551. A systematic assessment of the revised Nutri-Score algorithm : potentials for the implementation of front-of-package nutrition labeling across EuropeEdvina Hafner, Igor Pravst, 2024, review article Abstract: Front-of-package nutrition labeling (FOPNL) is an important public health tool, and the introduction of harmonized FOPNL in Europe is one of the most ambitious food labeling changes in decades. Nutri-Score (NS) has been considered for implementation across Europe. However, NS is subject to strong opposition, particularly from the food industry and some agricultural sectors (such as cheese and cured meat), but also from some nutrition scientists and public health professionals, which highlights that the system is not sufficiently aligned with food-based dietary guidelines and the latest scientific literature. These concerns were recently addressed in a revised version of NS (NS2023), aiming to overcome the limitations of its predecessor (NS2021). Our aim was to assess whether these limitations were addressed and to investigate their alignment with dietary guidelines. A systematic literature review identified 20 limitations of NS, assigned to 3 groups (Food-based, Component-based, and Other Dimensions of Food Quality). Subsequent assessment of NS employed a large representative branded food database of 19,510 pre-packed foods. Alignment with dietary guidelines was assessed based on agreement with the WHO Europe nutrient profile (WHOE). NS2023 was shown as notably stricter compared to NS2021 (7% fewer products received the higher grades A or B) and more aligned with WHOE (κNS2021 = .59, κNS2023 = .65). Overall, most (65%) of the limitations were addressed to some extent; these were mostly Food-based limitations, followed by Component-based, whereas the Other Dimension of Food Quality (processing, sustainability, portion sizes) remained mostly unaddressed. We can conclude that the revised NS2023 increased its potential for implementation across Europe. Our review identified all limitations, relevant or not, which were mentioned in the scientific literature. Therefore, some mentioned limitations may never be solvable in the scope of nutrient profiling. Others could be further addressed by adaptation of the visual presentation, but increased complexity of the labeling message would also reduce the potential of the FOPNL to support consumers in healthier food choices. Additional research is also necessary to explore the potential impact of the revised NS2023 on food reformulation and its perception among consumers.
Keywords: food policy, food supply, front-of-package labeling, nutrient profiling, Nutri-Score
Published in DiRROS: 19.11.2025; Views: 138; Downloads: 75
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552. Assessing the average sodium content of prepacked foods with nutrition declarations : the importance of sales dataŽiva Lavriša, Igor Pravst, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: Processed foods are recognized as a major contributor to high dietary sodium intake, associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Different public health actions are being introduced to reduce sodium content in processed foods and sodium intake in general. A gradual reduction of sodium content in processed foods was proposed in Slovenia, but monitoring sodium content in the food supply is essential to evaluate the progress. Our primary objective was to test a new approach for assessing the sales-weighted average sodium content of prepacked foods on the market. We show that a combination of 12-month food sales data provided by food retailers covering the majority of the national market and a comprehensive food composition database compiled using food labelling data represent a robust and cost-effective approach to assessing the sales-weighted average sodium content of prepacked foods. Food categories with the highest sodium content were processed meats (particularly dry cured meat), ready meals (especially frozen pizza) and cheese. The reported results show that in most investigated food categories, market leaders in the Slovenian market have lower sodium contents than the category average. The proposed method represents an excellent tool for monitoring sodium content in the food supply.
Keywords: food composition, sodium, salt, processed foods, food labelling, nutrition claims, health claims, food supply
Published in DiRROS: 19.11.2025; Views: 145; Downloads: 80
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554. Prevalence of nutrition and health-related claims on pre-packaged foods : a five-country study in EuropeSophie Hieke, N. Kuljanic, Igor Pravst, Krista Miklavec, Asha Kaur, Kerry Ann Brown, Bernadette M. Egan, Katja Pfeifer, Azucena Gracia, Mike Rayner, 2016, original scientific article Published in DiRROS: 19.11.2025; Views: 180; Downloads: 69
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555. Iodisation of salt in Slovenia : increased availability of non-iodised salt in the food supplyKatja Žmitek, Igor Pravst, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: Salt iodisation is considered a key public health measure for assuring adequate iodine intake in iodine-deficient countries. In Slovenia, the iodisation of all salt was made mandatory in 1953. A considerable regulatory change came in 2003 with the mandatory iodisation of rock and evaporated salt only. In addition, joining the European Union's free single market in 2004 enabled the import of non-iodised salt. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent of salt iodising in the food supply. We examined both the availability and sale of (non-)iodised salt. Average sales-weighted iodine levels in salt were calculated using the results of a national monitoring of salt quality. Data on the availability and sales of salts were collected in major food retailers in 2014. Iodised salt represented 59.2% of the salt samples, and 95.9% of salt sales, with an average (sales-weighted) level of 24.2 mg KI/kg of salt. The average sales-weighted KI level in non-iodised salts was 3.5 mg KI/kg. We may conclude that the sales-weighted average iodine levels in iodised salt are in line with the regulatory requirements. However, the regulatory changes and the EU single market have considerably affected the availability of non-iodised salt. While sales of non-iodised salt are still low, non-iodised salt represented 33.7% of the salts in our sample. This indicates the existence of a niche market which could pose a risk of inadequate iodine intake in those who deliberately decide to consume non-iodised salt only. Policymakers need to provide efficient salt iodisation intervention to assure sufficient iodine supply in the future. The reported sales-weighting approach enables cost-efficient monitoring of the iodisation of salt in the food supply.
