In This Issue

FEATURE: What are ultra-processed foods and can they help dietary guidance in Australia?
NEWS: WHO releases food and nutrition policy briefs on fiscal policies, reformulation, labelling and food marketing to children.
NEWS: NZ Ministry of Education consultation on regulation of sugar sweetened beverages in school

Welcome

Welcome to Issue 74 of Sweet Bites.

In this issue our feature article is on the controversial topic of ultra-processed foods. How are they defined, and can they help us reliably identify less-healthy foods within dietary guidelines?

Our News items are new nutrition policy briefs from WHO including briefs on fiscal policies, reformulation, labelling and food marketing to children, and the New Zealand Ministry of Education consultation on regulation of sugar sweetened beverages in school.
From the journals we’ve gathered three papers on sugars, carbohydrates and health: A systematic review and meta-analysis on outcomes following taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages; a systematic review and meta-analysis of sugar-sweetened beverage intake and the risk of stroke, depression, cancer, and cause-specific mortality; and artificial sweeteners and cancer risk from the NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort study.

We hope you enjoy this issue and invite you to be in touch if you have any feedback or suggestions for topics for future articles.

Monthly Feature

What are ultra-processed foods and can they help dietary guidance in Australia?

Do we need another food classification system and does the Nova system help?

News

WHO releases food and nutrition policy briefs on fiscal policies, reformulation, labelling and food marketing to children

WHO is taking a food systems approach to recommend a portfolio of policies that prioritise health.

Learn More

NZ Ministry of Education consultation on regulation of sugar sweetened beverages in school

New Zealand consults the community about regulating school drinks

Learn More

Research Updates

Here is a selection of recently published papers of interest.

Here is a selection of recently published papers of interest.

1.Andreyeva T, Marple K, Marinello S. et al. Outcomes Following Taxation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(6):e2215276. (open access)

Finding: A systematic review of 86 studies and meta-analysis of 62 studies found SSB taxes were associated with higher prices of targeted beverages and 15% lower sales. Evidence was weak on association between SSB taxes and BMI. These taxes appear to work as intended but further research is needed to understand associations with diet and health outcomes and heterogeneity of consumer responses.

2. Wang Y, Zhao R, Wang B et al. The Dose-Response Associations of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake with the Risk of Stroke, Depression, Cancer, and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies. Nutrients. 2022 Feb 12;14(4):777. (open access)

Finding: Higher levels of SSB consumption was associated with increased the risk of stroke (RR 1.12), depression (RR 1.25), cancer (RR 1.10) and all-cause mortality (RR 1.08) compared with none or lower SSB intake (95% CI {Confidence Interval]). Associations were dose-dependent. The link was curved for depression and cancer risk, levelling off for depression at around 300ml/day, and declining after a peak at 250ml/day or for cancer risk.

3. Debras C, Chazelas E, Srour B et al. Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk: Results from the NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort study. PLoS Med. 2022 Mar 24;19(3):e1003950. (open access)

Finding: Compared to people who consumed low/no-calorie sweeteners, those that consumed above average amounts had higher risk of cancer (hazard ratio =1.13, 95% CI [Confidence Interval]). Aspartame and acesulfame-K were associated with increased risk of cancer. Higher risks were observed for breast cancer and obesity-related cancers, specifically

About Us

The Sugar Nutrition Resource Centre (SNRC) is committed to providing health care professionals with evidence-based information on sugar and nutrition.

Our work continues to be guided by scientific experts from Australia and New Zealand.

As always, we would love to hear any feedback from you.

About the Editor

NICOLE SENIOR
Nutritionist, Sydney

Nicole is an experienced Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist, author, speaker, blogger, cook and food enthusiast with an interest in turning evidence based nutrition guidelines into sensible, achievable and enjoyable everyday eating advice and supporting other food and health professionals to do the same.

Locked Bag 2222, North Ryde 2113, Australia