Product promotions in online supermarkets: prevalence of 'High Fat Sugar Salt' (HFSS) products and labelling characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of 'High Fat Sugar Salt' (HFSS) products and front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) characteristics across promoted products in UK online supermarkets. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey conducted (December 2021-January 2022) on promoted products. Data on ingredients, nutritional composition and display of FOPNL were collected from product webpages. The UK's Nutrient Profiling Model and Multiple Traffic Light criteria were used to determine HFSS status and possession of inherent red traffic lights (iRTL), respectively. Data analysis determined the prevalence (i.e. percentage of products of the total number of products sampled) of HFSS; FOPNL and possession of iRTL. Chi-squared tests explored associations between these. SETTING: Three major UK online supermarket retailer websites. PARTICIPANTS: Product 'multibuy' and 'entrance' promotions, from selected product categories. RESULTS: Among the sampled 625 promoted products, the prevalence of HFSS was greater in entrance (73 %) compared with multibuy (41 %) promotions (χ2 (1) = 34, P < 0·05), with variations in the former across retailers (49-92 %). The prevalence of HFSS products in multibuy promotions offered by two retailers varied by category (i.e. Confectionery 94-97 %, Yogurts 20-20 %, Soft Drinks 16-33 %, Ready Meals 1·4-18 %). Not all promoted products displayed FOPNL on webpages (70 %) or images (52 %). A number of iRTL were found to be possessed by both HFSS and non-HFSS-promoted products. CONCLUSIONS: Prior to the 2022 implementation of Regulations restricting these, HFSS products were promoted in online supermarkets with varying display of FOPNL and possession of iRTL. Findings support future policy evaluation and mandatory digital FOPNL.

Feasibility of a Community Healthy Eating and Cooking Intervention Featuring Traditional African Caribbean Foods from Participant and Staff Perspectives.

Culturally appropriate healthy eating resources are intended to help people from different ethnic backgrounds consume diets reflecting government dietary recommendations, yet evidence on use in the target groups is lacking. This study evaluated the feasibility of a new brief culturally appropriate community intervention that aimed to introduce food-based healthy eating and recipe resources featuring African Caribbean foods, which were recently co-developed with people from these ethnic backgrounds. Working with a community organization in the UK, a single-arm study was used to collect verbal data from participants and staff on the acceptability of intervention whilst knowledge, skills and behaviours related to healthy eating were evaluated using pre-, post- and follow-up questionnaires. A total of 30 participants were recruited, and 22 completed all three questionnaires; who were mostly female aged 55 years+ (n = 17) and of African Caribbean ethnicity (45%, n = 10), with 32% (n = 7) reporting no educational attainment. At post-intervention and follow-up, most participants reported high satisfaction (n = 21, 95%) with the intervention sessions and high levels of confidence in using the resources at home within budget. The number of participants who were familiar with the healthy eating guidance featuring Caribbean foods increased from pre- (36%, n = 8) to post-intervention/follow-up (n = 22, 100%) (p < 0.05). Findings suggest the intervention is feasible in a community setting and could help increase awareness and use of culturally appropriate healthy eating guidance amongst a diverse group.

Plasmodium Cysteine Repeat Modular Proteins 3 and 4 are essential for malaria parasite transmission from the mosquito to the host.

