Application of the ≤ 10:1 carbohydrate to fiber ratio to identify healthy grain foods and its association with cardiometabolic risk factors

An Assessment of Three Carbohydrate Metrics of Nutritional Quality for Packaged Foods and Beverages in Australia and Southeast Asia

“…Its free sugars imputation was validated against the AFCD-1. Results between AFCD-1 and Mintel were comparable, and the overall findings of this analysis parallel the previous studies cited [23,27,28]. The study also provides a valuable comparison of carbohydrate-based products in two culturally diverse regions.…”

“…Whilst the findings of the previous studies [23,27,28] and this analysis show that products that meet the carbohydrate metrics have an improved nutritional quality, whether the consumption of products or diets meeting the dual and modified ratios contribute to improved health outcomes remains to be validated. Therefore, future research from epidemiological and clinical studies to correlate dietary data with disease risk can help strengthen the integrity of the carbohydrate metrics.…”

“…Previous studies point to the fact that the carbohydrate metrics reflected by similar ratios of total carbohydrates, dietary fibre and/or free sugars may be associated with multiple benefits, as they may help identify more nutritious products [27,28], or improve diet quality [23], thus contributing to chronic disease reduction when calculated on a diet level [6,19]. Findings of the current analysis are consistent with these studies, showing that packaged foods from Southeast Asia and Australia that met the carbohydrate metrics reported a higher nutritional quality, having higher levels of health-promoting nutrients (e.g., dietary fibre, protein, various vitamins and minerals) and lower levels of nutrients of public health concern (e.g., calories, free sugars, trans fat, cholesterol).…”

“…Packaged foods and beverages make up a large part of the modern-day urban diet, and the ability to select healthful products is a key contribution to healthier diets [24][25][26]. Recently, such metrics have also been proven useful at a product level, with products meeting these metrics found to be nutritionally superior in the USA [17,27] and Brazil [28]. Though the metric has been established in these countries, differences in eating culture and food regulation have a vast influence on the availability and choice of products.…”

“…For instance, there is a greater history and more extensive range of plant-based milk substitutes in Asia [29,30], and cereal-based drinks, which are consumed extensively as a snack and/or breakfast, are non-negligible sources of carbohydrate intake in these countries [31]. However, due to the low availability of such products in the USA and Brazil, previous studies [27,28] failed to capture whether the carbohydrate metrics could be relevant to beverages. Nutrient labelling and permitted product claims also influence product formulations in the market significantly.…”