Food Standards Agency
Saturday 4 July 2009
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Listen to this siteIn November 2004, the Agency published the results of research to develop a nutrient profile model. This research focused on the application of the model to the further regulation of broadcast advertising, as envisaged in the White Paper, Choosing Health.
Since the publication of this research the Agency has:
The following five issues have been identified as warranting further investigation:
1. An alternative approach to take account of carbohydrate quality – initially this will be the inclusion of criteria for total sugars (to replace NME sugars) and fibre.
2. A refinement to take account of the nutrient density of foods, by introducing a water content criterion.
3. An alternative approach to recognising the importance to the diet of foods from the meat, fish and alternatives category of the Balance of Good Health: initial approaches will include the inclusion of alternative markers to iron, calcium and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (protein, for example).
4. A refinement to differentiate within the fats and oils category; initial approaches will include: capping the points score for energy density, and removing the energy density criterion.
5. A refinement to the weighting of scores for fruit and vegetable based foods: initial approaches will include a lower ceiling in the points score for fruit and vegetable content.
Further work has now been commissioned to examine these suggested refinements, and a report of this work is expected in late July.
Back to topThe workshop on nutrient profiling was attended by around 30 nutrition academics from the UK, as well as policy makers from overseas, and supported the use of the model for regulatory purposes.
In November 2004, the Agency launched a public consultation on the nutrient profiling model it had developed. Stakeholders were asked to comment on the following specific issues.
Options for definitions for use in relation to food promotion and children's diets
The Agency is today launching a formal 12-week consultation on its research to develop a scheme to categorise foods based on the nutrients they contain.
In January 2003, the European Commission published a preliminary draft proposal for a regulation on the voluntary addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods.
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