Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study
Nutrition claims (NCs) on food packaging are, from one side, an informative tool about the nutritional characteristics of the product. From another side, they could bias the consumer in perceiving such products as healthier than those without claims. In order to investigate whether products with NCs...
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doaj-c21cf9640c2f4ea489bbd44dc2f4d25c2021-09-26T00:10:07ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582021-09-01102225222510.3390/foods10092225Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) StudyDaniela Martini0Cristian Del Bo’1Mauro Serafini2Marisa Porrini3Nicoletta Pellegrini4Donato Angelino5on behalf of SINU Young Working GroupDepartment of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, ItalyFaculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, ItalyDepartment of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, ItalyFaculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, ItalyNutrition claims (NCs) on food packaging are, from one side, an informative tool about the nutritional characteristics of the product. From another side, they could bias the consumer in perceiving such products as healthier than those without claims. In order to investigate whether products with NCs have a better nutritional composition that those without claims, the present study aimed to compare the nutrition facts of 376 breakfast cereals, with and without fibre-related NCs, available in 13 Italian retailer online stores. Among these products, 73 items claimed to be a “source of fibre” and 109 “high in fibre”. In addition to a higher fibre content, products “high in fibre” showed higher protein and fat contents but lower carbohydrate, sugar and salt contents compared to both “source of fibre” and without fibre-related NC items. Overall, a high variability in nutritional values was also observed within products with the same type of fibre-related NC. In conclusion, the results suggested that fibre-related NCs should not be considered as a marker of a better nutritional composition of breakfast cereals, and thus consumers should be educated to carefully read the entire nutritional information reported in the food labelling.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/9/2225fibrenutrition claimnutritional declarationnutritional qualityfood labelling |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Daniela Martini Cristian Del Bo’ Mauro Serafini Marisa Porrini Nicoletta Pellegrini Donato Angelino on behalf of SINU Young Working Group |
spellingShingle |
Daniela Martini Cristian Del Bo’ Mauro Serafini Marisa Porrini Nicoletta Pellegrini Donato Angelino on behalf of SINU Young Working Group Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study Foods fibre nutrition claim nutritional declaration nutritional quality food labelling |
author_facet |
Daniela Martini Cristian Del Bo’ Mauro Serafini Marisa Porrini Nicoletta Pellegrini Donato Angelino on behalf of SINU Young Working Group |
author_sort |
Daniela Martini |
title |
Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study |
title_short |
Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study |
title_full |
Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study |
title_fullStr |
Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Breakfast Cereals Carrying Fibre-Related Claims: Do They Have a Better Nutritional Composition Than Those without Such Claims? Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study |
title_sort |
breakfast cereals carrying fibre-related claims: do they have a better nutritional composition than those without such claims? results from the food labelling of italian products (flip) study |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Foods |
issn |
2304-8158 |
publishDate |
2021-09-01 |
description |
Nutrition claims (NCs) on food packaging are, from one side, an informative tool about the nutritional characteristics of the product. From another side, they could bias the consumer in perceiving such products as healthier than those without claims. In order to investigate whether products with NCs have a better nutritional composition that those without claims, the present study aimed to compare the nutrition facts of 376 breakfast cereals, with and without fibre-related NCs, available in 13 Italian retailer online stores. Among these products, 73 items claimed to be a “source of fibre” and 109 “high in fibre”. In addition to a higher fibre content, products “high in fibre” showed higher protein and fat contents but lower carbohydrate, sugar and salt contents compared to both “source of fibre” and without fibre-related NC items. Overall, a high variability in nutritional values was also observed within products with the same type of fibre-related NC. In conclusion, the results suggested that fibre-related NCs should not be considered as a marker of a better nutritional composition of breakfast cereals, and thus consumers should be educated to carefully read the entire nutritional information reported in the food labelling. |
topic |
fibre nutrition claim nutritional declaration nutritional quality food labelling |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/9/2225 |
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