Estimating the potential impact of the Australian government's reformulation targets on household sugar purchases

BACKGROUND: Countries around the world are putting in place sugar reformulation targets for packaged foods to reduce excess sugar consumption. The Australian government released its voluntary sugar reformulation targets for nine food categories in 2020. We estimated the potential impact of these targets on household sugar purchases and examined differences by income. For comparison, we also modelled the potential impact of the UK sugar reduction targets on per capita sugar purchases as the UK has one of the most comprehensive sugar reduction strategies in the world. METHODS: Grocery purchase data from a nationally representative consumer panel (n=7,188) in Australia was linked with a large database (FoodSwitch) with product-specific sugar content information for packaged foods (n=25,261); both datasets were collected in 2018. Potential reductions in per capita sugar purchases were calculated overall and by food category. Differences in sugar reduction across income level were assessed by analysis of variance. RESULTS: In 2018, the total sugar acquired from packaged food and beverage purchases consumed at-home was 56.1 g/day per capita. Australia's voluntary reformulation targets for sugar covered 2,471/25,261 (9.8%) unique products in the FoodSwitch dataset. Under the scenario that all food companies adhered to the voluntary targets, sugar purchases were estimated to be reduced by 0.9 g/day per capita, which represents a 1.5% reduction in sugar purchased from packaged foods. However, if Australia adopted the UK targets, over twice as many products would be covered (n=4,667), and this would result in a more than four times greater reduction in sugar purchases (4.1 g/day per capita). It was also estimated that if all food companies complied with Australia's voluntary sugar targets, reductions to sugar would be slightly greater in low-income households compared with high-income households by 0.3 g/day (95%CI 0.2 - 0.4 g/day, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sugar-reduction policies have the potential to substantially reduce population sugar consumption and may help to reduce health inequalities related to excess sugar consumption. However, the current reformulation targets in Australia are estimated to achieve only a small reduction to sugar intakes, particularly in comparison to the UK's sugar reduction program

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

BackgroundChronic 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/designSurveys 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.DiscussionThis 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.<br /

Availability, healthiness, and price of packaged and unpackaged foods in India: A cross-sectional study

Background: Vulnerable populations are the most prone to diet-related disease. The availability, healthiness, and price of foods have established associations with diet-related disease in communities. However, data describing this in India are sparse, particularly in urban slums and rural areas. Aim: To quantify and compare availability, healthiness, and price of packaged and unpackaged foods and beverages in India, and to identify opportunities to improve diets and health of vulnerable populations. Methods: Nutrition data and price were collected on foods and beverages available at 44 stores in urban, urban slum, and rural areas in four states in India between May and August 2018. Healthiness was assessed using the Australasian Health Star Rating system and product retail prices were examined. Comparisons in the findings were made across state, community area type, and adherence to current and draft Indian food labeling regulations. Results: Packaged foods and beverages (n = 1443, 89%) were more prevalent than unpackaged (n = 172, 11%). Unpackaged products were healthier than packaged (mean Health Star Rating = 3.5 vs 2.0; p < 0.001) and lower in price (median price per 100 g/ml: 13.42 Indian rupees vs 25.70 Indian rupees; p < 0.001), a pattern observed across most community area types and states. 96% of packaged products were compliant with current Indian labeling regulations but only 23% were compliant with proposed labeling regulations. Conclusions: Unpackaged products were on average much healthier and lower in price than packaged foods and beverages. Food policies that support greater availability, accessibility and consumption of unpackaged foods, while limiting consumption of packaged foods, have enormous potential for sustaining the health of the Indian population

A comparison of the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages from 12 countries using the Health Star Rating nutrient profiling system, 2013-2018

We compared the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages between selected countries using the Health Star Rating (HSR) nutrient profiling system. Packaged food and beverage data collected 2013-2018 were obtained for Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa, the UK, and USA. Each product was assigned to a food or beverage category and mean HSR was calculated overall by category and by country. Median energy density (kJ/100 g), saturated fat (g/100 g), total sugars (g/100 g) and sodium (mg/100 g) contents were calculated. Countries were ranked by mean HSR and median nutrient levels. Mean HSR for all products (n = 394,815) was 2.73 (SD 1.38) out of 5.0 (healthiest profile). The UK, USA, Australia and Canada ranked highest for overall nutrient profile (HSR 2.74-2.83) and India, Hong Kong, China and Chile ranked lowest (HSR 2.27-2.44). Countries with higher overall HSR generally ranked better with respect to nutrient levels. India ranked consistently in the least healthy third for all measures. There is considerable variability in the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages in different countries. The finding that packaged foods and beverages are less healthy in middle-income countries such as China and India suggests that nutrient profiling is an important tool to enable policymakers and industry actors to reformulate products available in the marketplace to reduce the risk of obesity and NCDs among populations

Salt-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KABs) among Victorian adults following 22-Months of a consumer awareness campaign

