have been gaining a space of great significance in relation to their consumption. It is noteworthy that people, constantly, do not have the habit of reading and/or do not know how to analyze the labels on product packages. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the consumption and understanding of consumers regarding diet and light foods. The present study was conducted online, with 103 people. A semi-structured questionnaire containing questions regarding food labeling and the consumption of diet and light products was used and applied via Google forms through social networks (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, E-mail, Telegram). There was a greater participation of people of the female gender (72.8%). About 83% and 78% of the participants reported they did not use to consume diet and light foods, respectively. More than half of the participants (58.3%) reported they had the habit of reading nutrition labels. Most of them reported they knew the difference between diet and light foods (65%), with 30.1% reporting that diet foods do not have sugar in their composition and 35.9% claiming that light products have reduced calorie levels. The level of education and income influenced the habit of reading labels and knowledge about such foods. Most respondents read the labels and understand the importance, but do not have the knowledge regarding what diet and light products are and for whom they are intended, emphasizing the need to develop educational programs and strategies that clarify how to evaluate and understand nutritional labeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Nutritional knowledge is the understanding of the concepts and processes of nutrition and health, including combinations of knowledge about diet and health, diet and diseases, nutritional sources, and dietary recommendations. Objective: To assess the nutritional knowledge of the population from Caxias do Sul and investigate their associations with sociodemographic and anthropometric data. Methods: Cross-sectional study including residents of Caxias do Sul, between 18 and 80 years old. Through an online questionnaire, sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected. To evaluate the nutritional knowledge, sections 2 and 4 from GNKQ (General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire for adults) were used. The 26 questions had several items and each item marked correctly received 1 point, totaling 57 possible points. The nutritional knowledge was classified as low (up to 19 points), medium (between 20 and 38 points) and high (above 39 points). Results: The sample nutritional knowledge was 39.9 ± 6.1 points. Most of the participants were classified as high nutritional knowledge (n=184; 61.1%, average 43.8 ± 3.6 points). There was a statistical difference between gender (p<0.001), income (p=0.009), schooling (p=0.015) and nutrition students or dietitians (p<0.001). Women, people with higher income and schooling, as well as nutrition students or dietitians demonstrated higher nutritional knowledge. Conclusions: The sample of adults and older people from Caxias do Sul-RS has considerable nutritional knowledge, with a higher score between female participants, higher income, higher level of education, and nutrition students or dietitians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Biscuits are small bakery products made with wheat flour, fat, sugar and other ingredients, and they can be processed or ultraprocessed food. This paper aimed to evaluate the nutritional quality of biscuits sold in Brazilian supermarkets. Materials and methods: After authorization from the managers, two supermarkets participated in the study. The data collected from labels was the nutritional information and the list of ingredients of cookoies, through photos and notes. Data were tabulated and statistically analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a significant level of p<0,05. Results: A total of 412 different products were included, which 73,5% are sweet and 26,5% are salty biscuits. About processing, 98,05% are ultraprocessed and only 1,95% processed. The average of ingredients was 14,80 and 84,7% of biscuits were produced with 11 or more ingredients; the maxim number of ingredients was 29. Vegetal fat was found in 79,6% of products. Sweet biscuits have higher values of sugar (p<0,0001), total fat (p=0,002) and saturated fat (p<0,0001), and salty biscuits were higher in proteins (p<0,0001) and sodium (p<0,0001). When compared with processed biscuits, the ultraprocessed ones were higher in carbohydrates (p=0,001), sugar (p<0,0001), total fat (p<0,0001) and saturated fat (p<0,0001). Conclusion: In this study, processed and salty biscuits had better nutritional quality than sweet and ultraprocessed ones, and are considered better choice options for consumers in supermarkets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Keyhole is an internationally recognised front-of-pack nutrition label, guiding consumers to healthier food options. It indicates products in accordance with specific criteria for dietary fats, sugars, fibres, salt and wholegrains. The objective of this study was to simulate the potential impact of the Keyhole on adolescents' energy and nutrient intakes by modelling a shift from reported food intakes to foods meeting the Keyhole criteria.Design: Self-reported dietary intake data were derived from a cross-sectional survey. Multiple replacement scenarios were calculated, where foods meeting the Keyhole criteria replaced reported non-compliant foods with varying proportions of replacement.Setting: Dietary survey 'Riksmaten Adolescents 2016-2017' in schools across Sweden.Participants: A nationally representative sample of 3099 adolescents in school years 5, 8 and 11 (55 % girls).Results: Overall, replacement with foods meeting the Keyhole criteria led to more adolescents meeting nutrition recommendations. Largest median intake improvements were seen for wholegrains (+196 %), SFA (-13 %), PUFA (+17 %) and fibres (+15 %). Smallest improvements were seen for free sugars (-3 %) and salt (-2 %), partly explained by the ineligibility of main food sources of free sugars for the Keyhole, and non-inclusion of ready meals that are often high in salt. Most micronutrient intakes were stable or improved. Unintentional effects included decreases in vitamin A, MUFA and energy intakes. Largest potential improvements in fat and fibre sources were observed in the youngest age group.Conclusions: A shift to Keyhole alternatives for everyday foods would improve adolescents' nutrient intakes, even with smaller exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today’s