Abstract
Dietary carbohydrates are components of healthy foods, but many carbohydrate foods have recently been stigmatized as primary causes of diet-related risk factors for chronic disease. There is an opportunity to enhance efforts within the food landscape to encourage the consumption of higher quality carbohydrate foods. The use of labelling is one strategy that permits consumers to identify healthy carbohydrate foods at the point-of-purchase. This review discusses the regulatory frameworks and examples of associated non-mandatory food labelling claims that are currently employed to highlight healthy carbohydrate foods to consumers. The existing labelling frameworks discussed here align with established measures of carbohydrate quality, such as 1. dietary fibre nutrient content claims and associated dietary fibre-based health claims; 2. the presence of whole carbohydrate foods and ingredients that are intact or reconstituted, such as whole grains; and 3. low glycemic index and glycemic response claims. Standards from Codex Alimentarius, and regulations from Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Europe, and the United States will be used to illustrate the means by which food labelling can be used by consumers to identify quality carbohydrate foods.
Highlights
In Australia and New Zealand, all dietary fibres can claim an effect on laxation if the levels of fibre within a food meet the general conditions for a fibre nutrient content claim (Table 1: 2 g/serving)
Just as there is no “one-size-fits-all” healthy dietary pattern, this review demonstrates that there are multiple attributes that can be used to highlight carbohydrate quality in foods to the consumer
High-quality carbohydrate foods can be identified as those that are high in dietary fibre, contain meaningful levels of whole carbohydrate foods and ingredients that are intact or reconstituted, such as whole grains, or have a low glycemic index (GI) or glycemic response
Summary
“Quality carbohydrate” is a relatively new term that has been introduced as a means of discussing the contribution of carbohydrate foods to healthy diets. Similar to dietary fat, the term carbohydrate encompasses various food components that, on their own and within foods, can have a spectrum of benefits on physiological function and health within dietary patterns. Across jurisdictions, labelling tools exist to help consumers identify foods that align with healthy dietary patterns; this includes foods of higher carbohydrate quality. Many jurisdictions permit the use of nutrient content claims to communicate the presence of nutrients or other healthy food components, including dietary fibre, in foods. Other claims and labelling programs communicate the presence of intact or reconstituted foods and ingredients, such as whole grains, that contain carbohydrates and other nutrients, and align with a jurisdiction’s nutritional policies. This review provides an overview of the existing regulatory frameworks and examples of associated non-mandatory food labelling claims that are currently employed to highlight high-quality carbohydrate foods to consumers. The benefits of expanding labelling regulations to further encourage consumption of higher quality carbohydrate foods will be discussed
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