A comparison of the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Canada's food supply is abundant in less healthy products, increasing Canadians' risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases. Food companies strongly influence the food supply; however, no studies have examined differences in the healthfulness of products offered by various companies in Canada. This study aimed to compare the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada. METHODS:Twenty-two top packaged food and beverage manufacturing companies were selected, representing >?50% of the Canadian market share in 2018. Nutritional information for products (n?=?8277) was sourced from the University of Toronto Food Label Information Program 2017 database. Descriptive analyses examined the nutritional quality of products based on: 1) the Health Star Rating (HSR) system; 2) calories, sodium, saturated fat and total sugars per 100?g (or mL) and per reference amounts (RAs) defined by Health Canada; and 3) "high in" thresholds for sodium, saturated fat and total sugars proposed by Health Canada for pending front-of-package labelling regulations. Kruskal-Wallis tests compared HSRs of products between companies. RESULTS:Mean HSRs of companies' total product offerings ranged from 1.9 to 3.6 (out of 5.0). Differences in HSRs of products between companies were significant overall and for 19 of 22 food categories (P?

SUBMITTER: Vergeer L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7216504 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature