Abstract
AbstractThe UK government plans to limit price‐based and location‐based promotions for products high in saturated fat, salt and sugars. The 2004/2005 UK Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is the proposed legislative basis, but may be superseded by the draft 2018 NPM. This study develops an algorithm to apply both NPMs to a large food composition database (FCDB), and assesses implementation challenges. UK NPMs were applied algorithmically to the myfood24 FCDB, representing ~45 000 retail products. Pass rates – indicating free or restricted promotions – and micronutrient compositions were compared. Challenges were assessed, and recommendations addressed the legislation’s public consultation questions. For products in scope (75% of total), 6% fewer passed the 2018 NPM (36%, P < 0.001) compared with the 2004/2005 NPM (42%). Beverages showed the greatest reduction in pass rate (75%). Under both models, micronutrient contents (per 100 g of product) were generally lower for products that passed; except folate, vitamin C and vitamin D were no different for passed and failed products. Compared with products passing the 2004/2005 NPM, products passing the 2018 NPM on average had marginally higher amounts of iron (0.05 mg, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.08, P < 0.001) and magnesium (1.00 mg, 95% CI: 0.00, 1.17, P = 0.029), but marginally lower levels of calcium (−0.42 mg, 95% CI: −2.00, −0.40, P = 0.025). Missing ingredient information and heterogeneous product categories were challenges for both NPMs. Free sugars calculation further complicated 2018 NPM application. To balance feasibility and public health benefit, the proposed legislative basis may not be appropriate.
Highlights
Childhood obesity is a growing health concern in the UK (Johnson et al 2015; NHS Digital 2017, 2018) and a focus of the government’s public health strategy (HM Government 2018)
Taking a data science perspective, this study aims algorithmically to apply the UK Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) to a large product dataset developed by myfood24 (Carter et al 2016) and explore the challenges to the food industry of implementing this legislation
Applying the UK NPMs across a whole product portfolio to determine eligibility for in-store promotional restrictions posed three key challenges: the first of which applies to both NPMs, while the third is unique to the draft 2018 NPM and made it more difficult to apply than the 2004/2005 NPM
Summary
Childhood obesity is a growing health concern in the UK (Johnson et al 2015; NHS Digital 2017, 2018) and a focus of the government’s public health strategy (HM Government 2018). Caloric overconsumption (PHE 2018b), of foods and beverages high in free sugars (SACN 2015; Roberts et al 2018), is a risk factor for obesity. Food promotions form an important aspect of the obesogenic environment which people in developed societies are exposed to on a daily basis. These promotions are especially effective at targeting children (Carter et al 2011) and may translate to purchasing through ‘pester power’ (Marshall et al 2020). Legislative approaches to restrict the promotion of unhealthy foods, to children, are a welcome part of the UK’s obesity prevention strategy (HM Government 2018)
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