A policy approach to identifying food and beverage products that are ultra-processed and high in added salt, sugar and saturated fat in the United States: a cross-sectional analysis of packaged foods.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Governments globally aim to reduce the intake of unhealthy foods. Many policies exist that aim to address foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) but the identification of ultra-processed foods (UPF) have presented a greater challenge due to the lack of an appropriate policy definition. To support policymakers, we provide approaches that can support governments to identify both HFSS foods and UPFs.

Methods

Four approaches combining elements of UPF definitions (i.e., presence of additives) and HFSS definitions were compared attempting to simplify and standardize the identification of less healthy products. Nationally representative food purchase data from NielsenIQ linked with nutrition facts label data were used to examine the mean proportion of product

SUBMITTER: Popkin BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10943474 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature