Economic incentives and nutritional behavior of children in the school setting: a systematic review.

The aim of the present review was to examine the existing literature on the effectiveness of economic incentives for producing sound nutritional behavior in schools. Studies published in the English-language literature that included baseline and/or outcome data regarding food and beverage intake of schoolchildren were eligible for inclusion. A systematic search of the literature was conducted to identify relevant primary studies and relevant systematic reviews of primary studies.

Consumer food choices: the role of price and pricing strategies.

Objective: To study differences in the role of price and value in food choice between low-income and higher-income consumers and to study the perception of consumers about pricing strategies that are of relevance during grocery shopping.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted using structured, written questionnaires. Food choice motives as well as price perceptions and opinion on pricing strategies were measured.

Perceptions on the use of pricing strategies to stimulate healthy eating among residents of deprived neighbourhoods: a focus group study.

Background: Pricing strategies are mentioned frequently as a potentially effective tool to stimulate healthy eating, mainly for consumers with a low socio-economic status. Still, it is not known how these consumers perceive pricing strategies, which pricing strategies are favoured and what contextual factors are important in achieving the anticipated effects.

Methods: We conducted seven focus groups among 59 residents of deprived neighbourhoods in two large Dutch cities.

Exploration of different methods to assess dietary acrylamide exposure in pregnant women participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).

We assessed dietary exposure to acrylamide in 119 pregnant Norwegian women. The aim of the study was to explore three different methods for estimation of long-term intake of acrylamide and whether it is possible by a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to identify pregnant women with high exposure to acrylamide. Acrylamide excreted as mercapturic acid metabolites in 24-h urine was used as an evaluation tool.

Dietary intake and risk evaluation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in The Netherlands.

The current study aims at estimating the dietary intake of PBDEs in the Netherlands and evaluating the resultant risk. Dietary intake was estimated using results of PBDE analyses in Dutch food products from 2003/2004 and consumption data of the third Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (1997/1998). Assuming that non-detects represent levels of half the detection limit, the median long-term intake of the Dutch population of the sum of five major PBDEs (namely PBDEs 47, 99, 100, 153+154) is 0.

A probabilistic model for simultaneous exposure to multiple compounds from food and its use for risk-benefit assessment.

A model is presented which allows to quantify the simultaneous distribution of the exposure to two compounds, for example a health-risk and a health promoting compound. The model considers the total dietary intake, and can be used as a first step to study the effects on the balance between risks and benefits following changes in the consumption pattern. The exposure is modelled separately for intake probabilities using a betabinomial model, and for intake amounts using a lognormal model, and these parts are afterwards integrated by Monte Carlo simulation.

Reversal of in vitro cellular MRP1 and MRP2 mediated vincristine resistance by the flavonoid myricetin.

In the present study, the effects of myricetin on either MRP1 or MRP2 mediated vincristine resistance in transfected MDCKII cells were examined. The results obtained show that myricetin can inhibit both MRP1 and MRP2 mediated vincristine efflux in a concentration dependent manner. The IC50 values for cellular vincristine transport inhibition by myricetin were 30.

Calculations of dietary exposure to acrylamide.

In this paper we calculated the usual and acute exposure to acrylamide (AA) in the Dutch population and young children (1-6 years). For this AA levels of different food groups were used as collected by the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the European Commission's Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC) from April 2003 up to May 2004. This database contained about 3500 AA levels received from mainly Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland, Greece, Austria, UK and from food industry.