Visible sugar : Salient sugar information impacts health perception of fruit juices but only when motivated to be responsible and not when motivated to enjoy

Parent and Child Choice of Sugary Drinks Under Four Labelling Conditions

Background: The majority of Australian children exceed the World Health Organization's recommended dietary intake of free sugar, particularly through the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Front-of-pack nutrition labels increase perceived risk and deter the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. However, past studies of young children have focused almost exclusively on a parent's choice of beverage for children. This study investigated the influence of four label designs (text-based warning, tooth decay pictorial, teaspoons of sugar, and Health Star Rating) on the beverage choices of N = 1229 Australian children (aged 4-11 years) and their parents. Methods: In an online vending machine scenario, parent-child dyads were separately asked to select which beverage they would choose for themselves before and after being randomised to one label condition. The beverages displayed included 100% fruit juice, soft drink, soft drink with a non-nutritive sweetener, flavoured milk, plain milk and bottled water. Beverage healthiness was determined by a 1-10 rating based on a review by a panel of experts (10 dietitians and nutritionists). Results: Mixed-model ANOVAs showed that for parents, each label design performed comparably; however, for children, small but significant differences were seen in the effectiveness of different label designs, with the teaspoons of sugar label, text-based warning, and tooth decay pictorial found to be more impactful in promoting healthier drink choices than the Health Star Rating. Conclusions: These findings can inform public health advocacy efforts to improve food labelling and could be incorporated into educational resources to help children understand the nutritional profiles of different sugary drinks.

Whole Fruits Versus 100% Fruit Juice: Revisiting the Evidence and Its Implications for US Healthy Dietary Recommendations

Scientific literature remains inconsistent on whether and to what extent 100% fruit juice should be recommended in the diet. Specifically, the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) do not specifically refer to free sugars in fruit juice, and further clarification to provide more explicit guidance may be needed in the 2025-2030 version. We compared evidence on whole fruit and 100% fruit juice regarding its nutrient composition, impact on hunger and satiety, and association with chronic health conditions while highlighting the potential public health perspectives and implications for healthy dietary recommendations. Processing and/or storing 100% fruit juice reduces its fibre, vitamins and other antioxidant contents and transforms intrinsic sugars in the whole fruit into free sugars. Fruit consumed in solid form provides greater satiety due to delayed gastric emptying and related physiological reactions. The synergistic effects of polyphenols and fibre in whole fruit benefit the gut microbiome by acting as prebiotics and producing short-chain fatty acids that reduce inflammation. Although the evidence surrounding 100% fruit juice on chronic conditions remains inconsistent, accumulating studies indicate a more consistently beneficial role of whole fruits. The research evidence reviewed highlights the need for the DGA to update the recommendations on fruit juice, including emphasising the health benefits of whole fruit over fruit juice, providing a clear guideline on the daily fruit juice allowance, defining "free sugars" in fruit juice, and clarifying the distinction between 100% fruit juice and fruit drinks.

Guideline Daily Amounts Versus Nutri-Score Labeling: Perceptions of Greek Consumers About Front-of-Pack Label

Nutrition information is becoming more urgent than ever so that consumers can make informed choices when buying food. This study aimed to investigate consumers' perceptions and behavior of the front-of-pack label (FOPL), between two specific labeling systems, the Nutri-Score and the Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA). This is a post hoc analysis of data from a previous, more extensive cross-sectional study conducted from April 2021 to June 2021. A total of 510 participants were included in the study, of whom 49.6% were women. Participants' perceptions were assessed in nine questions on a five-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree). Multivariate variance analysis (MANOVA) was performed to test the effects of the label GDA vs. Nutri-Score on the overall positive and negative perceptions. We found that the Nutri-Score label was significantly more understandable (p=0.003), clear, visible, and preferable (p<0.001) than the GDA label, which required more time to be understood. The findings indicate that the interpretive label, Nutri-Score, was superior to the non-interpretive label GDA, in terms of consumers' perception, more visibility, less time-consuming, and reliability. The FOPL can improve the ability of consumers in Greece to understand the healthfulness of food products.

Age, an Important Sociodemographic Determinant of Factors Influencing Consumers' Food Choices and Purchasing Habits: An English University Setting

The purchasing behaviors of university staff (n = 188) and their use of nutrition labels in making food choices were investigated by an online survey. The age of the participants significantly impacted their purchasing behaviors. This effect was not observed with other sociodemographic characteristics studied (level of education, gender, employment status and ethnicity). The impact of age on the extrinsic factors affecting food choice (personal preference, previous knowledge, convenience, religion/beliefs) and intrinsic factors (quantity, country of origin, method of preparation/serving, fat, salt, protein and added sugar contents) were further explored. The use of nutrition labels among different age groups when buying for the first time was significant for breakfast cereals and fruit juices.

Dietary Intake and Sources of Added Sugars in Various Food Environments in Costa Rican Adolescents

Consumption of added sugars, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), has been associated with several negative health outcomes during adolescence. This study aimed to identify dietary intake and food sources of added sugars in the home, school, and neighborhood environments of Costa Rican adolescents. Dietary intake of added sugars was determined using 3-day food records in a cross-sectional study of 818 adolescents aged 12 to 19 and enrolled in rural and urban schools in the province of San José. On average, 90% of adolescents consumed more than 10% of their total energy intake from added sugars. Furthermore, 74.0% of added sugars were provided at home, 17.4% at school, and 8.6% in the neighborhood. Added sugars were primarily provided by frescos (29.4%), fruit-flavored still drinks (22.9%), and sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages (12.3%), for a total contribution of 64.6%. Our findings suggest that Costa Rican adolescents have a plethora of added sugar sources in all food environments where they socialize. However, it is relevant for public health to consider the home and school environments as fundamental units of interventions aimed at reducing added sugars in the adolescent diet. Frescos prepared at home and school and fruit-flavored still drinks must be the focus of these interventions.