Presence and strategic use of the Mediterranean Diet in food marketing: Analysis and association of nutritional values and advertising claims from 2011 to 2020

The impact of nutri-score on consumers' preferences for geographical indications. Evidence from a non-hypothetical experiment

The EU Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) promotes the compulsory adoption of a nutritional front of pack label to improve the diets of the citizens, supporting healthier food choices. In the public debate, Nutri-Score (NS) is the most favored candidate. Although being widely supported, oppositions on the political and producer levels are raised against the NS, due to the economic impact it could have on specific food sector, and specifically on Geographical Indications (GIs). Recent literature has stressed the need to explore it in more detail. The current study contributes to fill this gap by analyzing consumers' monetary preferences for GI products labelled with different NS levels. An incentivized non-hypothetical experiment was conducted on 188 Italian consumers. Different products representing different levels of NS were used. Specifically, a conventional pasta and the Pasta di Gragnano PGI (NS = A), a conventional flatbread (piadina) and the Piadina Romagnola PGI (NSC), and a conventional hard cheese and the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO (NS = D) were considered in the survey. Results reveal that the NS elicits favorable responses and unfavorable reactions in consumers' preferences, aligning with expectations for A and D scores, respectively. The perceived healthiness of the product significantly affects consumers' WTP, increasing it. Results stress the need to have effective communication strategies within the EU to reach the F2F goals. NS diminishes the premium in prices associated with GIs independently from its level, when considering those consumers who value more the GIs. However, the most well-known GIs does not suffer from this negative effect of the NS, as the positive value associated to the GI offset the negative effect of the NS.

Mediterranean Lifestyle: More Than a Diet, A Way of Living (and Thriving)

Although the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) may appear simple and locally inspired based on the provided definitions, mounting evidence reveals that adopting a dietary pattern aligned with MedDiet principles can yield numerous health benefits. Also, the MedDiet stands as the gold standard in preventive medicine, so it is not a simplistic diet centered around specific ingredients or cooking methods; instead, it emerges from a distinctive way of life (lifestyle) inherent to the Mediterranean region. This lifestyle encapsulates essential components of a balanced diet and life, including frugality and moderation in food consumption, the utilization of seasonal and traditional products, a focus on locally sourced, eco-friendly, and biodiverse items, personal engagement in culinary preparation, the emphasis on conviviality and social activities during meal consumption, regular engagement in physical activity, adequate hydration, and sufficient rest. In this review, we will establish the interconnections and links between the various aspects of the Mediterranean diet, how these pillars reflect the Mediterranean region's distinctive lifestyle, and how each element is a necessary part of the others. Finally, the seamless integration of social involvement, sufficient rest, regular physical exercise, and diet will be explored to provide a holistic view of the Mediterranean lifestyle and its inherent harmony.

A Little Bird Told Me… Nutri-Score Panoramas from a Flight over Europe, Connecting Science and Society

Within the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission ask for a unified Front Of Pack nutritional label for food to be used at the European level. The scientific debate identified the Nutri-Score (NS) as the most promising candidate, but within the political discussion, some Member States brought to attention several issues related to its introduction. This misalignment led to a postponement of the final decision. With the aim to shed some light on the current stances and contribute to the forthcoming debate, the objective of the present work is to understand to what extent scientific research addresses the issues raised by the general public. We applied a structural topic model to tweets from four European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) and to abstracts of scientific papers, all dealing with the NS topic. Different aspects of the NS debate are discussed in different countries, but scientific research, while addressing some of them (e.g., the comparison between NS and other labels), disregards others (e.g., relations between NS and traditional products). It is advisable, therefore, to widen the scope of NS research to properly address the concerns of European society and to provide policymakers with robust evidence to support their decisions.

Ultra-Processed Foods in the Mediterranean Diet according to the NOVA Classification System; A Food Level Analysis of Branded Foods in Greece

While the Mediterranean diet (MD) is championed as a healthy and sustainable dietary pattern, the NOVA classification is discussed as a tool to identify ultra-processed foods and further specify healthy food choices. We tested whether the NOVA System aligns with the MD recommendations as presented in the MD pyramids. Foods from the Greek branded food composition database, HelTH, (n = 4581) were scored according to NOVA and assigned to the tiers of the traditional and/or sustainable MD pyramids. Nutritional quality was measured as nutrient content and Nutri-Score grades. NOVA identified 70.2% of all foods as UPFs, and 58.7% or 41.0% of foods included in the sustainable and the traditional MD, respectively. Although foods at the top of the pyramids were mostly (>80%) UPFs, NOVA identified > 50% of foods in the MD base as UPFs. Only 22-39% of foods in the MD base were not UPFs and of high nutritional quality (Nutri-Score A-B). NOVA has low discriminatory capacity across the MD tiers, and it restricts food choices to <30% of foods currently available in supermarkets and <60% within the recommended MD tiers. Therefore, the NOVA classification cannot always identify suitable food choices under the MD pyramid in the modern packaged food environment.

Mediterranean diet - promotion and dissemination of healthy eating: proceedings of an exploratory seminar at the Radcliffe institute for advanced study

The traditional Mediterranean diet is considered the world's most evidence-based eating pattern for promoting health and longevity. However, institutional food environments and their busy consumers often sacrifice health benefits for the convenience of faster and cheaper foods that generally are of lower quality and are more processed, and thus, contribute to the current epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Expert consensus has even identified the Mediterranean diet as the easiest to follow among healthy eating patterns. Nonetheless, fewer American families cook at home and many food services have been slow to implement healthier food options compatible with the Mediterranean diet. In September 2019, we convened a group of thought leaders at an exploratory seminar entitled: "Mediterranean Diet: Promotion and Dissemination of Healthy Eating", hosted by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University. The multidisciplinary faculty discussed best practices for translating traditional Mediterranean lifestyle principles to modern society.