Consuming a diet complying with front-of-pack label criteria may reduce cholesterol levels: a modeling study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Front-of-pack nutrition labels can help consumers to make healthier choices and stimulate healthier product development. This is the first modeling study to

investigate the potential impact on cholesterol levels of consuming a diet consisting of products that comply with the criteria for a ‘healthier choice logo’. SUBJECTS/METHODS: National food

consumption and food composition data were used to estimate the nutrient intake of the Dutch adult population (18–70 years) before and after replacing foods that did not comply with the

Choices front-of-pack label criteria. Different scenarios were established. The difference in cholesterol levels in the Dutch population was assessed before and after replacement by means of

equations from meta-analyses that calculate how blood lipids change when diet composition changes. RESULTS: After replacing non-complying products with products, which comply with the

label's criteria (maximum scenario), saturated fatty acids median intake reduced from 14.5 to 9.8 en%. _Trans_-fatty acids reduced from 0.95 to 0.57 en%. The average predicted changes

in low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol levels were −0.25 and −0.31 mmol/l, respectively. Because high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels reduced as well (−0.05 mmol/l),

overall, the result was a slightly positive change in the total cholesterol/HDL ratio (−0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the consumption of foods complying with the criteria for

a front-of-pack label could contribute moderately to cardiovascular risk reduction via influencing blood lipids. These findings were independent of other potential effects on related health

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Organization: Geneva. Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University

Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands E L Vyth, A J C Roodenburg, I H M Steenhuis & J C Seidell * National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The

Netherlands M A H Hendriksen, J M A van Raaij & H Verhagen * Unilever Research and Development, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands A J C Roodenburg * Department of Epidemiology and

Biostatistics, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands J Brug & J C Seidell Authors * E L Vyth View author publications You

can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M A H Hendriksen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * A J C Roodenburg View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * I H M Steenhuis View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * J M A van

Raaij View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * H Verhagen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *

J Brug View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * J C Seidell View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to E L Vyth. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS AJCR was seconded at VU University Amsterdam and is employed by Unilever R&D, the

Netherlands. Rest of the authors declare no conflict of interest. ELV was funded by the Choices Foundation. The Choices Foundation had no role in the study design, analysis or interpretation

of the data. MAHH, JMAR and HV were funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Vyth, E.,

Hendriksen, M., Roodenburg, A. _et al._ Consuming a diet complying with front-of-pack label criteria may reduce cholesterol levels: a modeling study. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 66, 510–516 (2012).

https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.193 Download citation * Received: 03 October 2011 * Accepted: 12 October 2011 * Published: 16 November 2011 * Issue Date: April 2012 * DOI:

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currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * nutrition labeling * modeling * reformulation * public

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