Food Policy Journal Watch: September 2014

by nycadmin

Food Policy Journal Watch: September 2014

Select articles from food policy-focused peer-reviewed journals from our September 2014 newsletter.

Individual differences in striatum activity to food commercials predict weight gain in adolescents. (Obesity)
“The results suggest that there are individual differences in neural susceptibility to food advertising. These findings highlight a potential mechanism for the impact of food marketing on adolescent obesity.”
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What Role Do Local Grocery Stores Play in Urban Food Environments? A Case Study of Hartford-Connecticut (Plus One)
“Classifying urban areas with few large supermarkets as ‘food deserts’ may overlook the availability of healthy foods and low prices that exist within small and medium-sized groceries common in inner cities. Improving produce quality and store appearance can potentially impact the food purchasing decisions of low-income residents in Hartford.”
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Consumers’ valuation of sustainability labels on meat (Food Policy)
“There are various sustainability certifications and claims for food products that focus on environmental or ethical benefits. These claims empower consumers to make informed purchasing decisions that take environmental and ethical considerations into account. This paper compares consumers’ preferences for four types of sustainability claims related to organic meat, free range, animal welfare and carbon footprint. Using a choice experiment on a chicken breast product, our results show that nine in every ten Belgian consumers favor free range claims, which are also valued the most highly, attracting premiums ranging from 43% to 93%. ”
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Nutrition in emergencies: Do we know what works? (Food Policy)
“‘Nutrition actions in emergencies continue to be critical to mortality reduction and to achieving broader humanitarian as well as livelihood goals in institutionally fragile environments. In the past decade, numerous innovations have enhanced the prevention and treatment of many forms of malnutrition; these include wider adoption of new food products, protocols for their use, and programming guidelines. The quality and scale of interventions has improved despite many challenges, resulting in fewer avoidable deaths and growing success in the management of severe and moderate wasting, as well as micronutrient deficiencies.”
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Target salt 2025: a global overview of national programs to encourage the food industry to reduce salt in foods. ( Nutrients)
“Reducing population salt intake has been identified as a priority intervention to reduce non-communicable diseases. Member States of the World Health Organization have agreed to a global target of a 30% reduction in salt intake by 2025. In countries where most salt consumed is from processed foods, programs to engage the food industry to reduce salt in products are being developed. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of national initiatives to encourage the food industry to reduce salt. A systematic review of the literature was supplemented by key informant questionnaires to inform categorization of the initiatives”
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FoodSwitch: A Mobile Phone App to Enable Consumers to Make Healthier Food Choices and Crowdsourcing of National Food Composition Data. ( Journal of Medical Internet Research)
“The hope is that one day most of New York’s discarded food will make its way to composting sites, where it will benefit the environment, rather than be trucked to distant landfills, an undertaking that costs the city more than $300 million annually. A highly visible side effect would be to reduce the city’s rat population. With less food in curbside garbage cans, the thinking goes, fewer rats should come prowling around in search of a meal.”
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Distance to Store, Food Prices, and Obesity in Urban Food Deserts. (American Journal of Preventive Medicine)
“Distance to store and prices were positively associated with obesity (p<0.05). When distance to store and food prices were jointly modeled, only prices remained significant (p<0.01), with higher prices predicting a lower likelihood of obesity. Although low- and high-price stores did not differ in availability, they significantly differed in their display and marketing of junk foods relative to healthy foods.”
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Multilevel evaluation of ‘China Healthy Lifestyles for All’, a nationwide initiative to promote lower intakes of salt and edible oil. (Preventive Medicine)
“Adjusting for socioeconomic confounders, participants in ‘intervention’ counties were more likely to know the limit of salt (Odds Ratio 3.14, 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) 1.98, 4.96) and oil consumption (3.67, 95% CI 2.31, 5.82), and were more intent to modify their consumption (salt 1.98, 95% CI 1.41, 2.76; oil OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.41, 2.81) and to report a change in taste (salt 1.90, 95% CI 1.31, 2.75; oil 2.07, 95% CI 1.38, 3.10). ‘Intervention’ effects were consistent regardless of income or education, but women and older participants benefited disproportionately. Outcomes were 2.8 and 4.7 times more likely among those with better recall.”
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Buying food on sale: a mixed methods study with shoppers at an urban supermarket, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2010-2012. (Preventing Chronic Disease)
“In analyses of 6,493 food purchase transactions over 65 weeks, the odds of buying foods on sale versus at full price were higher for grain-based snacks, sweet snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages (odds ratios: 6.6, 5.9, and 2.6, respectively; all P < .001) but not for savory snacks. The odds of buying foods on sale versus full price were not higher for any of any of the LCF [low-calorie foods](P ≥ .07). Without controlling for quantities purchased, we found that spending increased as percentage saved from the full price increased for all HCF [high-calorie foods]and for fruits and vegetables (P ≤ .002). Focus group participants emphasized the lure of sale items and took advantage of sales to stock up.”
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