● Jodi
Bernstein, “Examination of the sugars contents of Canadian prepackaged foods
and the role that nutrition labelling can play in helping Canadians identify
foods consistent with World Health Organization Guidelines”. University of
Toronto (2019) 170 pp.
Abstract
The World
Health Organization (WHO) recommends free sugars intakes be limited to a
maximum of 10% of energy intake. This thesis aims to characterize sugars in the
Canadian prepackaged food and beverage supply and investigate whether the
sugars information available on the food label (% Daily Value (%DV) and
nutrient content claims) support the WHO free sugars intake guidelines. Three
studies were conducted using the University of Toronto’s Food Label Information
Program (FLIP) 2013 database that contains nutrient composition and labelling
information for a large representative sample of prepackaged foods and
beverages (n=15,342). In the first study, a novel method for calculating the
free sugars contents was developed and applied to products in FLIP 2013. Free
sugars were present in 65% of foods and beverages and contributed on average,
20% of calories and 64% of products’ total sugars content. In the second study,
a free sugars DV of 50g, which aligns with WHO guidelines, was compared with a
total sugars DV of 100g. A free sugars DV more consistently identified products
with ≥10% of calories from free sugars (82% vs. 55%) and with suboptimal
nutritional composition as defined by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand
nutrient profiling scoring criterion (70% vs. 45%), than a total sugars DV. In
the third study, products with sugar-related nutrient content claims had more
favourable nutrient profiles than those without these claims, but 48% had ≥10%
of calories from free sugars. Findings suggest the need for nutrition labelling
and the food supply to more reliably support identification and consumption of
products consistent with WHO free sugars intake guidelines. Together these
results represent significant advancements in the field of sugars research and
the calculation and addition of free sugars levels to FLIP can inform an array
of future studies and policy actions related to free sugars.
LINK: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/91872/1/Bernstein_Jodi_T_201811_PhD_thesis.pdf
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