consumers are becoming more aware of what they consume and the implications that a proper diet can have for their health. This work aimed to understand how Lebanese people get information about foods, and which communication media they consider the most appropriate. Also, the attitudes toward food labelling were assessed. This was a cross-sectional study undertaken by means of a questionnaire survey on a sample of 258 Lebanese participants. Data analysis used statistical tools such as T-test and ANOVA with post hoc to test possible group differences or Cronbach’s alpha to assess internal scale reliability. The results showed that radio was the first choice as a media tool used by Lebanese people for gathering food information (29.1%), followed by hospitals (23.3%), and the participants also considered that these are the most appropriate means to communicate information (28.3 and 22.5%, respectively). Regarding the Lebanese behaviour on nutrition labelling, nearly half of the participants (44.6%) very frequently or always check the food labels but some showed no interest in the components and the fibres they contain. Reliability analysis showed that the items used to assess the food labelling scale have a very high internal consistency (α = 0.847). So, the Lebanese people tend to rely on radio for information about food and the labels are considered as important source of information as well. Nevertheless, Lebanese don’t consult the nutritional composition as often as desirable in order to adjust their purchases or compare to different items, aimed at healthier food choices. So in order to inform Lebanese people about related food rich in fibres and to instigate their purchasing intentions, the producing companies must rely on marketing campaigns through radio and on labels not just the information in nutritional composition.

Nutrition labels on food packages are designed to assist consumers in making healthy decisions. Based on the model of a dual-process system, the current study examined how people might be affected by nutrition labels and consuming contexts when making choices about healthy foods. Using four types of nutrition labels (i.e., the NuVal label, 5-Color nutrition label, traffic light label, and daily value label), participants were instructed to choose the healthier foods with or without time constraints in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with pairs of foods accompanied by the same type of nutrition labels to measure the efficiency of their health evaluation. In Experiment 2, two types of labels with inconsistent nutritional information were presented to participants simultaneously to measure their preference regarding the nutrition labels. Findings of the current study support the notion that the traffic light label is advantageous in terms of both the efficiency of, and preferences regarding, nutrition judgment, especially with time constraints. When there was only one type of nutrition label, participants made decisions fastest and most accurately when observing the NuVal label, regardless of time constraints. Overall, the reliable interactions between the time constraints and patterns of nutrition labels have theoretical implications for the appeal-based heuristics and rational-based processing when making health-related food decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines a large-scale mandatory food labeling regulation to identify its effects on consumer behavior. We examine a large-scale mandatory food labeling regulation to identify its effects on consumer behavior. We take advantage of exogenous variation in product-labeling status from the gradual and asynchronous introduction of labeled products on store shelves many weeks before the legal deadline. We combine individual-level scan data from a large retailer with on-the-shelf information on the actual warning label status for breakfast cereals, chocolates, and cookies. Warning labels decrease demand and purchase probabilities in the cereal category, and this effect is larger on medium-low socioeconomic groups. We find inconclusive results of the warning label on chocolates and cookies. Overall, results suggest that the warning label effect is consistent with information disclosure influencing consumers' choices when the advertised information is unexpected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leila Arfaoui,1 Areej Alkhaldy,1 Ahad Alareeshi,1 Ghadeer AlSaadi,1 Shaima Alhendi,1 Afnan Alghanmi,1 Wejdan Alghafari,1 Mourad Assidi2,3 1Clinical Nutrition Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 2Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 3Medical Laboratory Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Leila Arfaoui Tel +966 126401000 (ext. 41612)Email leila.arfaoui@gmail.comBackground: Few studies have investigated the knowledge and attitudes towards the nutrition facts label, the nutrient content and health claims (NHCs) among consumers from different countries/cultures.Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge and self-reported use of the nutrition facts label and NHCs among Saudi adults. A total of 722 participants were recruited using an online questionnaire.Results: Total knowledge score was 5.8 ± 2.5/13 points (45%). Approximately, 18%, 77%, and 5% of the participants had low, medium, and high levels of knowledge, respectively. Participants were more knowledgeable on the nutrition facts label (2.6 ± 1.6/5 points) and health claims (2.7 ± 1.2/4 points) versus nutrient content claims (0.5 ± 0.7/4 points). The total use score was 20.1 ± 5.7/30 points (67%); approximately, 2%, 61%, and 37% of the participants were classified as low, medium, and high use level, respectively. Participants’ use of the nutrition facts label, nutrient content claims, and health claims was 10.0 ± 3.1/15, 6.5 ± 2.2/9, and 3.6 ± 1.8/6 points, respectively.Conclusion: This study highlights the need for more education and public awareness programs to enhance consumer knowledge and use of the nutrition facts label and NHCs, and consequently lead to healthy dietary choices.Keywords: health claims, knowledge, nutrition facts label, nutrient claims, nutritional information

