Potential for improvement of population diet through reformulation of commonly eaten foods

Abstract

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 ...

Development of a nutritionally balanced pizza as a functional meal designed to meet published dietary guidelines

“…Indeed, this strategy was earmarked by Combris et al as a potential tool to improve public health (7) and food reformulation is a major feature of the Department of Health's 'Responsibility Deal' (England), engaging the food industry to deliver public health goals (8) . Reformulation of commonly eaten foods is a key approach to achieving the goals set by the WHO/FAO expert consultation (9,10) . Pizza is one of the most popular ready meals, particularly favoured by adolescents and young adults (11) .…”

An assessment of the potential health impacts of food reformulation

“…In addition, food reformulation can require processing innovations or the use of new ingredients, resulting in higher production costs or additional investments that can limit firms' willingness to make voluntary changes. 1,2 Taste modifications resulting from decreased sugar, fat or sodium contents may also lead to rejection by consumers, which can limit firms' incentives to make such changes. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the modification of the nutritional quality of foods may induce significant health benefits even in the absence of changes in consumers' diet patterns.…”

“…Few studies have investigated the potential impacts of already existing quality standards on consumers' diets. 1,2 For instance, one study 3 assessed the impacts on diets if all food products complied with the International Choices Programme (ICP). [4][5][6] According to simulations, the impact of the 'Choices' standard on the population's average nutrient intake could be substantial.…”

Dietary energy compensation in response to reduced sugar diet in non-obese men and women

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Consumption of reformulated sugar-containing processed products has been recommended as a strategy for reducing non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) to no more than 10% of total energy intake (EI) and as a weight reducing strategy in today's obesity epidemic (1,2) . It is therefore important to determine the impact of sugar reformulated food consumption on energy balance dynamics.

The REFORM study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01645995) examined the impact of an 8-week sugar reformulated product exchange on EI, energy expenditure (EE) and energy balance (EB), in a double-blind, randomised, controlled, crossover design.

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