The effects of health-related food taxes on the environmental impact of consumer food purchases: secondary analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial in a virtual supermarket.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the effects of health-related food taxes on the environmental impact of consumer food purchases in a virtual supermarket. DESIGN: This is a secondary analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial in which participants were randomly assigned to a control condition with regular food prices (n 152), an experimental condition with a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax (n 131) or an experimental condition with a nutrient profiling tax based on Nutri-Score (n 112). Participants were instructed to undertake their typical weekly grocery shopping for their households. Primary outcome measures were three environmental impact indicators: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land use and blue water use per household per week. Data were analysed using linear regression analyses. SETTING: Three-dimensional virtual supermarket. PARTICIPANTS: Dutch adults (≥ 18 years) who were responsible for grocery shopping in their household (n 395). RESULTS: GHG emissions (-7·6 kg CO2-eq; 95 % CI -12·7, -2·5) and land use (-3·9 m2/year; 95 % CI -7·7, -0·2) were lower for the food purchases of participants in the nutrient profiling tax condition than for those in the control condition. Blue water use was not affected by the nutrient profiling tax. Moreover, the SSB tax had no significant effect on any of the environmental impact indicators. CONCLUSIONS: A nutrient profiling tax based on Nutri-Score reduced the environmental impact of consumer food purchases. An SSB tax did not affect the environmental impact in this study.

Promoting healthful food purchases through in-store interventions: Empirical evidence from rural food deserts.

Effective ways to promote healthful food intake in rural areas are understudied. The paper evaluated whether a two-component, in-store intervention designed to encourage healthy food purchases was associated with improved healthfulness scores of food items purchased by shoppers in rural food deserts. One component introduced a point-of-sales label that assigned a single numerical score to each food item facilitating direct comparisons of the product's nutrition with those of other products shelved around it. The other component was a one-day nutrition education workshop promoted within the store. Interventions took place in 2015 at two stores in rural counties in the U.S. Midwest. Four stores in similar communities were selected as the control group. We applied a difference-in-difference model to estimate changes in the healthfulness of food items purchased attributable to the intervention among shoppers at the treatment stores (n = 486) and control stores (n = 10,759) using store transaction data. Healthfulness of food items was measured in terms of food scores published by the Environmental Working Group on a 1-10 scale. Both components had minimal impacts on the scores, although 0.2 and 0.1 points increases in the score per item and score per dollar were statistically significant at the 1% level respectively. A year after the intervention, these small effects of the intervention further diminished compared to the immediately after implementation. Results suggest the average effects of intervention across the study communities had limited practical significance but benefited some rural residents who were exposed to the intervention.

One-bite-sized 3D printed finger foods, oriented to malnutrition, sarcopenia and frailty prevention in the older people.

BACKGROUND: In this study, innovative chocolate, citrus and mixture flavoured tofu-based nutritionally customised, dysphagia-oriented, comfortably consumed, appetising, one-bite-sized finger foods, oriented to malnutrition, sarcopenia and frailty prevention in older people were created by using 3D printing technology. Developed products were characterised by evaluating chemical composition and physical properties and performing sensory evaluation among geriatric clinic residents (≥60 years). RESULTS: The dietary composition of the developed foods was: 19-21 g (100 g)-1 protein, 6-8 g (100 g)-1 fibre, 8-9 g (100 g)-1 fat, 11 mg (100 g)-1 iron, 14 mg (100 g)-1 zinc, 70 µg (100 g)-1 selenium. Foods were also enriched with branched-chain amino acids, such as leucine, isoleucine and valine. All formulated foods were classified as level 6 by International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative classification. Chocolate-flavoured food was much harder (4914 g) with lower adhesiveness value (-33.6 g s), compared to the citrus- or mixture-flavoured foods. Older people evaluated all finger foods as very easy handled by hand, soft, easy to swallow, having a moderate flavour intensity and a weak afterfeel. Despite the fact that the chocolate food was evaluated as having the highest hardness and gumminess values by the instrumental method, this difference was not noticeable to the evaluators. However 7% of the participants said that 3D printed foods were sticky to dentures. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that it is possible to create nutrient-dense comfortably consumed 3D printed foods, oriented to malnutrition, sarcopenia and frailty prevention in older people. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Persistent Barriers of the Gluten-Free Basic Food Basket: Availability, Cost, and Nutritional Composition Assessment.

Gluten-related disorders are treated with a gluten-free diet. The "basic food basket" (BFB) consists of a list of basic foods consumed by low-income groups in society, including those lowest-cost versions within each food category. To evaluate the cost, availability, and nutritional quality of the BFB and gluten-free BFB (GF-BFB), foods were photographed, registering their cost, availability, and nutritional characteristics, in high quality and mid-range supermarkets, wholesalers, health shops, and corner shops, matching each regular BFB product with a gluten-free equivalent. Of the 1177 potential products, the selection of lowest-cost foods yielded 55 and 47 products (BFB and GF-BFB, respectively). Breads/cereals and drinks showed the highest differences (279% and 146%, respectively) while meats and sausages showed the lowest ones (18.6%). The GF-BFB cost represents 30.1% of the minimum wage, which covers the cost of 5.2 and 3.3 of the BFB and GF-BFB per month, respectively. Availability ranged between 22.7 and 42.4%. Lower availability was associated with poorer nutritional quality in the GF-BFB, which provides 5% less energy, 26% more fat, and 25% less protein than the BFB. Only 47% of gluten-free products declared their "gluten-free" condition. The results strongly suggest that the GF-BFB must be redesigned to be both gluten-free and nutritionally adequate.

Consumer objective and subjective knowledge about healthy foods: An approach to promote healthy lifestyle choices in South Africa.

Unhealthy food choices and consumption, coupled with sedentary lifestyles among consumers, intensify public health concerns regarding the quadruple disease burden, despite Primary Health Care (PHC) policy. However, the current relationship between consumer knowledge about healthy foods and following a healthy lifestyle needs to be explored. Our study, therefore, aimed to determine the association between consumers' subjective and objective knowledge about healthy foods and various healthy lifestyle choices. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among employed consumers (N = 157) from South African corporate settings. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to determine associations between subjective and objective knowledge about healthy foods and healthy lifestyle choices. Our findings showed that most participants scored high on making healthy lifestyle choices relating to avoiding smoking (69.5%) and limiting drinking alcohol (68.7%) but less so for food and sleep (44.4%) while neglecting exercise, relaxation (13.7%), and choices that require dedicated effort (25.2%). On average, participants had high levels of subjective (mean = 3.59; 5-point Likert scale) knowledge and objective knowledge about healthy foods (88.4-95.9% correct responses). However, their objective knowledge about weight and cholesterol had severe deficiencies (36.7%). SEM confirmed an association between subjective knowledge and most healthy lifestyle choice categories, while income contributed to dedicated effort lifestyle choices. By contrast, objective knowledge did not associate with such choices. Our structural model suggests that subjective knowledge about healthy foods contributes to healthy lifestyle choices. Therefore, subjective knowledge and the objective knowledge deficiencies we identified among corporate consumers can serve as a valuable starting point for informed education to promote PHC policy and healthy lifestyle choices.

Insurance Reimbursement for Special Foods and Phenylalanine Levels in Patients With PKU in China.

Importance: Recent changes in China's social medical insurance reimbursement policy have impacted the financial burden of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) for special foods. However, whether this policy change is associated with their blood phenylalanine (PHE) concentration is unclear. Objective: To investigate the association between the reimbursement policy and blood PHE concentration in patients with PKU. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study measured the blood PHE concentrations of 167 patients with PKU across 4 newborn screening centers in China from January 2018 to December 2021. The reimbursement policy for special foods for patients with PKU at 2 centers was canceled in 2019 and restored from 2020 onwards. In contrast, the other 2 centers consistently implemented the policy. Data were analyzed from September 10 to December 6, 2023. Exposures: The implementation and cancelation of the reimbursement policy for special foods of patients with PKU. Main Outcomes and Measures: The blood PHE concentration was regularly measured from 2018 to 2021. A 1-sided Z test was used to compare the mean of the blood PHE concentration between different years. Results: Among 167 patients with PKU (mean [SD] age, 84.4 [48.3] months; 87 males [52.1%]), a total of 4285 measurements of their blood PHE concentration were collected from 2018 to 2021. For patients at the center that canceled the reimbursement policy in 2019, the mean (SD) of the blood PHE concentrations in 2019 was 5.95 (5.73) mg/dL, significantly higher than 4.84 (4.11) mg/dL in 2018 (P < .001), 5.06 (5.21) mg/dL in 2020 (P = .006), and 4.77 (4.04) mg/dL in 2021 (P < .001). Similarly, for patients at the other center that canceled the policy in 2019, the mean (SD) of the blood PHE concentrations in 2019 was 5.95 (3.43) mg/dL, significantly higher than 5.34 (3.45) mg/dL in 2018 (P = .03), 5.13 (3.15) mg/dL in 2020 (P = .003), and 5.39 (3.46) mg/dL in 2021 (P = .03). On the contrary, no significant difference was observed between any of the years for patients at the 2 centers that consistently implemented the policy. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of patients with PKU from multiple centers, the implementation of the reimbursement policy for special foods was associated with controlling the blood PHE concentration. Special foods expenditure for patients with PKU should be included in the scope of long-term social medical insurance reimbursement.

