Intake of low-fat dairy products may contribute to the prevention of hypertension at an older age.

Food reformulation: Reformulation of foods is considered one of the key options to achieve population nutrient goals. The compositions of many foods are modified to assist the consumer bring his or her daily diet more in line with dietary recommendations. Initiatives on food reformulation: Over the past few years the number of reformulated foods introduced on the European market has increased enormously and it is expected that this trend will continue for the coming years. Limits to food reformulation: Limitations to food reformulation in terms of choice of foods appropriate for reformulation and level of feasible reformulation relate mainly to consumer acceptance, safety aspects, technological challenges and food legislation. Impact on key nutrient intake and health: The potential impact of reformulated foods on key nutrient intake and health is obvious. Evaluation of the actual impact requires not only regular food consumption surveys, but also regular updates of the food composition table including the compositions of newly launched reformulated foods. Keywords Food reformulation Key nutrients Health impactIn 2003 a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation (1) provided population goals for nutrients consistent with the prevention of major public health problems in Europe. These goals include a reduction of total dietary fat, in particular of saturated fat, a reduction in trans fatty acids, an increase in PUFA, a reduction in sugar consumption and a reduction in salt intake. Reformulation of commonly eaten foods was considered one of the key options to achieve these goals (2) . Leading companies report to have recently reformulated at least 50 % of their products and claim to have put more than 4000 new or reformulated products on the market over the past 3 years (3) . There are also impressive ongoing national campaigns on food reformulation such as the campaigns on salt reduction by governmental agencies in England, Ireland, France and Finland.Whether the consumer will indeed choose for reformulated foods and a lower salt consumption remains to be seen. Only when actual consumption figures are known can the relevance of reformulated foods with respect to dietary goals and health impact be indicated.The present paper starts with a description of developments in dietary recommendations and the concept and definition of food reformulation. Subsequently, important current initiatives on food reformulation are presented, main limitations in terms of choice of appropriate foods for reformulation and level of feasible reformulation are clarified, and the potential impact of reformulated foods on key nutrient intake and health is discussed. Developments in dietary recommendationsIn the second half of the 20th century, political and socioeconomic developments in Europe resulted in a more secure and abundant food supply than ever before and life expectancy increased steadily. However, at the same time a huge increase in several chronic diseases was observed, and it was recognized that these chronic diseases could be ...

BackgroundThis umbrella review aimed at eliciting good practice characteristics of interventions and policies aiming at healthy diet, increasing physical activity, and lowering sedentary behaviors. Applying the World Health Organization’s framework, we sought for 3 types of characteristics, reflecting: (1) main intervention/policy characteristics, referring to the design, targets, and participants, (2) monitoring and evaluation processes, and (3) implementation issues. This investigation was undertaken by the DEDPIAC Knowledge Hub (the Knowledge Hub on the DEterminants of DIet and Physical ACtivity), which is an action of the European Union’s joint programming initiative.MethodsA systematic review of reviews and stakeholder documents was conducted. Data from 7 databases was analyzed (99 documents met inclusion criteria). Additionally, resources of 7 major stakeholders (e.g., World Health Organization) were systematically searched (10 documents met inclusion criteria). Overall, the review yielded 74 systematic reviews, 16 position review papers, and 19 stakeholders’ documents. Across characteristics, 25% were supported by ≥ 4 systematic reviews. Further, 25% characteristics were supported by ≥ 3 stakeholders’ documents. If identified characteristics were included in at least 4 systematic reviews or at least 3 stakeholders’ documents, these good practice characteristics were classified as relevant.ResultsWe derived a list of 149 potential good practice characteristics, of which 53 were classified as relevant. The main characteristics of intervention/policy (n = 18) fell into 6 categories: the use of theory, participants, target behavior, content development/management, multidimensionality, practitioners/settings. Monitoring and evaluation characteristics (n = 18) were grouped into 6 categories: costs/funding, outcomes, evaluation of effects, time/effect size, reach, the evaluation of participation and generalizability, active components/underlying processes. Implementation characteristics (n = 17) were grouped into eight categories: participation processes, training for practitioners, the use/integration of existing resources, feasibility, maintenance/sustainability, implementation partnerships, implementation consistency/adaptation processes, transferability.ConclusionsThe use of the proposed list of 53 good practice characteristics may foster further development of health promotion sciences, as it would allow for identification of success vectors in the domains of main characteristics of interventions/policies, their implementation, evaluation and monitoring processes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1354-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

No abstract