Objective: To evaluate the physical activities and dietary habits and to determine the concept of healthy eating among university students of Pakistan. Study Design: Cross sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: Three well reputed educational institutes of Lahore Pakistan, from Jul 2019 to May 2020. Methodology: A questionnaire was used for data collection and validated scientifically as well as linguistically by experts. The questionnaire consists of 4 parts demographic and basic profile of participants i.e., body mass index, age, gender. The rest of parts used to evaluate dietary patterns, physical activities and participant’s concept for healthy eating. A total of 324 participants were included in the study and sample size was calculated by using Raosoft sample size calculator by keeping the population size as 200000. The data was collected through online protocols such as by sharing in social media groups of relevant universities. All the collected data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS-21. Results: Out of 324 participants, there was a major cohort of female participants 202 (62.3%) as well as 209 (64.5%) participants were day scholars. The key findings of current study were observed that the students have satisfactory eating habits and 103 (31.8%) have an active lifestyle; 130 (40.1%) have a normal body mass index; only 142 (43.8%) have quite good nutritional knowledge. Conclusion: The results specified detrimental behaviors influencing student’s dietary habits and they must be considered inevitable for interventions to be made and refining student’s responsiveness for acquiring a healthy lifestyle.

In order to automatically perceive the user's dietary nutritional information in the smart home environment, this paper proposes a dietary nutritional information autonomous perception method based on machine vision in smart homes. Firstly, we proposed a food-recognition algorithm based on YOLOv5 to monitor the user's dietary intake using the social robot. Secondly, in order to obtain the nutritional composition of the user's dietary intake, we calibrated the weight of food ingredients and designed the method for the calculation of food nutritional composition; then, we proposed a dietary nutritional information autonomous perception method based on machine vision (DNPM) that supports the quantitative analysis of nutritional composition. Finally, the proposed algorithm was tested on the self-expanded dataset CFNet-34 based on the Chinese food dataset ChineseFoodNet. The test results show that the average recognition accuracy of the food-recognition algorithm based on YOLOv5 is 89.7%, showing good accuracy and robustness. According to the performance test results of the dietary nutritional information autonomous perception system in smart homes, the average nutritional composition perception accuracy of the system was 90.1%, the response time was less than 6 ms, and the speed was higher than 18 fps, showing excellent robustness and nutritional composition perception performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food packaging is a factor used to attract consumer attention and generate sensory and hedonic expectations. Most food packaging use conventional labels having the nutritional table as the main component; however, other alternatives such as the traffic light (TL) and warning labels have been proposed to the food industry as an alternative to improve the consumer interpretation related to food products. This study aimed to understand the effect of two front‐of‐pack labels (TL and warning models) on consumer perceptions and purchasing intention using free word association. A cross‐sectional study with 551 volunteers was carried out using chocolate bars and soft drinks having conventional labels and front‐of‐pack labels. Results from volunteers using free word association show that front‐of‐pack labels did not impact the purchasing intention of volunteers when compared with food packaging having conventional labels (only nutritional table). However, the use of front‐of‐pack labels can modify consumer perception, inducing consumers to reflect on the information exposed on the food label. In this context, the warning label was more efficient to transmit the information to consumers when compared with the TL model. Based on these results, it is possible to suggest the warning model as the most indicate label to be used in food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the influence of consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) perception of the restaurants that offer nutritional information on their menu on customer satisfaction and loyalty to the restaurants and the mediating roles of brand trust and customer satisfaction in the picture. A SEM technique was used to analyze 360 responses collected from a survey in the US. The findings implicate that brand trust in the restaurant is a major benefit for the restaurants from offering nutritional information, yet customer satisfaction seems to be a necessary condition to establish loyalty at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today’s consumers are becoming more aware of what they consume and the implications that a proper diet can have for their health. This work aimed to understand how Lebanese people get information about foods, and which communication media they consider the most appropriate. Also, the attitudes toward food labelling were assessed. This was a cross-sectional study undertaken by means of a questionnaire survey on a sample of 258 Lebanese participants. Data analysis used statistical tools such as T-test and ANOVA with post hoc to test possible group differences or Cronbach’s alpha to assess internal scale reliability. The results showed that radio was the first choice as a media tool used by Lebanese people for gathering food information (29.1%), followed by hospitals (23.3%), and the participants also considered that these are the most appropriate means to communicate information (28.3 and 22.5%, respectively). Regarding the Lebanese behaviour on nutrition labelling, nearly half of the participants (44.6%) very frequently or always check the food labels but some showed no interest in the components and the fibres they contain. Reliability analysis showed that the items used to assess the food labelling scale have a very high internal consistency (α = 0.847). So, the Lebanese people tend to rely on radio for information about food and the labels are considered as important source of information as well. Nevertheless, Lebanese don’t consult the nutritional composition as often as desirable in order to adjust their purchases or compare to different items, aimed at healthier food choices. So in order to inform Lebanese people about related food rich in fibres and to instigate their purchasing intentions, the producing companies must rely on marketing campaigns through radio and on labels not just the information in nutritional composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a survey of 1,225 consumers in 10 cities of five representative provinces, this study was designed to understand the low use rate of food nutrition information in China after a mandatory label policy was instituted in 2013. We found that consumers always neglect nutrition information at point-of-purchase. But they refer to simplified front-of-pack labels more frequently than detailed back-of-pack labels. Fat information is most concerned especially by females; whereas sodium information attracts the least concern. Ignorance, a belief that the information is un-useful are the main cause of the low use rate of nutritional information. Thus, simplified and striking tag formats should be used to capture consumers' attention and convince them of the importance of nutrition information. The findings can also be used as a guide in the design of food marketing programs directing at different consumer groups for food processors targeting the Chinese market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy eating is a significant concern in public health. People who are healthconscious or have special dietary requirements prioritise nutrition and calorie consumption. Thus, many customers rely on the information on a restaurant's menu when making their purchase decisions. This study aims to investigate the relationship between nutritional information as well as portion size in restaurant menus and customer purchase decisions. A self-administered survey was conducted in the area of Shah Alam, the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia. A purposive sampling with 107 usable questionnaires was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that nutritional information and portion size in restaurant menus significantly influenced customer purchase decisions. As a consequence, restaurants face a crucial challenge in providing nutritional information and portion size in their menus in a way that gives them a competitive advantage and at the same time compels customers to make healthy eating choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excess intake of energy, sugars, salt and saturated fats is an important causal factor of obesity and related non-communicable diseases. In order to help consumers to make healthy food choices, many European countries have developed proposals for "front-of-pack" food labeling, intended as an integration to the nutritional information provided by the mandatory nutritional declaration. Based on the European strategic program "Farm to Fork", the intention is to achieve a harmonized front-of-pack label proposal by Q4 2022. Among the different proposals, the one which received most attention by experts and greater feedback by the EU member countries is the Nutri-Score, a tool based on an algorithm whereby a "quality" category ranging from A to E is assigned to each single food on a background colored from dark green to dark orange. As an alternative to Nutri-Score, the NutrInform Battery has been developed by Italy in association with a few other EU member states: this proposal is objectively alternative to the Nutri-Score proposal due to a different underlying philosophy, in particular for its informative and educational intent rather than purchase orientation. The present document, prepared by the Scientific Board and reviewed by the Scientific Council of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, represents the scientific-based position of the Society in relation to the general theme of front-of-pack labeling and in particular to the dualism created between the Nutri-Score and NutrInform Battery proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the physical activities and dietary habits and to determine the concept of healthy eating among university students of Pakistan. Study Design: Cross sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: Three well reputed educational institutes of Lahore Pakistan, from Jul 2019 to May 2020. Methodology: A questionnaire was used for data collection and validated scientifically as well as linguistically by experts. The questionnaire consists of 4 parts demographic and basic profile of participants i.e., body mass index, age, gender. The rest of parts used to evaluate dietary patterns, physical activities and participant’s concept for healthy eating. A total of 324 participants were included in the study and sample size was calculated by using Raosoft sample size calculator by keeping the population size as 200000. The data was collected through online protocols such as by sharing in social media groups of relevant universities. All the collected data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS-21. Results: Out of 324 participants, there was a major cohort of female participants 202 (62.3%) as well as 209 (64.5%) participants were day scholars. The key findings of current study were observed that the students have satisfactory eating habits and 103 (31.8%) have an active lifestyle; 130 (40.1%) have a normal body mass index; only 142 (43.8%) have quite good nutritional knowledge. Conclusion: The results specified detrimental behaviors influencing student’s dietary habits and they must be considered inevitable for interventions to be made and refining student’s responsiveness for acquiring a healthy lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrition labels on food packages are designed to assist consumers in making healthy decisions. Based on the model of a dual-process system, the current study examined how people might be affected by nutrition labels and consuming contexts when making choices about healthy foods. Using four types of nutrition labels (i.e., the NuVal label, 5-Color nutrition label, traffic light label, and daily value label), participants were instructed to choose the healthier foods with or without time constraints in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with pairs of foods accompanied by the same type of nutrition labels to measure the efficiency of their health evaluation. In Experiment 2, two types of labels with inconsistent nutritional information were presented to participants simultaneously to measure their preference regarding the nutrition labels. Findings of the current study support the notion that the traffic light label is advantageous in terms of both the efficiency of, and preferences regarding, nutrition judgment, especially with time constraints. When there was only one type of nutrition label, participants made decisions fastest and most accurately when observing the NuVal label, regardless of time constraints. Overall, the reliable interactions between the time constraints and patterns of nutrition labels have theoretical implications for the appeal-based heuristics and rational-based processing when making health-related food decisions.

