See the following July 29, 2020 news release on a study showing a decline in household purchases of food and beverages containing sugar over between 2002 and 2018, while purchases of those products containing sugar substitutes increased.
NEWS RELEASE
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Elsevier
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Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
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Americans are consuming less sugar but more nonnutritive sweeteners
New study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showsUS household purchases of foods and beverages containing caloric sweeteners declined between 2002 and 2018 but increased for products with both caloric sweetener and nonnutritive sweeteners
Philadelphia, July 29, 2020 – A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, published by Elsevier, found that between 2002 and 2018 purchases by US households of foods and beverages containing caloric sweetener (CS, i.e., sugar) declined while purchases of products containing both caloric sugars and nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS, i.e., sugar substitutes) increased. Beverages accounted for most of the products purchased containing NNS only or combined with CS.
“With excessive sugar consumption linked to chronic cardiometabolic diseases, sugar reduction has become an important public health strategy. This has resulted in greater innovation by the food industry and increased use of NNS in our food supply,” said lead investigator Barry Popkin, PhD, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor, Department of Nutrition, Gillings Global School of Public Health, and Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
NNS include aspartame, saccharin, rebaudioside A (reb-A), and sucralose, which provide sweetness to products without the calories of sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
The study looked at how the prevalence and volume of foods that contain commonly consumed NNS types in the US packaged food supply had changed between 2002 and 2018. Co-investigator and Gillings Global School of Public Health Associate Professor Shu Wen Ng, PhD, said the study found a decline in prevalence of products containing aspartame and saccharin, but an increase in those with sucralose (increased from 38.7 percent to 71.0 percent) and reb-A (increased from 0.1 percent to 25.9 percent). Beverages accounted for most of products purchased containing NNS only or combined with CS. Compared to households without children, households with children are buying more packaged beverages and foods products that contain NNS. While this aligns with the public health objectives, it also raised other concerns about exposure to NNS.
The study also showed that non-Hispanic whites purchased almost double the volume of products containing NNS compared to Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks throughout the study period. However, non-Hispanic black households showed a 42 percent increase in the proportion of households purchasing beverage products containing both CS and NNS between 2002 and 2018, indicating that purchasing behavior may be changing for this race-ethnic group.
The analysis used a nationally representative dataset on household purchases at the barcode level (Nielsen Homescan) in 2002 and 2018 linked with Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) data and ingredient information using commercial nutrition databases that are updated regularly to capture reformulations. Keyword searches were performed on ingredient lists to classify products containing various types of NNS. The investigators then derived each household’s total volume purchased per capita per day in 2002 and 2018 that contained NNS and/or caloric sugars and the percent of households purchasing foods and beverages by sweetener type.
Dr. Elizabeth Dunford, also affiliated with UNC’s Gillings Global School of Public Health, and Carolina Population Center, noted, “There is a need to be able to track our exposure to specific types of sweeteners in order to properly understand their health implications. The change to the food supply our study documents reinforces the need to develop and maintain the data systems to monitor what companies are putting in their foods. This work can help complement new and emerging clinical evidence about the different cardiometabolic and health effects of each NNS type.”
“Considering further improvements to the Nutrition Facts label to include the amounts of NNS when present in products can allow monitoring of our exposure to these additives so that we can better assess their potential harms or benefits on health,” said Dr. Ng.
Previous observational studies have linked NNS consumption to increased body weight, type 2 diabetes, and other adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, while others have found the opposite effect. Results from randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have not demonstrated any relationship between NNS and increased consumption of sweet foods. It is unclear whether the inconsistency of the findings is due to studies typically categorizing all NNS together, rather than examining differences in the effect of specific types of NNS on outcomes.
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About the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The official journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the premier source for the practice and science of food, nutrition, and dietetics. The monthly, peer-reviewed journal presents original articles prepared by scholars and practitioners and is the most widely read professional publication in the field. The Journal focuses on advancing professional knowledge across the range of research and practice issues such as: nutritional science, medical nutrition therapy, public health nutrition, food science and biotechnology, food service systems, leadership and management and dietetics education. www.jandonline.org
About the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Representing more than 100,000 credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the Academy at www.eatright.org.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians to find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, we have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, we’re committed to bringing that rigor to a new generation of platforms. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, 39,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray’s Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com