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Packaged Foods Labeled as Organic Have a More Healthful Profile Than Their Conventional Counterparts, According to Analysis of Products Sold in the U.S. in 2019-2020.

ABSTRACT: The organic food market's recent rapid global growth reflects the public's interest in buying certified organic foods, including packaged products. Our analysis shows that packaged foods containing fewer ingredients associated with negative public health outcomes are more likely to be labeled organic. Previous studies comparing organic and conventional foods focused primarily on nutrient composition. We expanded this research by additionally examining ingredient characteristics, including processing and functional use. Our dataset included nutrition and ingredient data for 8240 organic and 72,205 conventional food products sold in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020. Compared to conventional foods, organic foods in this dataset had lower total sugar, added sugar, saturated fat and sodium content. Using a mixed effects logistic regression, we found that likelihood of classification as organic increased as sodium content, added sugar content and the number of ultra-processed ingredients and cosmetic additives on the product label decreased. Products containing no trans-fat ingredients were more likely to be labeled organic. A product was more likely to be classified "organic" the more potassium it contained. These features of organic foods sold in the U.S. are significant because lower dietary ingestion of ultra-processed foods, added sugar, sodium and trans-fats is associated with improved public health outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Meadows AD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8469099 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundExcess consumption of salt is linked to an increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The United Kingdom has had a comprehensive salt reduction programme since 2003, setting a series of progressively lower, product-specific reformulation targets for the food industry, combined with advice to consumers to reduce salt. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the sales-weighted mean salt content of grocery foods sold through retail between 2015 and 2020 by category and company.Methods and findingsInformation for products, including salt content (g/100 g), was collected online from retailer websites for 6 consecutive years (2015 to 2020) and was matched with brand-level retail sales data from Euromonitor for 395 brands. The sales-weighted mean salt content and total volume of salt sold were calculated by category and company. The mean salt content of included foods fell by 0.05 g/100 g, from 1.04 g/100 g in 2015 to 0.90 g/100 g in 2020, equivalent to -4.2% (p = 0.13). The categories with the highest salt content in 2020 were savoury snacks (1.6 g/100 g) and cheese (1.6 g/100 g), and the categories that saw the greatest reductions in mean salt content over time were breakfast cereals (-16.0%, p = 0.65); processed beans, potatoes, and vegetables (-10.6%, p = 0.11); and meat, seafood, and alternatives (-9.2%, p = 0.56). The total volume of salt sold fell from 2.41 g per person per day to 2.25 g per person per day, a reduction of 0.16 g or 6.7% (p = 0.54). The majority (63%) of this decrease was attributable to changes in mean salt content, with the remaining 37% accounted for by reductions in sales. Across the top 5 companies in each of 9 categories, the volume of salt sold decreased in 26 and increased in 19 cases. This study is limited by its exclusion of foods purchased out of the home, including at restaurants, cafes, and takeaways. It also does not include salt added at the table, or that naturally occurring in foods, meaning the findings underrepresent the population's total salt intake. The assumption was also made that the products matched with the sales data were entirely representative of the brand, which may not be the case if products are sold exclusively in convenience stores or markets, which are not included in this database.ConclusionsThere has been a small decline in the salt content of foods and total volume of salt sold between 2015 and 2020, but observed changes were not statistically significant so could be due to random variations over time. We suggest that mandatory reporting of salt sales by large food companies would increase the transparency of how individual businesses are progressing towards the salt reduction targets.

Project description:Increased consumption of unhealthy processed foods, particularly those high in sodium, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Nutrition information on packaged foods can help guide consumers toward products with less sodium, however the availability of nutrition information on foods sold in Kenya is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to estimate the proportion of packaged foods and beverages displaying nutrition information for sodium and determine the amount of sodium in packaged foods available for sale in Kenya. Data was collected in 2019 from five retail supermarkets in Nairobi. The availability of sodium information provided on packaged products and the sodium content were recorded. As secondary analyses, we compared sodium content labelling of products in Kenya by manufacturing location and the sodium content of products available in Kenya and South Africa. A total of 6003 packaged products in 56 food categories were identified. Overall, 39% of products displayed sodium content, though the availability of labelling varied widely between food categories, with coverage in main categories ranging from 0% (yoghurts and yoghurt drinks) to 86% (breakfast cereals). Food categories with the highest median sodium content were herbs and spices (9120 mg/100 g), sauces (1200 mg/100 g) and meat alternatives (766 mg/100 g) although wide variabilities were often observed within categories. Imported products were more likely to provide information on sodium than locally produced products (81% compared to 26%) and reported higher median sodium levels (172 mg/100 g compared to 96 mg/100 g). Kenyan products reported a higher median sodium content than South African products in six categories while South African products had higher median sodium in 20 categories, with considerable variation in median sodium content between countries in some categories. These findings highlight considerable potential to improve the availability of sodium information on packaged products in Kenya and to introduce reformulation policies to reduce the amount of sodium in the Kenyan food supply.

Dataset Information

Packaged Foods Labeled as Organic Have a More Healthful Profile Than Their Conventional Counterparts, According to Analysis of Products Sold in the U.S. in 2019-2020.

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