Purpose: To evaluate dietary supplement use in young Canadian athletes, their motivation for consuming supplements, and their sources of information. Methods: A questionnaire tested for content validity and reliability was administered to 567 athletes between the ages of 11 and 25 years from the Canadian athletic community in face-to-face meetings. Demographics and sport variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Fisher's exact tests were used to examine dietary supplementation patterns and sources of information regarding dietary supplement use between categories of gender, age, sport type, and competition level. Results: Ninety-eight percent of athletes were taking at least one dietary supplement. Males were more likely to consume protein powder, energy drinks, recovery drinks, branched chain amino acids, beta-alanine, and glutamine (p < .01); supplements typically associated with increased muscle mass. Athletes 11-17 years old focused on vitamin and mineral supplements; whereas, athletes 18-25 years old focused on purported ergogenic supplements. Strength training athletes were more likely to consume creatine, glutamine, and protein powders (p < .02). Reasons for supplement use included to stay healthy, increase energy, immune system, recovery, and overall performance. Primary sources of information were family and friends, coaches, and athletic trainers; with 48% of athletes having met with a dietitian. Preferred means of education included individual consultations, presentations, and the internet. Conclusions: The majority of young athletes are using dietary supplements with the belief they will improve performance and health; however, may not always have reliable information. Educational programs using individual consultations and electronic media are recommended for this demographic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of exceeding levels of sugar consumption, some food companies advertise high-sugar products using inappropriate and misleading health claims (i.e. healthwashing). To reduce sugar consumption, consumers need to recognize what these healthwashed claims are. This study investigates how prior sugar-related health information moderates the effect of exposure to healthwashed advertisements (ads) on healthwashing perceptions and how such perceptions are related to attitudes towards product consumption. We conducted a 2 × 2 online experiment with 292 adult participants in Austria. We manipulated the presence of healthwashing and participants' prior sugar-related health information. The results indicated that exposure to healthwashed ads increased healthwashing perceptions only when the participants received additional health information prior to ad exposure, whereas no significant effect was found when the participants did not receive such prior health information. Healthwashing perceptions were then negatively related to individuals' attitudes towards product consumption. Based on these results, the study suggests that public access to health-related information might play an important role in empowering consumers to detect inappropriate health claims and become more critical towards food companies' underlying strategies in ads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show that the high consumption of ultra-processed foods in childhood contributes to the incidence of diseases and non communicable diseases. However, research reports consumers find it difficult to understand the information on food labels. In this context, the Traffic-light labeling (TLL) is presented as a possible ally in the accessibility and comprehension of this information. Objective: The TLL model was applied to ultra-processed products aimed at children. Materials and Methods: 84 products of five categories and different brands were selected, grouped into: G1) instant noodles; G2) packaged snacks; G3) stuffed cookie; G4) industrialized cookies; G5) industrialized juices; G6) dairy drinks. For adaptation of the SN, concentrations of total, saturated and trans fats, sugar, sodium and fibers were observed. The analysis of the labels was carried out according to the parameters established for 100g or 100mL of the product, considering classifications in the colors green ("low quantity"), yellow ("medium quantity") and red ("high quantity"), only in the item fibers, the green color represents "enough quantity" and the red color "low quantity". Results and dicussion: In G1, the contents of saturated fats (100%), sodium (100%) and fibers (70%) were classified in red. In G2, sodium (100%), total fat (73.3%), saturated (73.3%) and fiber (80%) nutrients were classified in red. In G3, 55% were classified as red for saturated fats, 85% sodium and 80% fiber. In G4, the red classification was dominant in fibers (100%), sodium (90.0%) and saturated fats (80.0%). In G5 and G6, 100% received a red classification in terms of fibers. Conclusion: Most products showed inadequate nutrient values, so their consumption is a risk factor for children's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Providing nutritional information in catering establishments in Poland, it is not mandatory, at the same time this type of information may affect the attitudes and behavior of consumers. Objective. The purpose of this research was to define the influence of nutritional information upon customer attitude and behaviour in eating out establishments. Material and methods: An online consumer survey was conducted in 2016. The quantitative research was undertaken in the form of a questionnaire among a group of 403 people selected in terms of age (18-35 years old), residence (big cities) and frequency of eating out or away from the home. Results. The results of this research show that the respondents’ perception of information was positive and influenced both their perception of the eating out establishment, as well as their purchasing decisions. Only gender was statistically important for the differentiation of the consumers’ behaviour within the scope analyzed. Conclusions. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that providing nutritional information may increase the competitiveness of eating out establishments. It may also lead to a more rational marketplace, where choices in terms of health may impact social health, taking into consideration the growing popularity of eating out or away from home.

