Background
The childhood obesity problem
Diet and the food supply
Reformulating child-oriented food products
Monitoring reformulation
Methods
Product selection
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Words on the packaging referred to children, fun, play, physical activity or school
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Images on the packaging represented cartoons, popular personalities or celebrities, children, or pictures that appeal to children
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Packaging emphasised unusual shapes, unconventional flavours or bright colours
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Cross promotions and tie-ins with children’s television programs, merchandise, films or websites
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Premium offers (competitions, games, puzzles, toys and other giveaways) that appealed to children.
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Fast food products and food and beverage products sold outside of supermarkets
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Home brand products (products packaged and marketed under the brand of the retailer eg. Woolworths. Also known as private label products)
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Baby foods
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Seasonal products (eg. Christmas foods)
Data collection
Data analysis
Describing the direction of reformulation
Products highly consumed by children
Assessing the magnitude of reformulation
Method one: percentage change method
Method two: nutrient criteria method
Results
Reformulation of key nutrients
% of products in sample reformulated | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Energy | Total fat | Saturated fat | Sugars | Sodium | Fibre | |
Positive reformulation
| 5% | 9% | 16% | 11% | 21% | 7% |
Negative reformulation
| 3% | 10% | 10% | 7% | 12% | 3% |
Reformulation in products highly consumed by children
Magnitude of reformulation
Method one: percentage change method
Reformulated products in sample | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Total products | Products positively reformulated only | Products negatively reformulated only | Products both positively and negatively reformulated | |
No change in nutrient profile
| 33% (n = 40) | - | - | - |
Negligible change (<10% change) | 23% (n = 27) | - | - | - |
Moderate reformulation (10% - 24.9% change) | 9% (n = 11) | 3% (n = 4) | 3% (n = 4) | 15% (n = 18) |
Substantial reformulation (≥25% change) | 35% (n = 42) | 15% (n = 18) | 8% (n = 9) |
Product | Brand | Change kj | % Change kj | Change total fat (g) | % Change total fat | Change sat fat (g) | % Change sat fat | Change sugars (g) | % Change sugars | Change sodium (mg) | % Change sodium | Change fibre (g) | % Change fibre |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Biscuits: sweet
| |||||||||||||
Tiny Teddies hundreds and thousands | Arnotts | 9 | 0.5 | −0.6 | −4.7 | −1.1 | −14.3 | 3.9 | 15.5 | −93 | −24.2 | −0.3 | −6.3 |
Uglies | Paradise | −20 | −1.0 | −0.8 | −3.9 | −2 | −14.3 | −1.2 | −3.6 | −20 | −6.7 | 0.8 | 25.0 |
Wheelies | Old fashion foods | −205 | −10.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −2.3 | −19.2 | 2 | 7.1 | 149 | 149.0 | ||
Wagon wheels | Arnotts | −90 | −4.7 | −0.9 | −5.4 | −1.3 | −10.4 | 0.9 | 2.1 | −6 | −5.0 | ||
Breakfast cereals
| |||||||||||||
Cheerios | Uncle Tobys | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −0.4 | −40.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −110 | −22.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
