An Alternative Nutrient Rich Food Index (NRF-ai) Incorporating Prevalence of Inadequate and Excessive Nutrient Intake

Abstract

Most nutrient profiling models give equal weight to nutrients irrespective of their ubiquity in the food system. There is also a degree of arbitrariness about which nutrients are included. In this study, an alternative Nutrient Rich Food index was developed (NRF-ai, where ai denotes adequate intake) incorporating prevalence of inadequate and excessive nutrient intake among Australian adults. Weighting factors for individual nutrients were based on a distance-to-target method using data from the Australian Health Survey describing the proportion of the population with usual intake less than the Estimated Average Requirement defined by the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. All nutrients for which data were available were included, avoiding judgements about which nutrients to include, although some nutrients received little weight. Separate models were developed for females and males and for selected age groups, reflecting differences in nutrient requirements and usual intake. Application of the new nutrient profiling models is demonstrated for selected dairy products and alternatives, protein-rich foods, and discretionary foods. This approach emphasises the need to identify foods that are rich in those specific nutrients for which intake is below recommended levels and can be used to address specific nutrient gaps in subgroups such as older adults. In addition, the new nutrient profiling model is used to explore other sustainability aspects, including affordability (NRF-ai per AUD) and ecoefficiency (NRF-ai/environmental impact score).

Nutritional assessment of plant-based beverages in comparison to bovine milk

“…While the GHG emissions from milk production are significantly higher than those of PBB per serve, milk’s high nutrient density relative to soy and oat PBB resulted in equal scores on a combined nutrition and climate impact metric ( 45 ). Elsewhere, using a recently developed Nutrient-Rich Food Index combined with an Environmental Impact metric, milk outperformed an unfortified oat beverage twofold, but a calcium-fortified oat beverage outperformed milk ( 46 ). The combination of life cycle analysis data with nutritional indices is a nascent field without defined standards for calculation, so such scores must be interpreted with caution ( 47 , 48 ).…”

The importance of protein variety in a higher quality and lower environmental impact dietary pattern

“…It may therefore be necessary for dietary guidelines and regulations concerning food labelling and marketing to more explicitly consider the nutritional risks associated with plantbased substitution of traditional animal sourced foods, which is an issue that is being increasingly discussed (44)(45)(46). Plant-based alternatives may have lower environmental impacts; however, they are not nutritionally equivalent (47)(48)(49), and in the Australian context can be lacking in nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and zinc that tend to be underconsumed across the population (50).…”

New plant‐based and alternative protein foods—Realising the benefits and avoiding the risks

“…Similarly, many of these new foods are ultraprocessed and without the nutrient density of the traditional products they seek to replace, unless they are appropriately fortified, and even then, the bioavailability may not be equivalent [4][5][6] and there may be other longterm health implications associated with regular intake. 4 Most nutritional information available on products relates to energy content and macronutrients.…”