Assessing Antecedents of Restaurant's Brand Trust and Brand Loyalty, and Moderating Role of Food Healthiness.

The purpose of this research was to apply DINESERV to a food brand: Shake Shack. Six sub-dimensions (e.g., taste, healthiness, employee service, price fairness, ambience, and convenience) were adopted. This study used brand trust and brand loyalty to explain attributes. This research additionally assessed the moderating impact of healthiness on the relationship between taste and brand loyalty. For data collection, this study used Amazon Mechanical Turk. The main instrument of this research is a survey. The number of valid observations was 353. Confirmatory factor analysis and a correlation matrix were used to ensure the convergent and discriminant validity of measurement items. Structural equation modeling was employed for hypothesis testing. Plus, Hayes process macro model 1 was employed to test the moderating effect of healthiness. Results indicated that brand trust was positively associated with taste (p < 0.05), employee service (p < 0.05), and ambience (p < 0.05), while brand loyalty was positively associated with taste (p < 0.05), healthiness (p < 0.05), price fairness (p < 0.05), ambience (p < 0.05), and brand trust (p < 0.05). However, the convenience of casual restaurants appeared as a non-significant attribute to account for both brand trust and brand loyalty. The results also revealed that healthiness negatively moderates the relationship between taste and brand loyalty (p < 0.05). This study sheds light on the literature by demonstrating the accountability of DINESERV to casual dining customer behavior. Also, this research presents information for the assistance of brand management in the domain of casual dining sector.

Percepção dos familiares de pacientes com alergia ao leite de vaca em relação ao tratamento / Perceptions of caregivers of patients with cowÆs milk allergy regarding the treatment

Este estudo qualitativo teve como objetivo compreender as percepções de familiares de crianças e adolescentes com alergia à proteína do leite de vaca (APLV) em relação à doença e seu tratamento. Foram realizadas nove entrevistas e foi utilizado o método de análise de conteúdo. Surgiram três categorias com subcategorias: tratamento e educação do paciente e familiare(experiências vividas, base do tratamento e como lidar com a doença), resolução da doença (expectativa e melhoragradativa), qualidade de vida (inclusão social, cotidiano familiar e custo dos alimentos). Os familiares vivenciaram dificuldades durante o início do tratamento, mas revelaram que as orientações fornecidas no seguimento tornaram as adaptações à doença mais fáceis. Comentaram sobre as dificuldades em obter a colaboração de outros membros da família em relação à dieta de exclusão, suas experiências frente a uma reação alérgica, dúvidas quanto ao tratamento e lacunas do conhecimento sobre adoença entre outros médicos e na população em geral. Alguns deles acreditavam que não havia tratamento para a APLV, porque não existiam medicamentos ou vacinas, mas mantinham a esperança da descoberta de uma cura. A maioria dos familiares estava satisfeita com a melhora gradativa dos seus filhos, percebida pela redução da gravidade dos sintomas e tolerância a traços de leite. Também comentaram sobre os esforços em proporcionar uma vida normal para seus filhos, as mudanças em suas vidas e a dificuldade em comprar alimentos especiais. Em conclusão, os familiares de crianças e adolescentes com APLV sentem grande impacto da doença.

Processed foods in infant feeding: analysis of the visual memory of schoolchildren in Taubaté city, São Paulo

OBJETIVO: descrever a memória visual de crianças em relação à embalagem de salgadinho e biscoito doce recheado e relacioná-las ao estado nutricional, série escolar e sexo. MÉTODO: foi realizada a técnica de desenho com 152 alunos de 6 a 10 anos, matriculados no ensino fundamental I de uma escola da cidade de Taubaté, São Paulo. Foram coletados dados antropométricos, calculado o IMC, a freqüência de cada componente do desenho e realizado o teste qui-quadrado para analisar a sua relação com as variáveis em estudo. RESULTADOS: para as embalagens de salgadinho, os componentes que apareceram com maior freqüência nos desenhos foram marca (54,6 por cento), imagem do produto (45,4 por cento) e personagem (27,0 por cento) e as cores mais utilizadas a vermelha (36,8 por cento), a azul (30,3 por cento) e a amarela (22,4 por cento). Para os biscoitos apareceram com maior freqüência marca (62,5 por cento) e personagem (30,9 por cento) e as cores mais utilizadas a azul (36,8 por cento) e marrom (26,3 por cento). As cores identificadas pelas crianças, tanto para salgadinho, como para biscoito condizem com os produtos comercializados. As meninas se lembraram mais da imagem do salgadinho (p = 0,016) e dos personagens na embalagem do biscoito (p = 0,04). Não foram observadas diferenças estatísticas significativas entre a lembrança dos componentes da embalagem e o estado nutricional e entre a cor escolhida e sexo da criança. CONCLUSÕES: observa-se que as estratégias de marketing são instrumentos amplamente utilizados na indústria alimentícia com foco na criança e que seus produtos comerciais, salgadinhos e biscoitos recheados, são amplamente fixados nesta população.

