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Nutritional quality of a selection of children's packaged food available in A ustralia
Author(s) -
Meloncelli Nina J.L.,
Pelly Fiona E.,
Cooper Sheri L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1747-0080
pISSN - 1446-6368
DOI - 10.1111/1747-0080.12231
Subject(s) - ingredient , food products , healthy food , product (mathematics) , food science , quality (philosophy) , medicine , food group , profiling (computer programming) , environmental health , mathematics , computer science , biology , philosophy , geometry , epistemology , operating system
Aim To assess the nutritional quality of a selection of children's packaged food products available in A ustralian supermarkets that were not clear discretionary choices. Methods Packaged food products targeted towards children were purchased from three Australian regional supermarkets in J uly 2013. Products that made reference to a core food group ingredient on the product label or did not meet the criteria of a discretionary food were included for analysis. Two methods were used to assess the nutritional quality of the products. These methods involved the F ood S tandards A ustralia N ew Z ealand nutrient profiling scoring criterion and a core food group method developed by the researchers. Nutrient composition and ingredients were obtained from the product labels. Products were classified as ‘healthy’ or ‘less healthy’ and the level of agreement between the two methods was compared. Results Of the 156 children's food products assessed, 62.2% (n = 97) were classified as ‘less healthy’ using the F ood S tandards A ustralia N ew Z ealand nutrient profiling scoring criterion. Using the alternative core food grouping method 66.7% (n = 104) of products surveyed were classified as ‘less healthy’. Conclusions Many children's food products available in A ustralian supermarkets should be considered discretionary choices.