Froot loops | Kelloggs | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 60 | 14.6 | 0 | 0.0 |
Oats So tasty-now oats smooth & tasty | Uncle Tobys | −10 | −0.6 | −0.4 | −5.8 | −0.4 | −25.0 | −1.9 | −7.1 | 5 | 20.0 | 0.2 | 2.8 |
Honey wheats | Sanitarium | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −315 | −90.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
NesQuick cereal | Nestle | 0 | 0.0 | −0.2 | −5.0 | −0.7 | −43.8 | −1.9 | −6.0 | 10 | 4.2 | 3 | 57.7 |
Plus fibre lift | Uncle Tobys | −40 | −2.7 | −1.2 | −40.0 | −0.5 | −62.5 | −2.5 | −9.6 | 20 | 19.0 | 2.4 | 17.6 |
Canned legumes
| |||||||||||||
Baked beanz | Heinz | −150 | −28.6 | −3.5 | −87.5 | −0.9 | −90.0 | −2.1 | −31.8 | 5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 15.6 |
Cheese: hard, cheddar & semi-soft
| |||||||||||||
Moo Zoo cheese | Devondale | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −300 | −36.6 | ||
Confectionary
| |||||||||||||
Wonka red skins | Nestle | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 84 | 933.3 | ||
Dairy milk choc furry friends | Cadburys | 10 | 0.5 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −2.7 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 72 | 800.0 | ||
Jurassic bitz and Magic fairy dust | Dollar sweets | 40 | 2.3 | 4 | 400.0 | 0.5 | 50.0 | −5.5 | −6.2 | 2 | 18.2 | ||
100s & 1000s | Dollar sweets | −60 | −3.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −8.5 | −9.6 | 11 | 100.0 | ||
Milk choc gold coins | Sorini | −7 | −0.3 | 3.3 | 12.4 | −4.8 | −28.6 | −10.6 | −17.5 | 27 | 26.2 | ||
Strawberry clouds | Joo Joos confectionary | 50 | 3.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −3.7 | −5.7 | −21 | −52.5 | ||
Starburst babies | Mars | −62 | −4.5 | −0.1 | −50.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −7 | −13.5 | −26 | −53.1 | ||
Allens chicos | Nestle | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 10.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
Allens lollipops | Nestle | 20 | 1.2 | −0.7 | −70.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −2 | −6.7 | ||
Dairy snack foods
| |||||||||||||
Calci yum custard | Fonterra | 3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 6.3 | 0.1 | 9.1 | −0.3 | −2.5 | 2 | 3.3 | 0.1 | 50.0 |
Yo go mix | National foods | 36 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 27.6 | 0.8 | 22.2 | −0.7 | −3.4 | −3 | −3.6 | ||
Milo mousse | Nestle | 36 | 6.4 | 2.6 | 89.7 | 1.8 | 78.3 | −0.7 | −4.3 | ||||
Ice creams & milk-based ice confections
| |||||||||||||
Paddle pop | Steets | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −84 | −61.8 | ||
Billabong | Nestle peters | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −75 | −50.0 | ||
Jelly
| |||||||||||||
Aeroplane jelly | Aeroplane | 42 | 18.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 35.2 | 29 | 966.7 | ||
Miscellaneous
| |||||||||||||
Mainland munchables M&Ms | Mainland | 20 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 2.4 | −3.3 | −19.8 | 18 | 2.3 | ||
Milk: flavoured
| |||||||||||||
Nesquick | Nestle | −40 | −2.3 | −3 | −100.0 | −1.9 | −100.0 | 18.5 | 22.9 | 5 | 100.0 | ||
Milk flavouring straws | Sipahh | 28 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 200.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 6.2 | 24.1 | ||
Nut spreads
| |||||||||||||
Smooth peanut butter | Kraft | −2 | −0.1 | −1.1 | −2.1 | 2.1 | 22.6 | 0.7 | 9.5 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
Processed fruit
| |||||||||||||
Splat fruit puree | Heinz | −30 | −10.7 | −0.1 | −33.3 | −0.1 | −100.0 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 8 | 160.0 | ||
