Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41451663›Full record

ReviewPublic health nutrition2025

How food regulations help or hinder the implementation of policies to promote healthy population diets: a review of food regulations in the Western Pacific Region.

Katie Fries, Kathryn Backholer, Alexandra Jones, Fiona Sing, Erica Reeve

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Public health nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Katie Frieshttps://ror.org/02czsnj07Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8467-1428
Kathryn Backholerhttps://ror.org/02czsnj07Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
Alexandra JonesThe George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5039-144X
Fiona SingUniversity of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Erica Reevehttps://ror.org/02czsnj07Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveGovernments are seeking to regulate food environments to promote health by restricting sales and marketing of processed foods high in fat, sugar and sodium. We aimed to evaluate whether the legal instruments in member states of the Western Pacific Region (WPR) mandate the declaration of nutrient composition for nutrients of concern in relation to Codex Alimentarius and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention.

designWe undertook content analysis of legal instruments governing food quality and safety, documenting mandates for nutrient declarations in the WPR. Legal instruments were purposefully sourced through a systematic search of regional legal databases and Google. We performed qualitative and quantitative analysis, using an adapted version of Reeve and Magnusson's Framework for Analysing and Improving the Performance of Regulatory Instruments.

settingLegal instruments governing food quality and safety in twenty-eight member states of the WPR.

resultsThere was substantial variation in the nutrient declaration mandates within legal instruments, with only three out of twenty-eight countries mandating nutrient declarations in full alignment with Codex recommendations (energy, protein, available carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, sodium and total sugars). Just four countries mandated the display of sodium, sugar, saturated fat and trans-fats, in line with NCD prevention recommendations. Sodium labelling was mandated in ten countries, sugar in seven and saturated fat in six.

conclusionsThere is scope for countries to strengthen legal instruments for nutrient declarations to better support diet-related NCD prevention efforts. Regional support agencies can play a key role in promoting greater policy coherence and alignment with international best practice.

Indexed as

Diet, HealthyHealth PromotionLegislation, FoodNutrition PolicyFood LabelingHumansNoncommunicable DiseasesNutritive ValueNon-communicable disease preventionNutrition policyPopulation healthPublic health

Identifiers

PMID41451663
PMCPMC12895442

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.