BACKGROUND: The Plasmodium Cysteine Repeat Modular Proteins (PCRMP) are a family of four conserved proteins of malaria parasites, that contain a number of motifs implicated in host-parasite interactions. Analysis of mutants of the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei lacking expression of PCRMP1 or 2 showed that these proteins are essential for targeting of P. berghei sporozoites to the mosquito salivary gland and, hence, for transmission from the mosquito to the mouse. METHODS: In this work, the role of the remaining PCRMP family members, PCRMP3 and 4, has been investigated throughout the Plasmodium life cycle by generation and analysis of P. berghei gene deletion mutants, Δpcrmp3 and Δpcrmp4. The role of PCRMP members during the transmission and hepatic stages of the Plasmodium lifecycle has been evaluated by light- and electron microscopy and by analysis of liver stage development in HEPG2 cells in vitro and by infecting mice with mutant sporozoites. In addition, mice were immunized with live Δpcrmp3 and Δpcrmp4 sporozoites to evaluate their immunization potential as a genetically-attenuated parasite-based vaccine. RESULTS: Disruption of pcrmp3 and pcrmp4 in P. berghei revealed that they are also essential for transmission of the parasite through the mosquito vector, although acting in a distinct way to pbcrmp1 and 2. Mutants lacking expression of PCRMP3 or PCRMP4 show normal blood stage development and oocyst formation in the mosquito and develop into morphologically normal sporozoites, but these have a defect in egress from oocysts and do not enter the salivary glands. Sporozoites extracted from oocysts perform gliding motility and invade and infect hepatocytes but do not undergo further development and proliferation. Furthermore, the study shows that immunization with Δcrmp3 and Δcrmp4 sporozoites does not confer protective immunity upon subsequent challenge. CONCLUSIONS: PCRMP3 and 4 play multiple roles during the Plasmodium life cycle; they are essential for the establishment of sporozoite infection in the mosquito salivary gland, and subsequently for development in hepatocytes. However, although Δpcrmp3 and Δpcrmp4 parasites are completely growth-impaired in the liver, immunization with live sporozoites does not induce the protective immune responses that have been shown for other genetically-attenuated parasites.

Effect of Educational Interventions on Understanding and Use of Nutrition Labels: A Systematic Review.

The potential for nutrition labels to impact on population health is dependent on consumer ability to understand and use this information. Consumer understanding of this information varies across sociodemographic groups and with different label design formats. Labeling legislation requires consumer education on how to use nutrition labels, and recent mandatory changes to the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) are underway to improve comprehensibility. This review aimed to evaluate if educational programs can improve understanding and use of nutrition labels. Database searches were performed to identify interventions which delivered education on nutrition labels with outcomes measuring aspects of comprehension or use. A total of 17 studies were selected for review, including nine randomized and eight cohort studies. The majority of studies were conducted in the United States Study participants included school aged children, older adults, and those with diabetes within a range of intervention types involving taught sessions or web-based education. Whilst outcome measures were heterogenous, all studies reported a statistically significant improvement in one or more outcomes of participant understanding or use of nutrition labels. Aspects such as general nutrition knowledge, health literacy, and program delivery format warrant attention in future research. Education which optimizes comprehension and use of nutrition labels may have the potential to improve the impact of this information on dietary health.

Plasmodium cysteine repeat modular proteins 1-4: complex proteins with roles throughout the malaria parasite life cycle.

The Cysteine Repeat Modular Proteins (PCRMP1-4) of Plasmodium, are encoded by a small gene family that is conserved in malaria and other Apicomplexan parasites. They are very large, predicted surface proteins with multipass transmembrane domains containing motifs that are conserved within families of cysteine-rich, predicted surface proteins in a range of unicellular eukaryotes, and a unique combination of protein-binding motifs, including a >100 kDa cysteine-rich modular region, an epidermal growth factor-like domain and a Kringle domain. PCRMP1 and 2 are expressed in life cycle stages in both the mosquito and vertebrate. They colocalize with PfEMP1 (P. falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Antigen-1) during its export from P. falciparum blood-stage parasites and are exposed on the surface of haemolymph- and salivary gland-sporozoites in the mosquito, consistent with a role in host tissue targeting and invasion. Gene disruption of pcrmp1 and 2 in the rodent malaria model, P. berghei, demonstrated that both are essential for transmission of the parasite from the mosquito to the mouse and has established their discrete and important roles in sporozoite targeting to the mosquito salivary gland. The unprecedented expression pattern and structural features of the PCRMPs thus suggest a variety of roles mediating host-parasite interactions throughout the parasite life cycle.