Potential consumer response to the healthy symbol proposed by the U.S. food and Drug Administration.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed updates to the definition of "healthy," including distinctions between types of sugar and fats and limits on added sugar, saturated fat, and sodium.

School Nutrition Stakeholders Find Utility in MealSim: An Agent-Based Model.

Objective: To obtain feedback from school nutrition stakeholders on an agent-based model simulating school lunch to inform model refinement and future applications.

Design: Qualitative study using online discussion groups.

Setting: School nutrition professional stakeholders across the US.

Associations between cooking self-efficacy, attitude, and behaviors among people living alone: A cross-sectional survey analysis.

Cooking-related literacy and attitudes may play important roles in preventing and reducing diet-related chronic diseases and nutrition disparities. People living alone are an under-researched but growing population who face above average food insecurity rates. This study's objectives were to 1) test how cooking self-efficacy and attitude are stratified demographically among a sample of people living alone, focusing on variations across gender, age, and food security, and 2) examine how cooking self-efficacy and attitude are associated with two indicators of cooking behavior - cooking frequency and convenience orientation.

Coping with the 2022 infant formula shortage.

To estimate the proportion of US consumers who sought formula during the shortage, what coping mechanisms they used, and public support for formula policies, we conducted an online survey of approximately 1,000 US consumers in August 2022 via Qualtrics. Approximately 35% of consumers attempted to purchase formula during the shortage, for their own household or on behalf of someone else, and the most common coping mechanisms were focused on searching different outlets (e.g.

Consumer responses to rebranding to address racism.

In 2020, following the death of George Floyd and the renewed national focus on racism, many food brands with racist names and packages announced they would rebrand. Brands differed in their extent of rebranding (some only removed an image, whereas others also changed a brand name) and differed in the reasons they gave for the rebranding in PR statements and news interviews. At this point, little is known about how consumers responded to these branding changes.

The Curious Case of Baby Formula in the United States in 2022: Cries for Urgent Action Months after Silence in the Midst of Alarm Bells.

The shortages of baby formula in the US resulting from the voluntary recall of contaminated products and shutdown of manufacturing facility in February led to increases in the national out-of-stock rate of the baby formula from 18 to 70% over the summer of 2022. This study utilizes social media listening and data analysis to examine how online media reactions to the physical shortage changed over time and how the reaction to the shortage differed from to the initial recall announcements. Improved understanding of reactions to emergent issues in foods through this lens may improve communication efficiency to mitigate potential consequences.

Persistent and Episodic Food Insecurity and Associated Coping Strategies Among College Students.

Objective: To determine the rates of episodic and persistent food insecurity among college students and whether coping strategies employed differs on the basis of food security status.

Design: Online cross-sectional survey administered in March 2021.

Setting: A large Midwestern university.

U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended how many Americans acquire foods. In this paper, we analyze eight food acquisition activities at different points in the pandemic, which allows us to evaluate how food acquisition changed as case rates changed and vaccine rollouts occurred. We collected data from three nationally representative online samples in September 2020, December 2020, and March 2021.

The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Replacing Whole Apples with Sliced in the National School Lunch Program.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves 29.6 million lunches each day. Schools must offer ½ a cup of fruit for each lunch tray.

Effects of Longer Seated Lunch Time on Food Consumption and Waste in Elementary and Middle School-age Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Health experts recommend at least 20 minutes of seated lunch time for children, but no federal policy for lunch period duration exists in the United States. Additional strategies in the National School Lunch Program for mitigating food waste are needed to maintain the viability of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Objective: To assess the effect of a longer seated lunch time on food consumption and waste among elementary and middle school-age children.

Consumers' decisions to access or avoid added sugars information on the updated Nutrition Facts label.

The Nutrition Facts (NF) label was recently updated and now includes the added sugars content in an effort to reduce added sugars consumption. This study investigated whether consumers wanted to access or avoid the added sugars content using an online experiment and five product categories (yogurt, cereal, fruit juice, snack bar, ice cream). We recruited a sample of 490 U.

Examining Nutrition and Food Waste Trade-offs Using an Obesity Prevention Context.

