31 research outputs found

    Comparison of meat products' composition bearing/not-bearing claims marketed in the Czech Republic

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    Abstract The aim of this study was to analyse the occurrence and specific composition of meat products (MPs) bearing nutrition/health claims marketed in the Czech Republic. MPs were analysed for fat content, fatty acids (FA) composition and sodium (Na) content. The compliance with legal requirements (Regulation EC No 192

    Validation of a food quantification picture book targeting children of 0–10 years of age for pan-European and national dietary surveys

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    The aim of the present study was to validate thirty-eight picture series of six pictures each developed within the PANCAKE (Pilot study forthe Assessment of Nutrient intake and food Consumption Among Kids in Europe) project for portion size estimation of foods consumed byinfants, toddlers and children for future pan-European and national dietary surveys. Identical validation sessions were conducted in threeEuropean countries. In each country, forty-five foods were evaluated; thirty-eight foods were the same as the depicted foods, and sevenfoods were different, but meant to be quantified by the use of one of the thirty-eight picture series. Each single picture within a pictureseries was evaluated six times by means of predefined portions. Therefore, thirty-six pre-weighed portions of each food were evaluatedby convenience samples of parents having children aged from 3 months to 10 years. The percentages of participants choosing the correctpicture, the picture adjacent to the correct picture or a distant picture were calculated, and the performance of individual pictures withinthe series was assessed. For twenty foods, the picture series performed acceptably (mean difference between the estimated portion numberand the served portion number less than 0·4 (SD ,1·1)). In addition, twelve foods were rated acceptable after adjustment for density differences.Some other series became acceptable after analyses at the country level. In conclusion, all picture series were acceptable forinclusion in the PANCAKE picture book. However, the picture series of baby food, salads and cakes either can only be used for foodsthat are very similar to those depicted or need to be substituted by another quantification tool.</p

    Consumer involvement in dietary guideline development: opinions from European stakeholders.

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    OBJECTIVE: The involvement of consumers in the development of dietary guidelines has been promoted by national and international bodies. Yet, few best practice guidelines have been established to assist with such involvement. DESIGN: Qualitative semi-structured interviews explored stakeholders' beliefs about consumer involvement in dietary guideline development. SETTING: Interviews were conducted in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Serbia, Spain and the UK. SUBJECTS: Seventy-seven stakeholders were interviewed. Stakeholders were grouped as government, scientific advisory body, professional and academic, industry or non-government organisations. Response rate ranged from 45 % to 95 %. RESULTS: Thematic analysis was conducted with the assistance of NVivo qualitative software. Analysis identified two main themes: (i) type of consumer involvement and (ii) pros and cons of consumer involvement. Direct consumer involvement (e.g. consumer organisations) in the decision-making process was discussed as a facilitator to guideline communication towards the end of the process. Indirect consumer involvement (e.g. consumer research data) was considered at both the beginning and the end of the process. Cons to consumer involvement included the effect of vested interests on objectivity; consumer disinterest; and complications in terms of time, finance and technical understanding. Pros related to increased credibility and trust in the process. CONCLUSIONS: Stakeholders acknowledged benefits to consumer involvement during the development of dietary guidelines, but remained unclear on the advantage of direct contributions to the scientific content of guidelines. In the absence of established best practice, clarity on the type and reasons for consumer involvement would benefit all actors

    Predicting urinary creatinine excretion and its usefulness to identify incomplete 24 h urine collections

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    Abstract Studies using 24 h urine collections need to incorporate ways to validate the completeness of the urine samples. Models to predict urinary creatinine excretion (UCE) have been developed for this purpose; however, information on their usefulness to identify incomplete urine collections is limited. We aimed to develop a model for predicting UCE and to assess the performance of a creatinine index using paraaminobenzoic acid (PABA) as a reference. Data were taken from the European Food Consumption Validation study comprising two nonconsecutive 24 h urine collections from 600 subjects in five European countries. Data from one collection were used to build a multiple linear regression model to predict UCE, and data from the other collection were used for performance testing of a creatinine indexbased strategy to identify incomplete collections. Multiple linear regression (n 458) of UCE showed a significant positive association for body weight (b ¼ 0·07), the interaction term sex £ weight (b ¼ 0·09, reference women) and protein intake (b ¼ 0·02). A significant negative association was found for age (b ¼ 20·09) and sex (b ¼ 23·14, reference women). An index of observed-to-predicted creatinine resulted in a sensitivity to identify incomplete collections of 0·06 (95 % CI 0·01, 0·20) and 0·11 (95 % CI 0·03, 0·22) in men and women, respectively. Specificity was 0·97 (95 % CI 0·97, 0·98) in men and 0·98 (95 % CI 0·98, 0·99) in women. The present study shows that UCE can be predicted from weight, age and sex. However, the results revealed that a creatinine index based on these predictions is not sufficiently sensitive to exclude incomplete 24 h urine collections
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