Nutritional Paradigms and the Role of Regulation in Achieving Healthier Diets Dr Gyorgy Scrinis Ministry of Health Presentation Santiago, Chile January, 2016
New Era of Nutrition Policies and Regulation of Food Corporations Neoliberal Era (1980s- ) Focus on consumer education Minimal restrictions on industry Market-driven innovation Post-Neoliberal Era?? (2010 - ) Regulatory and market pressure on food companies Restrictions on industry products and practices 1 st stage: Voluntary regulations, industry standards 2 nd stage: Mandatory regulations, government standards Regulations can be beneficial for industry: provide political legitimation and market certainty
Indirect Regulation of Production and Consumption Labelling Front-of-pack interpretive labelling But still allow nutrient and health claims Marketing to children Taxes Sugar-sweetened beverages Sugar Fat
Direct Regulation of Production and Consumption Food Availability School food standards Food Composition Standards Trans-fats limits/bans (some countries) Salt limits (South Africa) Mandatory nutrient profiling systems? Food processing standards?
Nestlé s Nutrient Profiling System (NPS) Nestlé claim 80% of global product sales and 100% of children s products meet its own NPS standard But only 6-10% of sales in India meet independent NPS criteria (Access to Nutrition Index 2016)
Nutritionism and Nutritional Reductionism Nutritional Reductionism: Reductive focus on nutrients Reductive interpretation of nutrients Nutritionism as dominant paradigm/ ideology Limitations: Limitations of nutricentric research Undermines and contradicts other ways of understanding the food-health relationship Easily translated into/captured by nutritional engineering and marketing
Reductive Focus on Nutrients Levels of Engagement with Food Nutrient Level Nutrient-Level Reductionism Single-Nutrient Reductionism Food Level Type of food Level of processing of food Dietary-Pattern Level Food combinations Dietary patterns Traditional diets/cuisines
Reductive Interpretation of Nutrients Decontextualisation: single nutrients taken out of context Eg. fat is bad regardless of source Simplification: simplified science and dietary advice Eg. good and bad fats Exaggeration: of health impacts of nutrients Eg. omega 3 fats and brain health; soluble fibre and heart Determinism (nutritional determinism): nutrients as directly determining health
Understanding Food Quality How to define healthy and unhealthy food Focus on Nutrient Composition Single nutrients ( good and bad nutrients) Fats, carbs, protein, vitamins, fibre, sugars, sodium Nutrient Profiling Systems Advice to increase/decrease single nutrients No differentiation of whole/natural and processed foods or ingredients Cannot distinguish Nutrient Quantity from Food Quality
Good and Bad Fats / Low Fat Campaign Good and Bad Fats 1960s- Simplified, blackand-white categories Natural saturated fats vilified Low Fat Campaign: 1980s-90s Eat less fat Low fat, reduced fat, no fat
Margarine versus Butter Margarine promoted as healthier than butter due to high polyunsaturated fat content (1960s - ) Highly processed food promoted over wholefood on basis of nutrient profile Trans-fats now another bad fat (post 1990s- ) Cholesterol-lowering, trans-free margarine
Nutrient-Centred Approach to Food Nutrient-Centred Scientific Research Nutrient-Centred Dietary Guidelines Nutrient-Centred Food Labelling Nutrient-Centred Food Design and Marketing Nutrient-Centred Food Policies and Regulations Based on Nutrient Profiling Systems
Nutricentric Food Engineering and Marketing Nutritionally engineered foods Fortified foods: eg. added vitamins Nutrient-reduced foods: eg. reduced-fat milk Functional foods: eg cholesterol-lowering margarine Nutritionism exploited by food industry
Food Processing Quality Defining & Categorising Processed Foods Processed-Reconstituted foods/ingredients (Scrinis 2013) Ultra-Processed Products (NOVA system - Carlos Monteiro et al) Foods made primarily from deconstituted, refined, processed ingredients, little wholefood ingredients Need to re-think scientific research, dietary guidelines, food labelling and nutrition policy based on food processing
Food Processing Quality Types of processed ingredients and techniques Sugar, salt, vegetable oils, animal fats, flour, starches, artificial flavours, texturisers, sweeteners, etc Deep frying, hydrogenation, extrusion, chemical synthesis Characteristics of processed foods and ingredients Generally high in sugar, salt, energy Some evidence of direct harm of some ingredients Hyper-palatable (superficial taste) Rapidly-consummable Easy to over-consume (calories, sugar, etc)
Reformulation: Reducing Bad Nutrients Sugar, salt, saturated & trans-fats, energy Important components of processed foods Added Sugar & Salt used in excess Good evidence of harm Important starting point for regulatory intervention Limitations: Treated as nutrients: nutrients to limit Not as processed ingredients Substituted with other processed ingredients Eg. artificial sweeteners, modified starches Limits to reduction of sugar, salt, fats Ignores many other processed ingredients and their effects
Nutricentric Food Labelling
Nutricentric Interpretive Labelling
Chilean Stop Labelling Benefits Very clear warning symbol Clearly identifies sugar, salt, fat, energy No positive labelling Mandatory Linked to advertising and school food policies Limitations Nutrient focused: sugar, salt, fat Doesn t distinguish quality from quantity Other nutrient-claims still permitted
Ingredient List as Food Label
Copyright The University of Melbourne 2011