Retailers and other organizations currently use a variety of nutrition standards and recommendations to guide consumers towards healthier, “Better for You”, options. This variety can be confusing to consumers. Healthy Eating Research convened a scientific advisory committee to review existing “Better-For-You” nutrition standards, and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. The scientific advisory committee developed a list of questions and criteria that can be used to evaluate “Better for You” nutrition standards. The resulting tool, Assessing High Quality Nutrition Standards (AHQNS), considers how closely standards align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This report details the process used to review and evaluate “Better for You” nutrition standards, and the results from a preliminary implementation of this tool to review existing standards. It highlights the three standards that scored highest with this initial use, and explains why these standards scored the highest.
Better for You Foods: A Guide to Evaluating the Quality of Nutrition Standards
The healthfulness of foods and beverages found in retail food stores differs widely across the United States, both by location of the store as well as by store type. Some communities have limited access to stores that carry healthful staple foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich foods, and … More
Children and adolescents see between 4,500 and 6,000 food ads on TV each year, the majority of which are for products high in sugar and fat and low in essential nutrients. In April 2011, a coalition of federal authorities known as the Interagency Working Group on Foods Marketed to Children … More
The marketing of unhealthy foods to children and youth is a major public health concern. Children in the United States grow up surrounded by food and beverage marketing, which primarily promotes products with excessive amounts of added sugar, salt, and fat, and inadequate amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. … More