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

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...

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Main Authors: Chandra Pandav, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Donna R. Miles, Bridget A. Hollingsworth, Barry M. Popkin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:Nutrients
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/8/2799
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spelling doaj-c4f02f33d2814f9abf7ccdf6cfedc2ec2021-08-26T14:10:59ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432021-08-01132799279910.3390/nu13082799The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food ProductsChandra Pandav0Lindsey Smith Taillie1Donna R. Miles2Bridget A. Hollingsworth3Barry M. Popkin4Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi 110029, IndiaDepartment of Nutrition and Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USACarolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USACarolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USADepartment of Nutrition and Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USAThe 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 (<i>n</i> = 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 (<i>n</i> = 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/8/2799nutrient profile modelsnutrient profilingfront-of-package labelswarning labelsultra-processed foodsnoncommunicable diseases
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Chandra Pandav
Lindsey Smith Taillie
Donna R. Miles
Bridget A. Hollingsworth
Barry M. Popkin
spellingShingle Chandra Pandav
Lindsey Smith Taillie
Donna R. Miles
Bridget A. Hollingsworth
Barry M. Popkin
The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products
Nutrients
nutrient profile models
nutrient profiling
front-of-package labels
warning labels
ultra-processed foods
noncommunicable diseases
author_facet Chandra Pandav
Lindsey Smith Taillie
Donna R. Miles
Bridget A. Hollingsworth
Barry M. Popkin
author_sort Chandra Pandav
title The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products
title_short The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products
title_full The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products
title_fullStr The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products
title_full_unstemmed The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products
title_sort who south-east asia region nutrient profile model is quite appropriate for india: an exploration of 31,516 food products
publisher MDPI AG
series Nutrients
issn 2072-6643
publishDate 2021-08-01
description 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 (<i>n</i> = 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 (<i>n</i> = 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.
topic nutrient profile models
nutrient profiling
front-of-package labels
warning labels
ultra-processed foods
noncommunicable diseases
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/8/2799
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