The British Nutrition Foundation held a 1‐day roundtable event to gather views from a wide range of stakeholders on the relevance and importance of the concept of nutrient density in supporting and motivating people to make healthier dietary choices. The opportunities and barriers associated with the use of this concept were also explored. The roundtable involved experts from research, public health nutrition, dietetics, retail and nutrition science communication, and this report describes the main themes emerging from the discussions. High obesity prevalence rates indicate that, on average, we are consuming too many calories relative to energy requirements; yet, the quality of our diets, with respect to certain vitamins and minerals and fibre, seems to be falling somewhat short of recommendations. Addressing this issue may require a more holistic approach than the current focus on restricting single nutrients prevalent in public health messaging internationally. Most members of the roundtable felt that communicating the concept of nutrient density may help in encouraging healthier food choices and dietary patterns that are higher in nutritional quality. However, while nutrient profiling has been used to guide front‐of‐pack labelling and in restricting the advertising of less healthy foods to children, there is a lack of consensus on the precise definition of a ‘nutrient dense’ food or which nutrients should be used as markers of the ‘healthiness’ of foods/drinks, and the term seems to be poorly understood by consumers and health professionals alike. Therefore, further work is required if tools around this concept are to be developed to try and successfully promote behaviour change.

The consumption of nuts remains low among European populations despite widespread inclusion as a recommended food group across European dietary guidelines. Front-of-Pack nutrition labelling systems are designed to support consumers make healthier choices and to stimulate product improvement, thus representing a pivotal opportunity to reduce the gap between intakes and recommendations. This study examined how the Nutri-Score algorithm treats nuts and nut-containing products and tested whether slight adjustments could better recognise and motivate nut inclusion in foods and diets. The nutritional score (ScN) and corresponding Nutri-Score letter of 68 nuts and nut-containing products were calculated, using the initial algorithm and slight adjustments, where nut weight was doubled (S1), saturated fats (S2) or energy (S3) from nuts were discounted, or saturated fats were replaced by the saturated fats/lipid ratio (S4). The correlation between the nuts’ content and the ScN was moderate for the initial algorithm (R² = 0.34) and S1 (R² = 0.36), but improved for S2, S3 and S4 (R² = 0.54, 0.55 and 0.52, respectively). Four plain nuts, initially labelled as “B” or “C” obtained a Nutri-Score “A” with S2, S3 and S4. Slight adjustments could better align the Nutri-Score with food-based dietary guidelines, reassure consumers on healthfulness of nuts and nut-containing products, whilst incentivising the inclusion of nuts in diverse foods.

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Nurses have an important role to play in improving patients' diets. This article examines the role of carbohydrates in the prevention and management of disease. It discusses the qlycaemic response and index, the importance of fibre, insulin sensitivity, weight management and the role of resistant starch in healthy eating.

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