Fine bakery wares with label claims in Europe and their categorisation by nutrient profiling models

This study assesses a range of commercially available fine bakery wares with nutrition or health related on-pack communication against the criteria of selected nutrient profiling models. Different purposes of the application of nutrient profiles were considered, including front-of-pack signposting and the regulation of claims or advertising.

More than 200 commercially available fine bakery wares carrying claims were identified in Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom and evaluated against five nutrient profiling models. All models were assessed regarding their underlying principles, generated results and inter-model agreement levels.

Total energy, saturated fatty acids, sugars, sodium and fibre were critical parameters for the categorisation of products. The Choices Programme was the most restrictive model in this category, while the Food and Drug Administration model allowed the highest number of products to qualify. According to all models, more savoury than sweet products met the criteria. On average, qualifying products contained less than half the amounts of nutrients to limit and more than double the amount of fibre compared with all the products in the study. None of the models had a significant impact on the average energy contents.

Nutrient profiles can be applied to identify fine bakery wares with a significantly better nutritional composition than the average range of products positioned as healthier. Important parameters to take into account include energy, saturated fatty acids, sugars, sodium and fibre. Different criteria sets for subcategories of fine bakery wares do not seem necessary.