Development and Validation of the Meiji Nutritional Profiling System per Serving Size

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Dietary Assessment
• Food Composition Analysis

Background:

• Traditional nutritional assessments often use a per 100 g basis, which may not reflect actual dietary intake.
• Serving sizes vary significantly across different countries and food items.
• The Meiji Nutritional Profiling System (Meiji NPS) is a tool for evaluating food nutritional value.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the nutritional values of Japanese foods using serving sizes instead of the standard per 100 g.
• To adapt the Meiji NPS for Japanese food consumption patterns.
• To evaluate the utility of per-serving-size nutritional profiling for dietary management.

Main Methods:

• Adapted the Meiji NPS to calculate nutritional scores based on Japanese serving sizes.
• Validated the Meiji NPS per serving size against the Nutrient-Rich Food Index 9.3 using Spearman's correlation.
• Analyzed nutrient density scores for various food groups and items.

Main Results:

• Confirmed convergent validity between Meiji NPS per serving size and Nutrient-Rich Food Index 9.3 (r = 0.51, p < 0.001).
• Recommended food groups like pulses, nuts, fish, fruits, vegetables, and dairy scored highly.
• Nutrient density scores for small-serving items (mushrooms, algae, fats) were moderated compared to per 100 g calculations.

Conclusions:

• Calculating nutritional profiling per serving size aligns with actual food consumption quantities.
• The Meiji NPS adapted for serving sizes provides a practical approach to assessing food nutritional value.
• This serving-size-based approach can complement the per 100 g method for diverse dietary management applications.