scholarly journals Understanding the Functional Activity of Polyphenols Using Omics-Based Approaches

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 3953
Author(s):  
Wenjin Si ◽  
Yangdong Zhang ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
Yufeng Du ◽  
Qingbiao Xu
Keyword(s):  
Processed Foods ◽  
Action Mechanism ◽  
Plant Polyphenols ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Main Category ◽  
Functional Activities ◽  
Gut Microbe ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Abundant Data ◽  
Active Substances

Plant polyphenols are the main category of natural active substances, and are distributed widely in vegetables, fruits, and plant-based processed foods. Polyphenols have a beneficial performance in preventing diseases and maintaining body health. However, its action mechanism has not been well understood. Foodomics is a novel method to sequence and widely used in nutrition, combining genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, microbiome, and metabolomics. Based on multi-omics technologies, foodomics provides abundant data to study functional activities of polyphenols. In this paper, physiological functions of various polyphenols based on foodomics and microbiome was discussed, especially the anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities and gut microbe regulation. In conclusion, omics (including microbiomics) is a useful approach to explore the bioactive activities of polyphenols in the nutrition and health of human and animals.

Nutritional Marketing of Plant-Based Meat-Analogue Products: an exploratory study of front-of-pack and website claims in the USA

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lacy-Nichols ◽  
Libby Hattersley ◽  
Gyorgy Scrinis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Nutrition Claims ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Alternative Protein ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Usa

Abstract Objective: To explore how some of the largest food companies involved in producing alternative proteins use health and nutrition claims to market their products. Design: We identified the largest food manufacturers, meat processors, and alternative protein companies selling plant-based alternative protein products in the United States. Using publicly available data, we analysed the voluntary health and nutrition claims made on front-of-pack labels and company webpages. We also analysed company websites for further nutrition and health-related statements about their products or alternative proteins more generally. Claim classification was guided by the INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity/Non-Communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring, and Action Support) taxonomy for health-related food labelling. Setting: United States. Results: 1394 health and nutrition-related front-of-pack label (FOPL) claims were identified on 216 products, including 685 nutrition claims and 709 ´other health-related´ claims. No FOPL health claims were identified. Most nutrient claims were for nutrients associated with meat, with 94% of products carrying a protein claim and 30% carrying a cholesterol claim. 74% of products carried a GMO-free claim and 63% carried a plant-based claim. On their websites, some companies expanded on these claims or discussed the health benefits of specific ingredients. Conclusions: Companies involved in this category appear to be using nutritional marketing primarily to position their products in relation to meat. There is a focus on nutrient and ingredient claims, with discussion of processing largely avoided. The findings highlight the challenges companies face in positioning AP products as healthy against the backdrop of debates about ultra-processed foods.

Exploring claims and marketing techniques in Brazilian food labels

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (7) ◽  
pp. 1550-1564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafaela Corrêa Pereira ◽  
Michel Cardoso de Angelis-Pereira ◽  
João de Deus Souza Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Product Category ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Food Market ◽  
Packaged Food ◽  
Nutrition And Health Claims

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the packaged food market in Brazil by examining the use of nutrition and health claims and marketing techniques, as well as the different levels of industrial food processing in relation to product category, nutrition information and price. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted on the labels of pre-packed foods and non-alcoholic beverages marketed in a home-shopping website in Brazil. Findings The authors showed that the use of nutrition and health claims on packaged foods in Brazil is widespread and varied across different food categories. Marketing techniques were also prevalent, and techniques emphasising general health, well-being or naturalness were the most frequent type used. Overall, products carrying nutrition and health claims and/or using marketing techniques had lower content of fat and higher content of fibre. However, the high prevalence of these strategies in ultra-processed foods is alarming. The presence of health claims and use of marketing techniques was not found to be an effective modifier of the three price measures. However, processed and ultra-processed foods were more expensive than unprocessed foods when considering price per energy and price per 100 g or mL. Originality/value These results indicate that there are clear opportunities to improve the packaged food environment in supermarkets. It is important to highlight the need to develop public policies to address these issues, including restriction of the promotion and advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages and use of warning labels.

