Nutrient profile (NP) models, tools used to rate or evaluate the nutritional quality of foods, are increasingly used by government bodies worldwide to underpin nutrition-related policies. An up-to-date and accessible list of existing NP models is currently unavailable to support their adoption or adaptation in different jurisdictions. This study used a systematic approach to develop a global resource that summarizes key characteristics of NP models with applications in government-led nutrition policies. NP models were identified from an unpublished WHO catalog of NP models last updated in 2012 and from searches conducted in different databases of the peer-reviewed (n = 3; e.g., PubMed) and gray literature (n = 15). Included models had to meet the following inclusion criteria (selected) as of 22 December 2016: 1) developed or endorsed by governmental or intergovernmental organizations, 2) allow for the evaluation of individual food items, and 3) have publicly available nutritional criteria. A total of 387 potential NP models were identified, including n = 361 from the full-text assessment of >600 publications and n = 26 exclusively from the catalog. Seventy-eight models were included. Most (73%) were introduced within the past 10 y, and 44% represent adaptations of ≥1 previously built model. Models were primarily built for school food standards or guidelines (n = 27), food labeling (e.g., front-of-pack; n = 12), and restriction of the marketing of food products to children (n = 10). All models consider nutrients to limit, with sodium, saturated fatty acids, and total sugars being included most frequently; and 86% also consider ≥1 nutrient to encourage (e.g., fiber). No information on validity testing could be identified for 58% of the models. Given the proliferation of NP models worldwide, this new resource will be highly valuable for assisting health professionals and policymakers in the selection of an appropriate model when the establishment of nutrition-related policies requires the use of nutrient profiling.
The Canadian government recently committed to introduce legislation to restrict the commercial marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children. We compared the degree of strictness and agreement between nutrient profile (NP) models relevant to marketing restrictions by applying them in the Canadian context. With the use of data from the University of Toronto 2013 Food Label Information Program ( = 15,342 prepackaged foods), 4 NP models were evaluated: the Food Standards Australia New Zealand-Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (FSANZ-NPSC), the WHO Regional Office for Europe (EURO) model, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) model, and a modified version of the PAHO model (Modified-PAHO), which did not consider the extent of food processing because the application of this characteristic was prone to ambiguity. The number and proportion of foods that would be eligible for marketing to children was calculated with the use of each model, overall and by food category. The Modified-PAHO and PAHO models would permit only 9.8% (95% CI: 9.4%, 10.3%) and 15.8% (95% CI: 15.3%, 16.4%) of foods, respectively, followed by the EURO model [29.8% (95% CI: 29.0%, 30.5%)]. In contrast, the FSANZ-NPSC would consider almost half of prepackaged foods as eligible for marketing to children [49.0% (95% CI: 48.2%, 49.8%)]. Cross-classification analyses showed that only 8.1% of foods would be eligible based on all models (e.g., most pastas without sauce). Subanalyses showed that each model would be more stringent when evaluating food items that specifically target children on their package ( = 747; from 1.9% of foods eligible under Modified-PAHO to 24.2% under FSANZ-NPSC). The degree of strictness and agreement vary greatly between NP models applicable to marketing restrictions. The discrepancies between models highlight the importance for policy makers to carefully evaluate the characteristics underlying such models when trying to identify a suitable model to underpin regulations restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.