Obesity and food waste are related issues, both exacerbated by an overabundance of food. Efforts to reduce food waste can have varying unintended, obesity-related consequences, which further underscores the need for a systems approach to food waste reduction. Yet, these 2 issues are rarely examined together.

Consumer Comprehension of the Nutrition Facts Label: A Comparison of the Original and Updated Labels.

Purpose: Compare consumers' overall label comprehension of the original Nutrition Facts (NF) label with the updated label.

Design: Online survey conducted in 2019. Participants randomly assigned to original label, updated-single column, or updated-dual column labeling condition and asked to complete a series of label comprehension questions.

A systematic review of school meal nudge interventions to improve youth food behaviors.

Background: School meal programs have a large reach and thus are ideal environments in which to implement interventions targeting improved youth eating behaviors and reduced food waste. This systematic review summarizes the evidence on the effectiveness of school meal nudge interventions on influencing children's eating and waste behaviors.

Methods: Inclusion criteria required studies have participants in primary or secondary school (grades K-12) with interventions that occurred during school lunch or breakfast in the cafeteria and included at least one of the following outcomes: selection, consumption, waste, or school meal participation.

Implementation of a Multi-Component School Lunch Environmental Change Intervention to Improve Child Fruit and Vegetable Intake: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Nudge interventions are widely used to promote health in schools, yet implementation metrics are seldom used to understand intervention outcomes. A multi-component intervention consisting of cafeteria decorations, creative names, social norming taste tests, and flavor station components was implemented in three rural elementary school cafeterias by school nutrition services (SNS) and extension staff. Selection and consumption of fruits and vegetables at lunch were measured through monthly plate waste assessments over eight months ( = 1255 trays).

Food Insecurity among College Students Differs by Questionnaire Modality: An Exploratory Study.

Literature suggests that college (ie, post-secondary) students experience food insecurity (FI) at alarming rates. However, the commonly used FI questionnaires have undergone limited evaluations for accuracy in this sub-population. The objective of this exploratory study was to evaluate if FI estimates among college students differ by survey distribution modality.

Food Insecurity among College Students in the United States: A Scoping Review.

Reports of college students experiencing food insecurity (FI), defined as inadequate access, availability, adequacy, and stability of food, have sparked national calls for alleviation and prevention policies. However, there are a wide variety of FI rates reported across studies and even among recent literature reviews. The current scoping review aimed to develop a weighted estimated prevalence of FI among US students using a comprehensive search approach.

College students' interpretations of food security questions: results from cognitive interviews.

Background: Food insecurity (FI) - the lack of sufficient access to food to maintain a healthy lifestyle - among college (i.e. post-secondary or higher education institution) students has become a prominent issue in the U.

Are estimates of food insecurity among college students accurate? Comparison of assessment protocols.

A growing body of literature suggests that post-secondary students experience food insecurity (FI) at greater rates than the general population. However, these rates vary dramatically across institutions and studies. FI assessment methods commonly used in studies with college students have not been scrutinized for psychometric properties, and varying protocols may influence resulting FI prevalence estimates.

Grit is Associated with Food Security among US Parents and Adolescents.

We investigated whether the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) predicted odds of food insecurity (FI) among adults and their children. A cross-sectional panel of parent-child dyads completed an online questionnaire. Eligible dyads included parents with household income below the 2015 median ($52,250 USD/year) and their self-selected household child between the ages of 13 to 17 years.

Wasted food: A qualitative study of U.S. young adults' perceptions, beliefs and behaviors.

U.S. consumers, namely young adults, are one of the largest sources of preventable food waste.

Influence of seasoning on vegetable selection, liking and intent to purchase.

Low vegetable intake continues to be a health concern, and strategies to increase vegetable intake have resulted in only small increases. One strategy that has received less attention is the use of seasonings. This study's objective was to determine the impact of seasoning on vegetable selection, liking, and intent to purchase.

Developing a digital photography-based method for dietary analysis in self-serve dining settings.

Current population-based methods for assessing dietary intake, including food frequency questionnaires, food diaries, and 24-h dietary recall, are limited in their ability to objectively measure food intake. Digital photography has been identified as a promising addition to these techniques but has rarely been assessed in self-serve settings. We utilized digital photography to examine university students' food choices and consumption in a self-serve dining hall setting.