Scientific journal

54 2015

Journal of Food and Nutrition Research
Summary No. 2 / 2015

Eržen, N. – Rayner, M. – Pravst, I.
A comparative evaluation of the use of a food composition database and nutrition declarations for nutrient profiling
Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 54, 2015, No. 2, s. 93-100

Igor Pravst, Functional Foods Research Group, Nutrition Institute, Tržaška cesta 40, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Tel.: +386 590 68871, fax: + 386 1 3007981, e-mail: igor.pravst@nutris.org

Received 3 March 2014; revised 30 July 2014; accepted 30 September 2014; published online 23 March 2015

Summary: Nutrient profiling is used to classify foods according to their nutritional composition for various reasons, including the regulation of food labelling and advertising of foods to children. When applied to a representative sample of foods on the market, nutrient profiling has the potential to also be used to assess and monitor changes in the food market. In this study, we assessed whether data from a food composition database can be used to substitute or supplement data taken from food labels to conduct analyses using nutrient profile models. Study was performed using the Office of Communications (London, United Kingdom) nutrient profile model (Ofcom model), and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (Canberra, Australia) nutrient profile model (FSANZ model). When applying both nutrient profile models to a full sample of foods in various food categories using nutrition composition data from the nutrition declaration or from the food composition database, we observed a moderate to good level of agreement between both classifications. This can be further improved, for example, by excluding some food categories or by using the energy value as an indicator of a specific product’s proper match with one in the food composition database.

Keywords: nutrient profile; food composition databases; food supply; food quality; health claims; Slovenia

Download:
  (pdf, 177.56 Kb, 2144x)