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Table 2 Types and definitions of health-related information on RTECs from three samples (Germany 2010, Germany 2012, Norway 2012)

From: Health-related on-pack communication and nutritional value of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals evaluated against five nutrient profiling schemes

Variable

Definition

German 2010 sample

German 2012 sample

Norwegian 2012 sample

n = 128

n = 73

n = 38

  

% (n)

% (n)

% (n)

Nutrition claim

Nutrition claims, defined by Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006, state, suggest or imply that a food has particular beneficial nutritional properties because of energy, nutrients or other substances [7].

58 (74)

22 (16)

50 (19)

Health claim

Health claims, defined by Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006, state, suggest or imply that there is a relationship between a food category or one of its constituents and health [7] such as positive effects of the RTEC on digestion or weight management.

7 (9)

0

11 (4)

Whole grain claim

Whole grain claims, not yet regulated by EU-Regulation 1924/2006, include whole grain related on-pack information, such as “xy% whole-grain”, “increased share of whole grain”, “whole wheat”, “whole oat” or whole grain labels. Cereals with such claims have a high variation in their share of whole grain content.

31 (39)

37 (27)

45 (17)

Clean labelling

There is no legal definition for clean labelling per se. It is generally understood to mean eye-catching claims indicating the product is free from negative-sounding ingredients, such as food additives, allergens, genetically modified organisms or nutrients such as sugar or salt [35].

12 (15)

8 (6)

11 (4)

Healthy ingredients in product name

According to the Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011, a product name is required for every product marketed in Europe [36]. The product name of breakfast cereals usually consists of several words describing the qualities of the product. The item “healthy ingredients in product name” was coded when the product name included healthy ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre or whole grain.

57 (73)

56 (41)

37 (14)

Organically certified

Words and labels indicating “organic”, “bio” or “eco” are defined by regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products [37].

9 (11)

1 (1)a

0a

GDA

GDA, guideline daily amounts, is a nutrition fact label indicating the contribution of one portion (serving) of food in terms of energy (calories), sugar, fat, saturated fats and sodium to a person's daily intake guideline. The majority of the GDA labels are displayed on the front of the package.

76 (97)

85 (62)

53 (20)

  1. a)The 2012 sample did not include organic shops.