The World Health Organization identifies the overall increasing of noncommunicable diseases as a major issue, such as premature heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Unhealthy diets have been identified as the important causing factor of such diseases. In this context, personalized nutrition emerges as a new research field for providing tailored food intake advices to individuals according to their physical, physiological data, and further personal information. Specifically, in the last few years, several types of research have proposed computational models for personalized food recommendation using nutritional knowledge and user data. This paper presents a general framework for daily meal plan recommendations, incorporating as main feature the simultaneous management of nutritional-aware and preference-aware information, in contrast to the previous works which lack this global viewpoint. The proposal incorporates a pre-filtering stage that uses AHPSort as multi-criteria decision analysis tool for filtering out foods which are not appropriate to the current user characteristics. Furthermore, it incorporates an optimization-based stage for generating a daily meal plan whose goal is the recommendation of food highly preferred by the user, not consumed recently, and satisfying his/her daily nutritional requirements. A case study is developed for testing the performance of the recommender system.

In order to automatically perceive the user’s dietary nutritional information in the smart home environment, this paper proposes a dietary nutritional information autonomous perception method based on machine vision in smart homes. Firstly, we proposed a food-recognition algorithm based on YOLOv5 to monitor the user’s dietary intake using the social robot. Secondly, in order to obtain the nutritional composition of the user’s dietary intake, we calibrated the weight of food ingredients and designed the method for the calculation of food nutritional composition; then, we proposed a dietary nutritional information autonomous perception method based on machine vision (DNPM) that supports the quantitative analysis of nutritional composition. Finally, the proposed algorithm was tested on the self-expanded dataset CFNet-34 based on the Chinese food dataset ChineseFoodNet. The test results show that the average recognition accuracy of the food-recognition algorithm based on YOLOv5 is 89.7%, showing good accuracy and robustness. According to the performance test results of the dietary nutritional information autonomous perception system in smart homes, the average nutritional composition perception accuracy of the system was 90.1%, the response time was less than 6 ms, and the speed was higher than 18 fps, showing excellent robustness and nutritional composition perception performance.

