Prevalence of Front-of-Pack Warning Signs among Commercial Complementary Foods in Seven High and Upper Middle-Income Countries

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ARCH evaluated commercially produced complementary foods (CPCF) against national and global front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) systems to determine the proportion of products that would warrant warning or traffic light signs for high levels of concerning nutrients.  A cross-sectional assessment was conducted to evaluate the levels of selected nutrients in CPCF available in Australia (n = 266), Brazil (n = 41), Chile (n = 73), Mexico (n = 164), the United States (n = 562), the United Arab Emirates (n = 135), and the United Kingdom (n = 643).  A substantial proportion of CPCFs contained excessive levels of total sugar, total fat or saturated fat that would warrant a red/amber traffic light or warning sign on product labels. Additionally, the high prevalence of added sugars and sweeteners identified in CPCFs was concerning.

The article was published in Nutrients in 2023.

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