The Australian population consumes more salt than recommended and this increases the risk of raised blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. In 2015, a state-wide initiative was launched in the Australian state of Victoria to reduce population salt intake. This study examines whether salt-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KABs) of Victorian adults changed following the first 22 months of a consumer awareness campaign targeting parents. Repeated cross-sectional surveys of adults (18-65 years) recruited from research panels. Analyses were weighted to reflect the Victorian population. In both surveys mean age of participants (1584 in 2015 and 2141 in 2018) was 41 years, and 51% were female. This includes 554 parents/caregivers in 2015 and 799 in 2018. Most indicators of KAB remained unchanged. Among parents/caregivers the percentage who agreed limiting salt in their child's diet was important increased by 8% (p = 0.001), and there was a 10% reduction in the percentage who reported placing a saltshaker on the table and a 9% reduction in those who reported their child added salt at the table (both p < 0.001). Some small adverse effects on other indicators were also observed. During the first 22 months of a salt reduction consumer awareness campaign, there were limited changes in KAB overall, however the target audience reported positive changes regarding their children, which aligned with the campaign messages

Evaluation of a Salt-Reduction Consumer Awareness Campaign Targeted at Parents Residing in the State of Victoria, Australia

From 2015 to 2020 a state-wide salt-reduction initiative was launched in Victoria, Australia, including an awareness campaign focused on parents with children <18 years of age. To evaluate the impact of the campaign on salt-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KABs) we have assessed trends in salt-related KAB pre- and post-delivery of the campaign in parents, as well as within the wider adult population. Cross-sectional surveys of adults aged 18–65 years were undertaken pre- (2015: n = 821 parents; n = 1527 general sample) and post-campaign (2019: n = 935 parents; n = 1747 general sample). KABs were assessed via an online survey. Data were analyzed with regression models and adjusted for covariates. Among parents, around one-quarter of salt-related KABs shifted in a positive direction, but changes were small: there was a 6% (95% CI 2, 11%) increase in the percentage who knew the main source of salt in the diet and reductions in the percentage who reported placing a salt shaker on the table (−8% (95%CI −12, −3)) and that their child added salt at the table (−5% (95% −9, −0.2)). Among the wider adult sample, even fewer shifts in KAB were observed, with some behaviors worsening at follow-up. These findings indicate that this consumer awareness campaign had minimum impact

Affecting solidarities: bringing feeling into feminism, empathy in employment and compassion in academic communities of crises

While a wider context of crisis and neoliberal practices engulfing academia has triggered a variety of debilitating impacts on both education and academic working lives, tourism academia remains an insulated workplace, slowly responding to efforts corresponding to a politics of care, diversity and inclusivity. In highlighting attention to the issue of gender equity in tourism academia, this paper draws on netnographic analysis from one global electronic mailing list and analyses empirical data on the issues of ‘gender’, ‘women’ and ‘diversity’. The case study brings to the fore the urgency of addressing these issues as regards tourism academia. The latter is a space that we argue would benefit from enactments that nurture affectivities of solidarity. These are exemplified in the form of caring, compassionate and feeling fuelled inclusive workplaces. This paper aims to stimulate further debate in underscoring the need to introduce what we term ‘unbounded feminisms of solidarity and compassion’

The bisphosphonate zoledronic acid impairs membrane localisation and induces cytochrome c release in breast cancer cells

Bisphosphonates are well established in the management of cancer-induced bone disease. Recent studies have indicated that these compounds have direct inhibitory effects on cultured human breast cancer cells. Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates including zoledronic acid have been shown to induce apoptosis associated with PARP cleavage and DNA fragmentation. The aim of this study was to identify the signalling pathways involved. Forced expression of the anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2 attenuated bisphosphonate-induced loss of cell viability and induction of DNA fragmentation in MDA-MB-231 cells. Zoledronic acid-mediated apoptosis was associated with a time and dose-related release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol in two cell lines. Rescue of cells by preincubation with a caspase-3 selective inhibitor and demonstration of pro-caspase-3 cleavage products by immunoblotting suggests that at least one of the caspases activated in response to zoledronic acid treatment is caspase-3. In both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, zoledronic acid impaired membrane localisation of Ras indicating reduced prenylation of this protein. These observations demonstrate that zoledronic acid-mediated apoptosis is associated with cytochrome c release and consequent caspase activation. This process may be initiated by inhibition of the enzymes in the mevalonate pathway leading to impaired prenylation of key intracellular proteins including Ras

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Measurement and interpretation of same-sign W boson pair production in association with two jets in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the measurement of fducial and diferential cross sections for both the inclusive and electroweak production of a same-sign W-boson pair in association with two jets (W±W±jj) using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is performed by selecting two same-charge leptons, electron or muon, and at least two jets with large invariant mass and a large rapidity diference. The measured fducial cross sections for electroweak and inclusive W±W±jj production are 2.92 ± 0.22 (stat.) ± 0.19 (syst.)fb and 3.38±0.22 (stat.)±0.19 (syst.)fb, respectively, in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The measurements are used to constrain anomalous quartic gauge couplings by extracting 95% confdence level intervals on dimension-8 operators. A search for doubly charged Higgs bosons H±± that are produced in vector-boson fusion processes and decay into a same-sign W boson pair is performed. The largest deviation from the Standard Model occurs for an H±± mass near 450 GeV, with a global signifcance of 2.5 standard deviations