Ultra Processed Foods Diet Quality And Human Health

The increase in the volume of industrially processed products in the global food supply has coincided with an increasing prevalence of obesity and non-communicable diseases in many countries, suggesting that ultra-processed food consumption may be detrimental for human health. However, studies are still limited and underline the need to better understand the main determinants of their consumption and the mechanisms that may explain the associations between these products and human health. This Special Issue collected new studies investigating the relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods, diet quality and human health, including those aiming to: Develop new tools to better determine the rate of consumption of ultra-processed foods in the population; Investigate the rate of consumption of ultra-processed foods in different subgroups of the population, including subjects following different dietary patterns; Analyse the relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and markers of health status; Explore possible mechanisms behind associations between the consumption of processed foods and health By providing up-to-date assessments of ultra-processed foods consumption and health implications, these reports will contribute to understanding if future public health nutrition policies are needed.

The significance of industrial processing for the nature of food and the state of human health - and in particular the techniques and ingredients developed by modern food science and technology - is generally underestimated. This is evident in both national and international policies and strategies designed to improve populations' nutrition and health. Until recently it has also been neglected in epidemiological and experimental studies concerning diet, nutrition and health. This report seeks to assess the impact of ultra-processed food on diet quality and health, based on NOVA, a food classification system developed by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The NOVA system is a food classification system based on the degree and purpose of industrial food processing. NOVA, which introduced ‘ultra-processed’ as a food category, has been widely employed within the research community, and is increasingly used by national governments, international organisations, and civil society. Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are defined as formulations of food-derived substances (e.g., fats, sugars, starch, protein isolate) that contain little if any whole food and include classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing (‘cosmetic additives’), like colours, flavours, and emulsifiers. The impact of the production and consumption of ultra-processed foods on human and planetary health has been acknowledged and has started to gather global attention more recently. Because UPFs have become dominant components in diets of populations worldwide, there is an urgent need to scrutinise the human health, sustainability, and food environment impacts across a range of populations and country contexts and to understand the implications of their consumption for health inequalities.

A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess characteristics or a reputation that are intrinsic to that origin. GIs can be registered as intellectual property rights (IPR) to ensure their protection. In countries where GIs are recognized under a public framework, public authorities can play an important role in the creation of favourable conditions for GIs to contribute to sustainable development and sustainable food systems. In particular, public authorities in charge of GI rights have an important responsibility when examining applications for protection, and the registration should ensure that GIs can function well. The examination of applications not only serves to verify the legitimacy of the GI as an IPR in terms of the link to the origin, but can also influence the GI system’s effectiveness and sustainability performance, in relation with key factors highlighted in the literature such as the clear definition of the specific quality linked to the geographical origin, the local governance, the appropriate marketing strategy. The objective of these guidelines is to provide guidance to public authorities and experts that examine GI applications. These guidelines provide examples and recommendations related to the procedures for the examination of GI requests. They focus on the two types of criteria for the registration: 1) the legal criteria that determine the admissibility for registration (link to origin) and 2) additional criteria that can be considered to help improve the GI system’s sustainability. Finally, the guidelines offer a list of questions to guide examiners along the examination process.

Diet quality is a broad term that encapsulates both perceived and actual practices, personal preferences and cultural diversity. Measuring dietary quality can be problematic and includes investigating food types, the number or size of portions or their frequency. Diet quality may also be related to the type of food being ingested, snacking and other eating habits. Manufactured beverages and fast food may also be included as well as microbiological quality and attempts to improve single food items such as meats or vegetables. In this book, Diet Quality: An Evidence-Based Approach, Volume 2 all of the major facets of diet quality in relation to health outcomes are covered. This important new text includes methods for determining diet quality while adopting a holistic approach to impart information on the major areas of concern or knowledge. Chapters link in measurable indices of health such as obesity, pregnancy outcomes, cancer and cancer outcomes, and mortality. This book represents a diverse set of subject matters and seeks to fill a gap in the literature at a time when there is an increasing awareness that well being is associated with the qualitative nature of diets. Contributors are authors of international and national standing and emerging fields of science are incorporated. Diet Quality: An Evidence-Based Approach, Volume 2 is a useful new text designed for nutritionists, dietitians, clinicians, epidemiologist, policy makers and health care professionals of various disciplines.

Sustainable Public Food Procurement (PFP) represents a key game changer for food systems transformation. It can influence both food consumption and food production patterns. It can deliver multiple social, economic and environmental benefits towards sustainable food systems for healthy diets. This publication aims to contribute to the improved understanding, dissemination and use of PFP as a development tool in particular in the case of school meals programmes. In Volume 1, researchers, policymakers and development partners can find evidence on how PFP can be used as a development tool and deliver multiple benefits for multiple beneficiaries. It argues that PFP can provide a market for local and smallholder farmers, promote the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity, and improve the nutrition and health of children and communities. Volume 2 of this publication, available at https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7969en, presents further analysis of the instruments, enablers and barriers for PFP implementation. It also provides case studies with local, regional and national experiences from Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America.

Traditional foods, diets and food systems play an important role in people’s nutritional status. As the best products of traditional food systems, geographical indication (GI) foods have a great potential to contribute to healthy diets and curb non-communicable diseases. This paper presents five case studies around the world on the nutritional potential of registered GI foods and explores the link between the production processes and the nutritional composition of the final products. The nutritional characteristics of these foods can be largely attributed to their unique ingredients and production procedures, which are linked to their geographical origins.The paper also discusses the development of GI specifications to maintain and improve nutritional values, the role of GI foods in healthy diets, and the determination of food composition. Finally, suggestions on how to leverage GI foods for healthy diets are provided.

In this book, we bring together interdisciplinary scholars and clinicians in medicine, public health, anthropology, nutrition, environmental sciences, and geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, the Ministry of Health and the Hospital Oskar Jandl. Together, these authors provide a comprehensive description of the factors shaping water quality, food availability, and health services on the islands, their implications for human health and well-being, and potential avenues for intervention.