Determinación del cambio generado por la interventoría en la calidad higiénico-sanitaria de los almuerzos suministrados en el proyecto "comedores comunitarios" de la Secretaría Distrital de Integración Social (SDIS) durante el año 2006 / Changes generated by auditor intervention on hygienic and sanitary quality of lunches on the project “community dining rooms” from Secretaria de Integración Social (DSIS), in Bogotá - Colombia, during 2006

Antecedentes. El proyecto 212 “comedores comunitarios” tiene como objetivo suministrar diariamente un complemento alimenticio balanceado a la población más vulnerable de Bogotá, con el fin de mejorar su estado nutricional. Objetivo. Determinar el cumplimiento de las buenas prácticas de manufactura BPM a través del análisis de las evaluaciones realizadas por la interventoría durante su primer año de ejecución, con el fin de demostrar el mejoramiento en los niveles de calidad microbiológica del complemento suministrado. Material y métodos. El universo estuvo representado por 167 comedores comunitarios de 19 localidades de Bogotá; 3.871 análisis microbiológicos de muestras de alimentos (tomados como indicadores de inocuidad), superficies, ambientes y manipuladores (indicadores de BPM) y aguas (indicador de calidad de agua), entre junio y octubre de 2006; y 489 registros de evaluaciones higiénico-sanitarias obtenidas en abril, julio, septiembre y noviembre de 2006. Resultados. Los comedores alcanzaron mejores niveles de cumplimiento para las categorías de evaluación higiénico-sanitaria luego de las intervenciones técnicas. Los indicadores microbiológicos mostraron una mejoría representada por un aumento en los porcentajes de aceptabilidad en un 7, 20 y 28%, para inocuidad, aguas y BPM, respectivamente. La media de aceptabilidad para indicadores de microbiología en el mes de junio fue 0,78 (con una dispersión entre 0,72 y 0,91); para octubre alcanzó una media de 0,88 (con una menor dispersión de 0,87 a 0,93). Conclusiones. A medida que se implementaban las acciones preventivas y correctivas establecidas por la interventoría en los comedores, aumentaban los porcentajes de aceptabilidad de indicadores microbiológicos y condiciones higiénico-sanitarias.

Ocorrência de coleópteros em alimentos industrializados para cães, comercializados na região metropolitana de Recife, PE / Occurrence of weevils (Insecta: Coleoptera) in pet food traded in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil

With the purpose of verifying the occurrence of insect pests in dog food commercialized in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, samples from 15 different pet stores were submitted to the extraction of insects in a Berlese-Tullgren apparatus. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Tenebrionidae) (55.2 percent) was the most frequent specie followed by Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) (Cucujidae) (31.3 percent), Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) (Bostrichidae) (8.9 percent) and Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Anobiidae) (4.7 percent), all from Coleoptera. Recife showed the highest rate of infestation (53.6 percent), followed by Olinda (34.4 percent) and Jaboatão dos Guararapes (12.0 percent). The infestation by coleopters in the region occurs with high frequency and may represent a threat mainly in commercialized products in bulk.

Objetivando verificar a ocorrência de insetos-praga em alimento industrializado para cães, comercializado na região metropolitana do Recife, amostras de 15 diferentes lojas agropecuárias foram submetidas à extração de insetos em funil de Berlese-Tullgren. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Tenebrionidae) (55,2 por cento) foi o mais freqüente, seguido por Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) (Cucujidae) (31,3 por cento), Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) (Bostrichidae) (8,9 por cento) e Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Anobiidae) (4,7 por cento), todos Coleoptera. Recife apresentou o maior índice de infestação (53,6 por cento), seguido por Olinda (34,4 por cento) e Jaboatão dos Guararapes (12,0 por cento). A infestação por coleópteros ocorre com elevada freqüência na região, podendo representar uma ameaça principalmente nos produtos comercializados a granel.

Pacientes diabéticos: consideración del rotulado nutricional / Diabetic patients: consideration of the nutritional labeled

El trabajo muestra la evaluación del comportamiento adoptado por pacientes diabéticos tipo 1 y 2, en la selección de los productos alimenticios, según el conocimiento del rótulo nutricional de los envases

Fibra dietética en iberoamérica: tecnología y salud: obtención, caracterización, efecto fisiológico y aplicación en alimentos / Dietary fiber iberoamerica: technology and health: obtention, characterization, physiological effect and feed aplication

O proyecto se desarrollaron investigaciones básicas, tecnológicas y fisiológicas, sobre fuentes potenciales de fibra dietética, obtenidas de recursos vegetales regionales e involucró 22 unidades de nueve países iberoamericanos (FML)