This study developed a method to estimate added sugar content in consumer packaged goods (CPG) that can keep pace with the dynamic food system. A team including registered dietitians, a food scientist and programmers developed a batch-mode ingredient matching and linear programming (LP) approach to estimate the amount of each ingredient needed in a given product to produce a nutrient profile similar to that reported on its nutrition facts label (NFL). Added sugar content was estimated for 7021 products available in 2007-08 that contain sugar from ten beverage categories. Of these, flavored waters had the lowest added sugar amounts (4.3g/100g), while sweetened dairy and dairy alternative beverages had the smallest percentage of added sugars (65.6% of Total Sugars; 33.8% of Calories). Estimation validity was determined by comparing LP estimated values to NFL values, as well as in a small validation study. LP estimates appeared reasonable compared to NFL values for calories, carbohydrates and total sugars, and performed well in the validation test; however, further work is needed to obtain more definitive conclusions on the accuracy of added sugar estimates in CPGs. As nutrition labeling regulations evolve, this approach can be adapted to test for potential product-specific, category-level, and population-level implications.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4528366 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.04.004 | DOI Listing |
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr
January 2025
School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Traditionally, food packaging was used to extend the shelf life of food or to monitor its condition. Inspired by many biological structures found in nature, bio-inspired functional materials for bio-based food packaging have been shown to have significantly improved capabilities over traditional bio-based food packaging materials in various aspects and to attract consumers through novel freshness preservation features. This review synthesizes recent advances in bio-inspired bio-based food packaging materials that mimic the structure of natural organisms with specific functionalities, with examples of specific biomimetics in different enhancement areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFData Brief
February 2025
Toulouse School of Economics, INRAE, University of Toulouse Capitole, 1 Esplanade de l'Université, F31000 Toulouse, France.
Measuring the consumption of processed foods made from a common raw agricultural ingredient requires to make quantities comparable, by converting them in raw product equivalent. This conversion also allows to compute total quantities. In the case of legumes, the challenge is to take into account a wide diversity of final products including packaged dry legumes, processed legumes and products cooked from legumes and other ingredients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Biol Macromol
January 2025
Graduate Program in Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Paraíba, 58051-900 João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. Electronic address:
This study aimed to investigate the impact of adding aroeira leaf extract (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) to a yam starch film matrix, focusing on the development of potentially active films and the evaluation of their physicochemical, mechanical, optical, and antioxidant properties. Films were produced using the casting method with varying extract concentrations (0, 3, 6, 12, and 15 %), yam starch (2 %), and glycerol (1 %). The antioxidant properties were analyzed by determining the total phenolic content, 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, ferric reducing power, and 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical elimination, which revealed a significant increase in antioxidant properties as the extract concentration increased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLab Chip
January 2025
NASCENT Engineering Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA.
Despite being a high-resolution separation technique, deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) technology is facing multiple challenges with regard to design, manufacture, and operation of pertinent devices. This work specifically aims at alleviating difficulties associated with design and manufacture of DLD chips. The process of design and production of computer-aided design (CAD) mask layout files that are typically required for computational modeling analysis, optimization, as well as for manufacturing DLD-based micro/nanofluidic chips is complex, time-consuming, and often necessitates a high level of expertise in the field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Food
January 2025
Network Science Institute and Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
The offering of grocery stores is a strong driver of consumer decisions. While highly processed foods such as packaged products, processed meat and sweetened soft drinks have been increasingly associated with unhealthy diets, information on the degree of processing characterizing an item in a store is not straightforward to obtain, limiting the ability of individuals to make informed choices. GroceryDB, a database with over 50,000 food items sold by Walmart, Target and Whole Foods, shows the degree of processing of food items and potential alternatives in the surrounding food environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!