Prospective association between cancer risk and an individual dietary index based on the British Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System.

The Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System (FSA-NPS) constitutes the basis for the Five-Colour Nutrition Label suggested in France to be put on the front-of-pack of food products. At the individual level, a dietary index (FSA-NPS DI) has been derived and validated and corresponds to a weighted mean of all FSA-NPS scores of foods usually consumed by the individual, reflecting the nutritional quality of his/her diet. Our aim was to investigate the association between the FSA-NPS DI and cancer risk in a large cohort. This prospective study included 6435 participants to the SUpplémentation en VItamines et Minéraux AntioXydants cohort (1994-2007) who completed at least six 24 h dietary records during the first 2 years of follow-up. FSA-NPS DI was computed for each subject (higher values representing lower nutritional quality of the diet). After a median follow-up of 12·6 years, 453 incident cancers were diagnosed. Associations were characterised by multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. The FSA-NPS DI was directly associated with overall cancer risk (hazard ratio (HR)for a 1-point increment=1·08 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·15), P trend=0·02; HRQ5 v. Q1=1·34 (95 % CI 1·00, 1·81), P trend=0·03). This association tended to be more specifically observed in subjects with moderate energy intake (≤median, HRfor a 1-point increment=1·10 (95 % CI 1·01-1·20), P trend=0·03). No association was observed in subjects with higher energy intake (P trend=0·3). Results were not statistically significant for breast and prostate cancer risks. For the first time, this study investigated the prospective association between the FSA-NPS individual score and cancer risk. The results suggest that unhealthy food choices may be associated with a 34 % increase in overall cancer risk, supporting the public health relevance of developing front-of-pack nutrition labels based on this score.

Prospective association between a dietary quality index based on a nutrient profiling system and cardiovascular disease risk.

BACKGROUND: Public health strategies are essential to guide consumers' choices and produce a substantial population impact on cardiovascular disease risk prevention through nutrition. Our aim was to investigate the prospective association between the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system dietary index (FSA-NPS DI) and cardiovascular disease risk. The FSA-NPS has been proposed to serve as a basis for a five-colour nutrition label suggested in France to be put on the front of pack of food products. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 6515 participants to the SU.VI.MAX cohort (1994-2007), who completed at least six 24-hour dietary records during the first two years of the study, were followed for a median of 12.4 years (25th-75th percentiles: 11.0-12.6). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to characterise the associations between FSA-NPS DI (continuous and sex-specific quartiles) and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Interactions with individual characteristics were tested; 181 major cardiovascular events were reported (59 myocardial infarctions, 43 strokes, 79 anginas). A higher FSA-NPS DI, characterising poorer food choices, was associated with an overall increase in cardiovascular disease risk (HRfor a 1-point increment = 1.14 (1.03-1.27); HRQ4vs.Q1 = 1.61 (1.05-2.47), Ptrend Q4-Q1 = 0.03). This association tended to be stronger in smokers (HRfor a 1-point increment = 1.39 (1.11-1.73); Pinteraction = 0.01) and those less physically active (HRfor a 1-point increment = 1.26 (1.08-1.46); Pinteraction = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that poorer food choices, as reflected by a higher FSA-NPS DI, may be associated with a significant increase in cardiovascular risk, especially in at-risk individuals (smokers and physically inactive persons). This score could be a useful tool for public health prevention strategies. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00272428.

Prospective association between dietary folate intake and skin cancer risk: results from the Supplémentation en Vitamines et Minéraux Antioxydants cohort.

BACKGROUND: The role of folate in skin carcinogenesis is unclear, with experimental data suggesting potentially protective but also deleterious effects. OBJECTIVE: Our main objective was to investigate the prospective association between dietary folate intake and risks of skin cancer (overall), nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). As an exploratory analysis, we also investigated the prospective association between erythrocyte folate concentration and skin cancer risk. DESIGN: In this study, we included 5880 participants in the Supplémentation en Vitamines et Minéraux Antioxydants (SU.VI.MAX) cohort (follow-up: 1994-2007) who completed at least six 24-h dietary records during the first 2 y of the study. Associations between sex-specific tertiles of dietary and erythrocyte folate and skin cancer risk were assessed by using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 12.6 y, 144 incident skin cancers were diagnosed. Dietary folate intake was associated with increased risk of overall skin cancer [HR for tertile 3 compared with tertile 1 (HR(T3vs.T1)): 1.79; 95% CI: 1.07, 2.99; P-trend = 0.03], NMSC (HR(T3vs.T1): 1.85; 95% CI: 1.06, 3.23; P-trend = 0.03), and BCC (HR(T3vs.T1): 1.78; 0.98, 3.24; P-trend = 0.05). This association was observed in women (corresponding P-trend = 0.007, 0.009, and 0.009, respectively) but not in men (P-trend = 0.8, 0.8, and 0.9, respectively). P-interaction values between tertiles of dietary folate intake and sex were 0.04, 0.02, and 0.02 for overall skin cancer, NMSC, and BCC, respectively. Erythrocyte folate concentration was directly associated with increased risk of overall skin cancer (HR(T3vs.T1): 2.54; 95% CI: 0.95, 6.81; P-trend = 0.03), NMSC (HR(T3vs.T1): 3.49; 95% CI: 1.11, 11.0; P-trend = 0.01), and BCC (HR(T3vs.T1): 7.44; 95% CI: 1.57, 35.3; P-trend = 0.004) (men and women combined). CONCLUSIONS: This prospective study suggests an association between dietary folate intake and erythrocyte folate concentration and increased risk of overall skin cancer, NMSC, and BCC. Although several mechanistic hypotheses and 2 previous large prospective studies on BCC are in line with these results, epidemiologic literature is limited, and future research is needed to better elucidate the potential role of folate in the cause of skin cancers.