The Menu Labeling Act (MLA), which requires restaurants to provide customers with nutritional information, has encountered implementation difficulties for more than 8 years, owing to the imposition of administrative costs on restaurant firms. By investigating the market value of 46 restaurant firms that publicly trade in the United States, this research analyzes the impact of MLA-related announcements on the market value of foodservice firms. Announcements associated with restrictions tend to reduce restaurant market value by 0.29% per day (market value is defined as the number of shares times the share price), whereas announcements related to flexibility increase such market value by 0.80%. The final guideline and compliance date announced by the Food and Drug Administration has provoked significant negative effects on restaurant market value. Meanwhile, the congress' proposed opposition act has elicited great positive effects. This study provides important implications for policy makers and practitioners in the food service industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal plants play a crucial role in traditional medicine, where they are extensively employed by traditional physicians for treating a wide array of ailments. Limonia acidissima (Linn), commonly known as the Wood apple and belonging to the Rutaceae family, is widely cultivated in countries, such as Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. The various parts of Limonia acidissima, including its roots, leaves, fruits, stem, and even the whole plant, have been traditionally used in the treatment of numerous conditions, such as constipation, diarrhea, dysentery, skin diseases, asthma, astringent, diabetes, jaundice, and dyspepsia and act as diuretic agents, cardiotonic, cardiac stimulant, and hepato-protectant. Extensive research has revealed that Limonia acidissima possesses a rich chemical composition, including quinones, lignans, flavonoids, sterols, coumarins, alkaloids, triterpenoids, phenolic acids, and volatile oils, present in its stem, leaves, fruits, stem bark, and roots. These chemical constituents contribute to its diverse therapeutic properties. In recent years, numerous studies have explored the ethanopharmacological properties of Limonia acidissima extracts, highlighting their anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-diarrheal, antimicrobial, antiulcer, wound healing, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antibacterial, antifungal, larvicidal, neuroprotective, antispermatogenic, antihistaminic, diuretic, and adsorbent activities. This comprehensive review focuses on the traditional uses, biological activities, and phytoconstituents isolated from different parts of Limonia acidissima Linn. The gathered information provides valuable insights into the therapeutic potential of this plant, serving as a foundation for further research and the development of novel pharmaceuticals. The integration of traditional knowledge with scientific evidence enhances the understanding of the medicinal properties of Limonia acidissima, fostering its utilization in modern medicine and healthcare systems., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The increase in food-related diseases in society has led to a variety of public policy and private sector initiatives, such as the use of nutritional labels. Although nutritional labels have been shown to be broadly effective in terms of informing food choice, their influence is moderated by a variety of factors, such as how information is conveyed and processed by consumers. Recent advances in technology might overcome these limitations. Using a choice experiment, this paper examines consumer preferences for alternative technological devices that may aid consumer processing of nutritional information on food packaging. The results show which attributes of the technology consumers prefer, and identifies three distinct segments of consumers (‘information hungry innovators’, ‘active label readers’, and ‘onlookers’), and differences between them in relation to their preferences, demographics, and psychographic characteristics. The identification of segments is a novel aspect of this research, and highlights the importance of finding more customised solutions to the communication of nutritional information – an issue to which technology can contribute. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract Micronutrient malnutrition affects 2 billion people worldwide and biofortification could prove to be a cost-effective solution to its alleviation. The aims of this study are as follows: (i) to understand consumer acceptance of the main sensory characteristics such as taste, color, texture, etc., of an iron-enriched bean variety compared to a popular traditional one (“parramos”); (ii) to measure consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for an iron-enriched bean variety compared to a traditional one; (iii) to investigate the role of nutrition information; and (iv) to understand the impact of information repetition on consumer acceptance. To achieve this, a home use testing (HUT) method and a Becker-DeGroot-Marshak mechanism were used. The results indicate that consumers equally preferred the iron-enriched and the local bean varieties, although some minor differences were found in some of the sensory characteristics. Although the mean WTP for the iron-enriched bean variety was higher, the difference was not statistically significant among the groups evaluated. The information provided and the order of variety delivery play a significant role in consumer acceptance for the iron-enriched variety, and repetition in providing information had a positive impact depending on the type of message provided and on who received it (e.g., men or women, more educated respondents). Potential censored bids were found due to the nature of the currency interval and some transaction costs.

Rice milling mode (brown and polished rice) creates a dilemma for organic brown rice (OBR) where the nexus is between consumer preference and nutritional properties. The appearance of rice is often considering an important attribute for consumers. Based on this, the present study examines the effect of nutritional information to the consumer preference of OBR. Forty university students have been recruited based on interest and availability. The subjects have been divided into two groups: A (nine males and 11 females) and B (seven males and 13 females), as per the order of information and non-information about the nutritional benefits of consuming OBR. Questionnaires to examine the quality concept of organic rice before and after the treatment have been prepared. ISO 13299, 2016 has been applied to establish a sensory profile. The single list attributes (taste, aroma, colour, and texture) have been used to examine panellist responses. Two varieties of long-grain organic rice have been prepared in the two-milling mode (brown and polished). This study reveals that the nutritional information of brown rice affects panellist responses on colour and texture. For the un-informed group B, colour and texture attributes were considered lower for brown rice compared with polished rice, while for the informed group A, there were no significant differences of these quality attributes between both rice types. The intervention of nutritional information seems to improve the lower brown rice attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A front-of-package nutrition label is a tool to help guide food selection towards a balanced and healthy diet. Objective: To understand the model of front-of-package nutrition label that most influences the understanding of calories and important nutrients in processed food products in adult participants in Lima, Peru. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental cross-sectional study with 384 participant adults of both sexes. Participants were distributed into four equal groups: no nutritional labeling; daily food guide; stop sign warning labeling; and daily food guide with a traffic light symbol. Each participant was given a questionnaire with 10 pictures of food packaging with the labeling model that corresponded to their randomized group, along with 10 additional questions, for a total of 20 possible questionnaire points. Points were given for correct answers to the 20 questions on the questionnaire, such as identifying correctly the number of calories and/or critical nutrients. Results: The highest total scores were for the daily food guide-traffic light group (12.1 ± 3.9) and daily food guide group (12.1 ± 3.7), with significant differences with respect to the other two groups. There were also differences in the scores of the identification of calories, saturated fat, and total fat; the highest values were for the same two groups indicated above (p <0.05). No differences in food labels were found for the identification of sugars or sodium. Conclusions: The daily food guide and daily food guide-traffic light models most influence the identification of calories and critical nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern consumer has become more attentive when taking the decision to purchase food due to the controversies in the food industry, the impact of social media and more intense relationship between consumed products and health. The nutritional information on the label has become an important element guiding the successful choice of food products. Thus, the consumer tries to process this information based on his intellectual and financial resources. This research aims to determine the degree of comprehensibility of the information displayed on food labels, to evaluate its nutritional profile and to highlight a possible antithesis of the perceived favourable image and the nutritional value “de facto” of those goods. In order to implement this approach there were conducted exploratory marketing researches, using the questionnaire and the method SAIN-LIM.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar a composição nutricional dos pães do tipo bisnaguinha destinados ao público infantil, comparar os resultados com a informação nutricional contida no rótulo e com a legislação vigente. Foram analisadas seis marcas de pães, em relação aos teores de proteína, gordura, fibras, carboidrato, umidade, cinzas, sódio e valor calórico, seguindo os métodos do Adolfo Lutz e da Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Os resultados encontrados foram comparados com os valores apresentados na rotulagem nutricional das embalagens e com a tolerância de 20% preconizada pela Resolução da Diretoria Colegiada no 360 da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, classificando os pães de acordo ou não com a legislação vigente. Das seis marcas de pães do tipo bisnaguinha analisadas, todas estavam em desacordo com a legislação vigente, pois apresentaram nutrientes em desacordo com os 20% estabelecidos pela legislação. ====================================================== This study aimed to analyze the nutritional composition of bisnaguinha, a type of bread for the children’s segment, and to compare the results with the nutritional information on the label and with current legislation. Six brands of breads were analyzed in relation to protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, moisture, ash, sodium and calories, following the methods of Adolfo Lutz and the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. The results were compared with the values in the nutritional labeling of packages and the tolerance of 20% recommended by the Brazilian Resolution number 360 of the National Health Supervision Agency, classifying the breads in agreement or not with the law. Of the six brands of bisnaguinha analyzed, all were in disagreement with the current legislation, because they presented nutrients that were not in compliance with the 20% established by the legislation.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the characteristics of fillings used in cookies commercialized in Brazil and in USA according to their chemical composition, labels, nutritional information, ingredients list, and price. Fillings had approximately 25–32% of fat. In general, the composition of these fats consisted of approximately 50% of saturated fatty acids (SFA), mainly palmitic acid, and 50% of unsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid. Brazilian samples had trans‐fatty acids (TFA) in the range of 1–15% although in many cases their presence was not reported in the labels. USA product labels did not present a fixed portion weight but they showed detailed information about the types of fats used such as source and the process used for their production. In 70% of Brazilian product labels, the information shown in the ingredient list was limited to "vegetable fat," which does not give enough information to consumers about the type of fat used. In addition, our results showed that low‐trans‐products or zero‐trans‐products, in which TFA were replaced by SFA, presented the highest prices. This research suggests that further legislation should be developed in Brazil to decrease the amount of TFA in foods and improve their nutritional properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new regulation about mandatory labelling on nutrition requires the declaration of specific parameters: protein, lipid, salt and carbohydrate contents. This study reports a fast, accurate method to determine the values of these mandatory nutritional parameters based on near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy (NIRs) technology and data mining techniques, used in an automatic way. For that, two batches of different Iberian pork meat products (dry-cured ham, dry-cured loin, dry-cured shoulder, dry-fermented Salchichón sausage, and dry-fermented Chorizo sausage were used. One batch of each product was used to train the method and the remaining batch was used for validation. To develop the method, prediction equations were obtained from the NIRs, while nutritional data for the training batches were obtained by applying data mining techniques, and the prediction equations were evaluated against the NIRs data from the validation batch. The prediction equations achieved from very good to excellent degrees of relationship (R > 0.75) and accurate results (MAE < 1, RMSEC < 1, RMSEP < 1) from the training batch. These prediction equations were corroborated using the validation batch, which showed very good to excellent correlation coefficients (R > 0.75). This new method is rapid, as it takes around 10 minutes in comparison with traditional methods that take around 6 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]