Precise nutritional labelling of sliced packaged dry-cured ham using multi-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

New consumer demands have increased the need for improved food processing and new value-added products that meet the latest quality standards. Changes in eating habits may lead to a preference for lower sodium products, making accurate labelling and nutritional claims important for the industry. The aim of this work was to study the application of Multi-energy X-ray absorptiometry (MEXA) for the determination of nutritional information in sliced packaged dry-cured ham for the industry. The effect of the acquisition conditions, the analysis approach, fat content and measured area of slices, as well as the potential of this technology for the inclusion of a verified 'salt reduced' nutritional claim, were analyzed in two industrial case studies. Two hundred and ten packets of sliced dry-cured ham were scanned using MEXA equipment. Two regions of interest were selected to study the effect of thickness on the model's precision. Salt content could be predicted with a RMSEP of 0.346% and 0.403% when acquisition conditions were 80 keV and 110 keV respectively. When used by the industry, the classification performance for a 'salt reduced' labelling claim depends on the mean salt content and heterogeneity of the company's production and on the threshold value selected for class definition. However, to support consumers personalized nutrition through precise labelling, implementation of MEXA technology together with labelling system is necessary.

Use and Understanding of Nutrition Labels: Impact of Diet Attachment.

Food labels may have an important function in communicating nutrition information and have considerable potential to influence food choice and dietary behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate Spanish consumers' reasons for reading or not reading nutrition information, their nutrition knowledge, perception and understanding of nutrition label information, and the possible impact of following a diet on all these. A 74-item questionnaire was developed to assess nutrition knowledge, attitude toward food labels, reasons for never reading nutrition information, food choice, the perceived importance of nutrition facts, and label-reading behavior. The results indicated that dietary patterns, nutrition knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics strongly influenced label use. Based on the participants' beliefs, four segments were identified for those who followed a diet and three segments for those who did not. Our study suggests that following a diet increases Spanish consumers' nutrition knowledge as well as their use of nutrition labels, although this cause-effect relationship could be reversed. Nonetheless, further studies would be necessary to clarify the causal direction.