Processed fruit dried
| |||||||||||||
Sultanas mini packs | Sunbeam | −50 | −3.7 | −0.4 | −40.0 | −0.7 | −70.0 | 1 | 1.6 | −36 | −78.3 | −1.3 | −21.7 |
Fruit poles (apple, pear & strawb) | Golden days | 90 | 7.7 | 1 | 500.0 | 0.3 | 300.0 | −7 | −11.7 | −4 | −5.7 | −3.6 | −24.0 |
Fruity Bites (strappleberry) | Go natural | −9 | −0.6 | 1.9 | 23.8 | 0.9 | 22.0 | 5.8 | 14.6 | −2.4 | −15.6 | 2.5 | 37.3 |
Processed meat etc. crumbed or coated
| |||||||||||||
Captain birdseye fish fingers | Birdseye | 72 | 9.0 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 28.6 | 1 | 19 | 8.8 | |||
Batman snacks (now ‘dino snacks’) | Steggles | −18 | −2.3 | 0.3 | 4.0 | −0.5 | −25.0 | 1.1 | 366.7 | −215 | −41.0 | ||
Fairy shapes (tempura style chicken | Steggles | −124 | −14.4 | −2.9 | −27.9 | −0.7 | −25.0 | 0.8 | 400.0 | −104 | −26.1 | ||
Ready to eat pasta/rice/noodle products
| |||||||||||||
Spaghetti shapes | Heinz | 20 | 7.4 | −0.1 | −25.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −0.2 | −5.4 | −175 | −50.7 | 0.2 | 25.0 |
Kid’s kitchen | Hormel | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −1.6 | −45.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
Spag-a-saurus pasta | SPC | 49 | 17.7 | 0.2 | 66.7 | 0 | 0.0 | −0.9 | −19.1 | −20 | −5.7 | 0.4 | 50.0 |
Savoury dry snack foods
| |||||||||||||
Monster rice sticks | Mammee | 70 | 3.6 | −0.5 | −2.4 | −0.8 | −8.6 | 0.8 | 10.3 | −140 | −20.6 | −0.7 | −6.8 |
Snack food bars
| |||||||||||||
K time twists | Kelloggs | 20 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 13.8 | 0.4 | 50.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −20 | −11.1 | 0 | 0.0 |
Milo energy bars | Nestle | −20 | −1.3 | 0.1 | 1.9 | −0.3 | −15.0 | −7.4 | −24.7 | 0 | 0.0 | −0.7 | −8.8 |
Nutrigrain bar | Kellogs | −10 | −0.6 | −0.6 | −6.1 | −0.4 | −4.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −0.2 | −10.0 |
Soups
| |||||||||||||
2 Minute noodles | Maggi | −26 | −6.7 | 2.8 | 466.7 | 1.5 | −0.5 | −50.0 | −48 | −12.7 | |||
Yoghurts and drinkable yoghurts
| |||||||||||||
Vaalia kids yoghurt vanilla | Parmalat | 15 | 4.0 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 0.2 | 12.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | −23 | −31.1 | ||
Fruit flavoured yoghurt fruit mix | Yoplait | −194 | −35.3 | −0.46 | −20.0 | −0.3 | −20.0 | −9 | −43.3 | −13 | −23.2 | ||
HannaMontana yoghurt (CalciYum toy story) | Nestle | −30 | −7.0 | −0.6 | −19.4 | −0.5 | −22.7 | −0.8 | −6.1 | 6 | 15.8 | ||
Petit miam | Yoplait | −35 | −6.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 3.3 | −2 | −13.9 | −8 | −11.1 | ||
Squezzie yoghurt | Dairy farmers | −83 | −18.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −4.3 | −26.2 | −14 | −23.7 | ||
Yoghurt with real fruit Dora explorer | Pauls | −8 | −2.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 6.3 | −1.2 | −10.8 | −21 | −28.4 | ||
Smackers fruitilicious yoghurt tube | YoPlait | −92 | −20.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | −5.2 | −30.1 | −23 | −33.8 |
Method two: nutrient criteria method
Product | Brand | Company | 2009 Classification | 2011 Classification | Nutrient/s reformulated to enable change in category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dino snacks | Steggles | Baiada | Red* | Amber | Decreased sodium |
Moo Zoo cheese | Devondale | Murray Goulburn | Red* | Amber | Decreased sodium |
Spaghetti shapes | Heinz | Heinz | Amber | Green | Decreased sodium |
NesQuick cereal | Nestle | Nestle | Amber | Green | Increased fibre |
Cheerios | Uncle Tobys | Nestle | Amber | Green | Decreased sodium |