Keywords: salt, sodium, iodine, sales, food supply, Slovenia
Published in DiRROS: 19.11.2025; Views: 167; Downloads: 76
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556. Changes in average sodium content of prepacked foods in Slovenia during 2011-2015Igor Pravst, Živa Lavriša, Anita Kušar, Krista Miklavec, Katja Žmitek, 2017, original scientific article Keywords: sodium, salt, processed foods, food composition, food labelling, food supply
Published in DiRROS: 19.11.2025; Views: 168; Downloads: 72
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557. Limiting trans fats in foods : use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in prepacked foods in SloveniaNina Mikec, Maša Hribar, Urška Pivk Kupirovič, Anita Kušar, Katja Žmitek, Igor Pravst, 2018, original scientific article Keywords: trans-fatty acids, partially hydrogenated oils, coronary heart disease, food policy, Slovenia
Published in DiRROS: 19.11.2025; Views: 174; Downloads: 82
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558. Viromska analiza RNA virusov v vzorcih Triglavskega ledenika in ledenika pod SkutoKristina Andrejc, Maša Jarčič, Ion Gutiérrez-Aguirre, Denis Kutnjak, Katarina Bačnik, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: V ledenikih se kljub nizkim temperaturam in omejeni količini dosegljive vode ter hranil skriva velika biološka raznolikost. V ledeniških mikrobnih skupnostih prevladujejo bakterije, alge in glive. Znanje o virusih v teh ekstremnih okoljih pa je omejeno, kar smo želeli nasloviti z viromsko analizo slovenskih ledenikov: Triglavskega ledenika in ledenika pod Skuto. Iz koncentriranih vzorcev staljenega ledeniškega ledu smo izolirali ribonukleinske kisline (RNA), jih pomnožili z naključnimi oligonukleotidnimi začetniki in netarčno določili njihova zaporedja s platformo Illumina. S pomočjo bioinformatskih analiz smo v pridobljenih podatkih poiskali virusna zaporedja in jih taksonomsko uvrstili. Odstotki odčitkov, ki so se klasificirali kot virusni, so bili pričakovano nizki. Kljub osredotočenosti na opis raznolikosti RNA virusnih zaporedij, smo v vseh vzorcih slovenskih ledenikov najbolj pogosto zaznali virusne odčitke, ki so pripadali DNA bakteriofagom, klasificiranim v svet Duplodnaviria. Virusna zaporedja odkrita v vzorcih slovenskih ledenikov so večinoma izkazovala nizke identitete z znanimi virusnimi zaporedji iz podatkovnih baz, kar kaže na prisotnost številnih novih virusnih vrst. Daljša sestavljena virusna zaporedja verjetno predstavljajo celotne genome novo odkritih RNA virusov (npr. virusna zaporedja iz skupine toti-podobnih in picorna-podobnih virusov). Za taka zaporedja smo s filogenetskimi analizami pokazali, katerim znanim virusom so najbolj sorodni in kakšne organizme potencialno okužujejo. Raziskava viroma slovenskih ledenikov predstavlja prvi vpogled v prisotnost virusov v teh okoljih pri nas in razkriva, da se v njih skriva velika in neraziskana raznolikost teh bioloških entitet.
Keywords: virusi, viromska analiza, Triglavski ledenik, ledenik pod Skuto
Published in DiRROS: 18.11.2025; Views: 156; Downloads: 105
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559. The role of health-related claims and health-related symbols in consumer behaviour : design and conceptual framework of the CLYMBOL project and initial resultsSophie Hieke, N. Kuljanic, J. M. Wills, Igor Pravst, Asha Kaur, Monique Raats, Johannes Cornelia Maria van Trijp, Wim Verbeke, Klaus G. Grunert, 2015, original scientific article Keywords: consumer behaviour, food choice, food labelling, health claim, health symbols
Published in DiRROS: 18.11.2025; Views: 168; Downloads: 85
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560. The nutritional quality of foods carrying health-related claims in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and the United KingdomAsha Kaur, P. Scarborough, Sophie Hieke, Anita Kušar, Igor Pravst, Monique Raats, Mike Rayner, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: BACKGROUNG/OBJECTIVES: Compares the nutritional quality of pre-packaged foods carrying health-related claims with foods that do not carry health-related claims. SUBJECT/METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of pre-packaged foods available in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and the United Kingdom in 2013. A total of 2034 foods were randomly sampled from three food store types (a supermarket, a neighbourhood store and a discounter). Nutritional information was taken from nutrient declarations present on food labels and assessed through a comparison of mean levels, regression analyses and the application of a nutrient profile model currently used to regulate health claims in Australia and New Zealand (Food Standards Australia New Zealand's Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion, FSANZ NPSC). RESULTS: Foods carrying health claims had, on average, lower levels, per 100 g, of the following nutrients, energy-29.3 kcal (P<0.05), protein-1.2 g (P<0.01), total sugars-3.1 g (P<0.05), saturated fat-2.4 g (P<0.001), and sodium-842 mg (P<0.001), and higher levels of fibre-0.8 g (P<0.001). A similar pattern was observed for foods carrying nutrition claims. Fortythree percent (confidence interval (CI) 41%, 45%) of foods passed the FSANZ NPSC, with foods carrying health claims more likely to pass (70%, CI 64%, 76%) than foods carrying nutrition claims (61%, CI 57%, 66%) or foods that did not carry either type of claim (36%, CI 34%, 38%). CONCLUSIONS: Foods carrying health-related claims have marginally better nutrition profiles than those that do not carry claims; these differences would be increased if the FSANZ NPSC was used to regulate health-related claims. It is unclear whether these relatively small differences have significant impacts on health.
Keywords: foods, nutritional quality, health-related claims
Published in DiRROS: 18.11.2025; Views: 186; Downloads: 78
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