Mon, Feb-13-23, 03:14
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Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
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New article by Marty Kendall:
Is Tufts University’s Food Compass Nutrient Profiling System ‘Broken’?
Quote:
Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition released their Food Compass nutrient profiling system in the journal Nature Food in October 2021.
Food Compass uses a quantitative ranking algorithm across nine domains to rank foods from 1 to 100.
But Food Compass is not just another theoretical research paper. The stated aim of the Tufts Food Compass is ‘to ‘to discriminate healthfulness of foods for front of package labelling, warning labels, taxation, company ratings, and more.’
As you will see, the Food Compass rankings are likely to form the foundation of future food public policy in the US and the rest of the world over the next fifty years.
However, since its release, many have noted that the Tufts University Food Compass’s nutrient profiling system provides surprising and non-sensical results, with many ultra-processed foods ranking above minimally processed, nutrient-dense whole food options.
Many companies that make the foods that rank near the top also have provided financial support. Sadly, it appears that the pull of financial conflicts of interest and belief-based nutrition may have distorted the Food Compass ranking algorithm.
In this article, we review Food Compass’s nine ranking factors to understand whether they will really help us increase satiety, avoid obesity and thus keep us healthy.
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Quote:
Food Compass Weighting for Fibre and Protein
Good news: the Food Compass nutrient profiling system includes fibre and protein in its ranking factors.
Bad news: the weighting for these critical parameters is very low.
Protein and fibre—the most critical factors influencing satiety—have been grouped in one domain and given half the weighting. The chart [in article linked] shows the relative weighting given to each ranking factor (domain) used by Food Compass. The little brown slice in the top left represents protein and fibre combined. Their system only weighted 6.7% to protein and fibre!
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Quote:
Summary
Our review of the Food Compass nutrient profiling system against our very own data-driven satiety analysis suggests that:
Protein and fibre are included, but they are vastly underweighted if Food Compass’s goal is to promote nutrient density and satiety so we can begin reversing the diabesity epidemic.
Promoting unsaturated fats while penalising cholesterol and saturated fat only perpetuates the increased use of nutrient-poor and refined vegetable oils that now contribute a significant proportion of the energy in modern ultra-processed foods.
Including other factors like nutrient ratios, food-based ingredients, specific lipids, additives, and processing only dilutes the system and skews it towards more processed foods.
Simply thinking in terms of essential nutrients—including fibre and amino acids—per calorie is more than adequate for ranking foods and meals that optimise satiety and support metabolic health.
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https://optimisingnutrition.com/tuf...ass/#more-25404 |