Researchers from the CEU
Institute of Food and Society have developed a new Spanish Food Composition Database, providing updated information
based on nutritional labelling following the food reformulation carried out in
recent years.
This new tool, named Tabula®,
allows access to the nutritional composition as declared on the labelling of
approximately 6.500 representative foods and beverages, covering around 80% of
the current Spanish market. Additionally, it serves as a basis for comparison
with data from 2013, enabling the evaluation of the results of the voluntary
reformulation process of foods and beverages over the past 10 years.
The following are some of the key aspects highlighted during the
presentation ceremony, held today before a panel of experts, in which Elena Andradas, Director General of
Public Health at the Regional Ministry of Health in the Community of Madrid was
present, along with Coral Barbas,
Coordinator of CEU Universities and Gregorio
Varela-Moreiras, Director of the CEU Institute of Food and Society.
Monitoring the reformulation plan
"It is only now that we
have composition tables that adapt to the current reality, with the processed
foods and beverages available in the Spanish market – reflecting the necessity to
have validated instruments that would allow us to quantify dietary intake
accurately," commented Gregorio
Varela-Moreiras, Professor of Nutrition and Bromatology at Universidad CEU
San Pablo and lead researcher of this ambitious project.
"Through the
Collaboration Plan for the improvement of the composition of foods and
beverages promoted by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN),
many food products have changed their composition since 2017. Therefore, using
previous databases to assess current dietary intake would provide an incorrect
and biassed picture," Varela-Moreiras continued to explain.
WHO and EuroFIR Nutrient Profile Models
The classification of products has been based on the system used in
the Nutrient Profile Model of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the
European Region 2023 as well as on the classification system of the European
Food Information Network (EuroFIR). This makes Tabula® a reference source of
information not only nationally but also at the European level.
Tabula® provides nutritional information for each product based on
labelling according to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Specifically, it offers
information on its legal name, list of ingredients and allergens, mandatory
nutritional information as well as voluntary nutritional information.
Additionally, and as a novelty compared to other food and beverage
composition tables, Tabula® includes nutritional declarations regarding total
fats, saturated fats, sugars, and salt, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No
1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods.
This new database is part of the broader project "Impact of food reformulation in Spain on
the intake and nutritional quality of diets in children and adolescents"
(REFORES; REFORmulation in Spain). It is a more extensive study and
evaluation project involving 500 girls and adolescents aged 3 to 17 from all
Nielsen areas in Spain.
"The results obtained
from this ambitious project will also allow us to cross-reference data with
other relevant studies, such as the obesity map recently presented by AESAN,
carried out thanks to the data from the ENE-COVID study of 2020, indicating
that one-third of the child and adolescent population is overweight and one in
ten is obese," stated Varela-Moreiras.
"This dietary survey, of
which Tabula® is a part, will also help to find out how the intake of foods and
beverages has changed in the last decade in children and adolescents and the
new reformulation needs that may arise," stressed the researcher
leader.
Information on critical nutrients: fats, saturated
fats, sugar, and salt
"The Spanish food market
shows a better profile in terms of the content of fats, total sugars, and salt
in a good portion of frequently consumed products," commented the main
researcher of the project.
Following the WHO Europe classification, and always according to
the information declared on the nutritional labelling of the analysed sample,
the group that contributes the most fat per 100g or 100mL is "butter,
other fats, and similar oils", followed by the "chocolate and sugar
confectionery, energy bars, desserts, and sweet toppings" group.
"Salty snacks" is the group contributing the third most fat.
The "butter, other fats, and similar oils" group also
contributes the most saturated fats, followed by the "cheese" group
and the "chocolate and sugar confectionery, energy bars, desserts, and
sweet toppings" group.
Regarding total sugar content, the group with the highest content
is "chocolate and sugar confectionery, energy bars, desserts, and sweet
toppings," followed by the groups "ice cream, popsicles, and
sorbets," and "cakes, sweet biscuits and pastries, other bakery and
sweet pastry products, and powdered preparations for baking."
Finally, the groups with the highest salt content are "meat,
fish, and similar: processed," "salty snacks," and
"cheese."
Technical details
The data collection was carried out from websites of the food
processing industry and the food distribution industry from January 2022 to
October 2023. Continuous updating and validation are planned, for which the CEU
Institute of Food and Society at Universidad CEU San Pablo has also provided an
email available to the food processing and distribution industry to notify any
changes or reformulations of their products ([email protected]).
For the analysis of compliance with the criteria of each
nutritional declaration, the fulfilment of the strictest criteria has been
considered. For example, if a product meets the criteria of
"fat-free," even if it also meets the less restrictive criterion of
"low-fat" (less restrictive), Tabula® records only the
"fat-free" declaration.