Cent Eur J Public Health 2015, 23(2):155-160 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3992

Testing Two Nutrient Profiling Models of Labelled Foods and Beverages Marketed in Turkey

Derya Dikmen, Mevlüde Kızıl, Muhemmet Fatih Uyar, Gülden Pekcan

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutrient profile of labelled foods and also understand the application of two international nutrient profiling models of labelled foods and beverages.

Methods: WXYfm and NRF 9.3 nutrient profiling models were used to evaluate 3,171 labelled foods and beverages of 38 food categories and 500 different brands.

Results: According to the WXYfm model, pasta, grains and legumes and frozen foods had the best scores whereas oils had the worst scores. According to the NRF 9.3 model per 100 kcal, the best scores were obtained for frozen foods, grains and legumes and milk products whereas the confectionery foods had the worst scores. According to NRF 9.3 per serving size, grains and legumes had the best scores and flavoured milks had the worst scores. A comparison of WXYfm and NRF 9.3 nutrient profiling models ranked scores showed a high positive correlation (p=0.01).

Conclusions: The two nutrient models evaluated yielded similar results. Further studies are needed to test other category specific nutrient profiling models in order to understand how different models behave.

Keywords: nutrient profiles, labelled foods, nutritional quality

Received: November 25, 2013; Revised: January 1, 2015; Accepted: January 1, 2015; Published: June 1, 2015  Show citation