International collaborative project to compare and track the nutritional composition of fast foods

Background: Chronic diseases are the leading cause of premature death and disability in the world with over-nutrition a primary cause of diet-related ill health. Excess quantities of energy, saturated fat, sugar and salt derived from fast foods contribute importantly to this disease burden. Our objective is to collate and compare nutrient composition data for fast foods as a means of supporting improvements in product formulation. METHODS/DESIGN: Surveys of fast foods will be done in each participating country each year. Information on the nutrient composition for each product will be sought either through direct chemical analysis, from fast food companies, in-store materials or from company websites. Foods will be categorized into major groups for the primary analyses which will compare mean levels of saturated fat, sugar, sodium, energy and serving size at baseline and over time. Countries currently involved include Australia, New Zealand, France, UK, USA, India, Spain, China and Canada, with more anticipated to follow. DISCUSSION: This collaborative approach to the collation and sharing of data will enable low-cost tracking of fast food composition around the world. This project represents a significant step forward in the objective and transparent monitoring of industry and government commitments to improve the quality of fast foods.E Dunford is supported by a Sydney Medical School Foundation scholarship and B Neal by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship.http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/559am201

Health Beyond Health Care: Twenty-five Years of Federal Health Policy Development

CPRN Discussion Paper No. H|04Appendices included"Health beyond Health care: Twenty-five years of Federal Health Policy Development" is part of the Towards a New Perspective on Health Policy project directed by Sholom Glouberman of CPRN's Health Network. This report traces the historical evolution of non-medical health policy at the federal level of government from the publication of A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians (the Lalonde Report) in 1974 onward. Themes that emerge from this project put current health challenges in perspective..

How three countries in the Americas are fortifying dietary salt reduction: A north and south perspective

A chronic disease/risk factor prevention framework with three policy environments - communications, physical and economic - was used to organize population level interventions that address the "over consumption of dietary salt", a key risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The framework was then used to map the population based strategies to reduce dietary salt consumption being applied in three countries in the Americas - Argentina, Canada and Chile - each with a history of multi-sector approaches to deal with the risk factors for chronic disease, offering a north versus south perspective. Results show that in all three countries policy instruments are concentrated in the communications environment, e.g. media and education campaigns and/or regulations for standardized information on the salt or sodium content of packaged food products. Notable gaps are the requirement for nutrient information on meals and food items prepared by food establishments and restrictions on advertising and marketing of foods to children. In the physical environment, referring to the sodium levels in commercially prepared foods and meals available on the market, voluntary reformulation of food products is underway at this time in the three countries. Argentina and Chile began with bread and have gradually added other food categories; Canada at the outset is addressing all food categories where products have added salt. Argentina alone is at this point actively approaching regulations to limit the salt content of food, preferring this over ongoing monitoring of voluntary targets. No government in the three counties has yet considered action in the economic environment, a complex area where the research on and initiatives to limit or disadvantage energy-dense food products to address obesity may also capture foods that are highly salted. In the meantime, with recent research estimating substantially higher gains in population health from government legislation to limit salt in foods compared to voluntary approaches, decision makers in countries, whether in the north or south, committed to reducing dietary salt can take Argentina's example to strengthen their interventions in the physical environment with regulatory instruments. This will sustain reformulations made to date, "level the playing field" industry-wide and broadly and equitably distribute the health benefits of low salt foods.Dietary salt reduction Public health policy Americas

Iniciativas para reducir la sal alimentaria en la Región de las Américas

Versión en inglés disponible en la Biblioteca Digital del IDRC: Efforts to reduce dietary salt in the America