Novel Method to Quantify β-Glucan in Processed Foods: Sodium Hypochlorite Extracting and Enzymatic Digesting (SEED) Assay

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 1033-1038
Author(s):  
Masahiro Ide ◽  
Masato Okumura ◽  
Keiko Koizumi ◽  
Momochika Kumagai ◽  
Izumi Yoshida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Hypochlorite ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Novel Method

scholarly journals Estimated effects of the implementation of the Mexican Warning Labels regulation on the use of health and nutrition claims on packaged foods

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Cruz-Casarrubias ◽  
Lizbeth Tolentino-Mayo ◽  
Stefanie Vandevijvere ◽  
Simón Barquera
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
Retail Stores ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Warning Labels ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Nutrition Claims ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Nutrition And Health Claims

Abstract Background The use of health and nutrition claims on front-of-pack labels has a potential effect on consumers' food choices; therefore, many countries established regulations to avoid misperceptions. This study describes the use of nutrition and health claims on the front-of-pack of food products in retail stores in Mexico and analyze the potential effects of the new front-of-pack labelling regulation on the use of these claims. Methods This is a cross-sectional study in which nutrition and health claims, nutrition information panels, and the list of ingredients of all foods and beverages available in the main retail stores in Mexico City were collected. The products were grouped by level of processing according to the NOVA food system classification. Claims were classified into different types using the internationally harmonized INFORMAS taxonomy. The potential effect of the implementation of the warning label regulations on the use of nutrition and health claims was estimated by food group and by thresholds of energy and critical nutrients according to the new regulation. Results Of 17,264 products, 33.8% displayed nutrition claims and 3.4% health claims. In total 80.8% of all products on the Mexican market were classified as "less healthy"; 48.2% of products had excess calories, 44.6% had excess sodium, and 40.7% excess free sugars according to the new regulation. The new regulation would prevent 39.4% of products with claims from displaying health and nutrition claims (p<0.001); the largest reduction is observed for ultra-processed foods (51.1%, p<0.001). The regulation thresholds that contribute the most of the reduction in the use of claims were calories (OR 0.62, p<0.001) and non-sugar sweeteners (OR 0.54, p<0.001). Conclusions The new Mexican front-of-pack labelling regulation will prevent most of less healthy processed and ultra-processed foods from displaying HNC and will potentially increase the effectiveness of the warning labels for consumers.

Palates link soil and plants with herbivores and humans

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1432 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. D. Provenza
Keyword(s):  
Nutritive Value ◽  
In Utero ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Know How ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Vegetables And Fruits

Palates link animals with landscapes. An attuned palate, which enables animals to meet needs for nutrients and self-medicate, evolves from flavour–feedback associations, availability of biochemically rich foods, and learning in utero and early in life to eat nourishing combinations of foods. Unlike our ancestors who ate biochemically rich diets, the palates of many individuals are no longer linked in healthy ways with landscapes. Selection for yield, appearance and transportability diminish phytochemical richness of vegetables and fruits, which adversely affects the flavour and nutritive value of produce for humans. Likewise, phytochemically impoverished pastures and feedlot diets can unfavourably affect the health of livestock and the flavour and nutritive value of meat and dairy for humans. Not coincidentally, as the flavours of meat, dairy and produce became blander, processed foods became more desirable as people in industry learned to link feedback from energy-rich compounds with artificial flavours that obscure nutritional sameness and diminish health. Thus, the roles plants and animals once played in nutrition and health have been usurped by processed foods fortified and enriched in ways that adversely affect preferences by stimulating appetite for processed over wholesome foods. The health of soil, plants, herbivores and humans could be improved by creating cultures that know how to produce and combine biochemically rich foods into meals that nourish and satiate.

scholarly journals Different Macrophage Type Triggering as Target of the Action of Biologically Active Substances from Marine Invertebrates

Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Lyudmila S. Dolmatova ◽  
Igor Yu. Dolmatov
Keyword(s):  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
M2 Macrophage ◽  
Functional Activities ◽  
Pure Compounds ◽  
Marine Compounds ◽  
Active Substances ◽  
M1 Type ◽  
Alternatively Activated

Macrophages play a fundamental role in the immune system. Depending on the microenvironment stimuli, macrophages can acquire distinct phenotypes characterized with different sets of the markers of their functional activities. Polarization of macrophages towards M1 type (classical activation) is involved in inflammation and the related progression of diseases, while, in contrast, alternatively activated M2 macrophages are associated with the anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Reprogramming macrophages to switch their phenotypes could provide a new therapeutic strategy, and targeting the M1/M2 macrophage balance is a promising current trend in pharmacology. Marine invertebrates are a vast source of the variety of structurally diverse compounds with potent pharmacological activities. For years, a large number of studies concerning the immunomodulatory properties of the marine substances have been run with using some intracellular markers of immune stimulation or suppression irrespective of the possible application of marine compounds in reprogramming of macrophage activation, and only few reports clearly demonstrated the macrophage-polarizing activities of some marine compounds during the last decade. In this review, the data on the immunomodulating effects of the extracts and pure compounds of a variety of chemical structure from species of different classes of marine invertebrates are described with focus on their potential in shifting M1/M2 macrophage balance towards M1 or M2 phenotype.

scholarly journals Banning front-of-package food labels: First Amendment constraints on public health policy

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1123-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy D Lytton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Health Claims ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Food Labels ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Food Packages ◽  
Nutrition And Health Claims

AbstractIn recent months, the FDA has begun a crackdown on misleading nutrition and health claims on the front of food packages by issuing warning letters to manufacturers and promising to develop stricter regulatory standards. Leading nutrition policy experts Marion Nestle and David Ludwig have called for an even tougher approach: a ban on all nutrition and health claims on the front of food packages. Nestle and Ludwig argue that most of these claims are scientifically unsound and misleading to consumers and that eliminating them would ‘aid educational efforts to encourage the public to eat whole or minimally processed foods and to read the ingredients list on processed foods’. Nestle and Ludwig are right to raise concerns about consumer protection and public health when it comes to front-of-package food labels, but an outright ban on front-of-package nutrition and health claims would violate the First Amendment. As nutrition policy experts develop efforts to regulate front-of-package nutrition and health claims, they should be mindful of First Amendment constraints on government regulation of commercial speech.

scholarly journals Food processing: criteria for dietary guidance and public health?

2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Miller Jones
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Processing ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Added Sugars ◽  
Nutrient Density ◽  
Meal Planning ◽  
Scarcity Of Resources

The NOVA food categorisation recommends ‘avoiding processed foods (PF), especially ultra-processed foods (UPF)’ and selecting minimally PF to address obesity and chronic disease. However, NOVA categories are drawn using non-traditional views of food processing with additional criteria including a number of ingredients, added sugars, and additives. Comparison of NOVA's definition and categorisation of PF with codified and published ones shows limited congruence with respect to either definition or food placement into categories. While NOVA studies associate PF with decreased nutrient density, other classifications find nutrient-dense foods at all levels of processing. Analyses of food intake data using NOVA show UPF provide much added sugars. Since added sugars are one criterion for designation as UPF, such a proof demonstrates a tautology. Avoidance of foods deemed as UPF, such as wholegrain/enriched bread and cereals or flavoured milk, may not address obesity but could decrease intakes of folate, calcium and dietary fibre. Consumer understanding and implementation of NOVA have not been tested. Neither have outcomes been compared with vetted patterns, such as Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, which base food selection on food groups and nutrient contribution. NOVA fails to demonstrate the criteria required for dietary guidance: understandability, affordability, workability and practicality. Consumers’ confusion about definitions and food categorisations, inadequate cooking and meal planning skills and scarcity of resources (time, money), may impede adoption and success of NOVA. Research documenting that NOVA can be implemented by consumers and has nutrition and health outcomes equal to vetted patterns is needed.

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