ArticleBMC public health2020
A comparison of the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada.
Article in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06033911 (A Randomized Controlled Trial Using FoodFlip©, a Mobile Phone App, to Promote Healthier Diets and Food Choices Among Post-Secondary Students), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Randomized Controlled Trial Using FoodFlip©, a Mobile Phone App, to Promote Healthier Diets and Food Choices Among Post-Secondary Students
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food environment research in Canada: a rapid review of methodologies and measures deployed between 2010 and 2021.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Pooled it
- Large nutritional and environmental improvements can be achieved across the product portfolios of major UK food and beverage manufacturers.Nature food · 2026Article
- Nutritional portrait of processed foods purchased in Québec (Canada), 2016-2022.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Nutritional quality and on-package marketing of pre-packaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages for sale in Senegalese supermarkets.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The healthfulness of major food brands according to Health Canada's nutrient profile model for proposed restrictions on food marketing to children.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Characterising nutritional composition and labelling of packaged infant foods in Canada.Journal of nutritional science · 2025Article
- Food and beverage manufacturing and retailing company policies and commitments to improve the healthfulness of Canadian food environments.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Health Star Rating of Nonalcoholic, Packaged, and Ready-to-Drink Beverages in Türkiye: A Decision Tree Model Study.Preventive nutrition and food science · 2024Article
- Article
- Evaluating the potential implications of canadian front-of-pack labelling regulations in generic and branded food composition databases.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Dietary Risk Factors and Eating Behaviors in Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Benchmarking the nutrition-related commitments and practices of major French food companies.BMC public health · 2022Article
- The relationship between voluntary product (re) formulation commitments and changes in the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada from 2013 to 2017.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Development of the Food Label Information Program: A Comprehensive Canadian Branded Food Composition Database.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Article
- The Development and Application of a Tool for Quantifying the Strength of Voluntary Actions and Commitments of Major Canadian Food Companies to Improve the Nutritional Quality of Their Products.Current developments in nutrition · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCanada's food supply is abundant in less healthy products, increasing Canadians' risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases. Food companies strongly influence the food supply; however, no studies have examined differences in the healthfulness of products offered by various companies in Canada. This study aimed to compare the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada.
methodsTwenty-two top packaged food and beverage manufacturing companies were selected, representing > 50% of the Canadian market share in 2018. Nutritional information for products (n = 8277) was sourced from the University of Toronto Food Label Information Program 2017 database. Descriptive analyses examined the nutritional quality of products based on: 1) the Health Star Rating (HSR) system; 2) calories, sodium, saturated fat and total sugars per 100 g (or mL) and per reference amounts (RAs) defined by Health Canada; and 3) "high in" thresholds for sodium, saturated fat and total sugars proposed by Health Canada for pending front-of-package labelling regulations. Kruskal-Wallis tests compared HSRs of products between companies.
resultsMean HSRs of companies' total product offerings ranged from 1.9 to 3.6 (out of 5.0). Differences in HSRs of products between companies were significant overall and for 19 of 22 food categories (P < 0.05), particularly for fats/oils and beverages. Calories, sodium, saturated fat and total sugars contents varied widely between companies for several food categories, and depending on whether they were examined per 100 g (or mL) or RA. Additionally, 66.4% of all products exceeded ≥1 of Health Canada's "high in" thresholds for sodium (31.7%), saturated fat (28.3%) and/or sugars (28.4%). The proportion of products offered by a company that exceeded at least one of these thresholds ranged from 38.5 to 97.5%.
conclusionsThe nutritional quality of products offered by leading packaged food and beverage manufacturers in Canada differs significantly overall and by food category, with many products considered less healthy according to multiple nutrient profiling methods. Variation within food categories illustrates the need and potential for companies to improve the healthfulness of their products. Identifying companies that offer less healthy products compared with others in Canada may help prompt reformulation.
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