Grant: Project Grant

Improving the quality of the food supply is one of the cornerstones for healthier food environments. A critical first step toward this goal consists in getting a clear picture of the nutritional quality of the food supply, i.e. foods and beverages that are offered to consumers on the market. While analyzing the food supply on a per-nutrient basis (e.g. sugar or salt content) remains informative, it does not provide a complete picture of the overall nutritional quality (healthfulness) of foods. Nutrient profiling (NP) is an objective method that characterizes the healthfulness of foods. Indeed, NP models evaluate the quality of a food based on its content in multiple nutrients (e.g. sugars, sodium, fibre), as opposed to relying only on the content in a single nutrient (e.g. sodium only). The proposed project, conducted in collaboration with key organizations such as the ULaval Food Quality Observatory and the INFORMAS-Canada group, aims to characterize and monitor the healthfulness of the food supply using the most reliable NP model in the Canadian context. Because very few existing NP models have been validated, the first objective is to validate three models potentially relevant for use in Canada in different adult populations, to determine which one is the most reliable indicator of the healthfulness of foods. Second, the healthfulness of foods commonly purchased by the population (e.g. breakfast cereals, sliced bread), and its associations with characteristics influencing food-purchasing decisions (e.g. food prices), will be evaluated using the most reliable model. Third, a follow-up evaluation of the same foods will be conducted after 5 years to monitor potential changes in their healthfulness. Taken together, the results of this innovative and essential project will provide useful information about which actions could be undertaken to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply, and ultimately contribute to better diet quality and health in Canadians.