Prevalence of relevant nutritional claims related to prevention of obesity in Spanish market

Introduction: Although previous studies have provided relevant information regarding the progress in the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Union. So far it not determined the prevalence of relevant nutrition claims in preventing obesity in the Spanish market.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of relevant nutritional claims related to prevent the obesity in the Spanish market. Material and

Methods: A database with 9 food product categories and it nutritional claims was created. Three supermarket chains were included because they represent the 40% of market share. Only the nutritional claims that mention nutrients related obesity was considered.

Results: A total of 4,568 products were examined and a total of 900 nutrition claims were found in 20% of the products found. The most frequent nutrients referred in the nutritional claims were fat (42%), sugar (32%), dietary fibre (20%) and salt (6%).

Conclusions: In accordance with previous studies, findings reported a low prevalence of nutritional claims indicating that agrifood sector should include more nutritional claims to help consumers making better food choices.