Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, PO Box 208369, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Public Health Nutr. 2012 Feb;15(2):262-7. doi: 10.1017/S1368980011000826. Epub 2011 May 16.
The 'Smart Choices' programme was an industry-driven, front-of-package (FOP) nutritional labelling system introduced in the USA in August 2009, ostensibly to help consumers select healthier options during food shopping. Its nutritional criteria were developed by members of the food industry in collaboration with nutrition and public health experts and government officials. The aim of the present study was to test the extent to which products labelled as 'Smart Choices' could be classified as healthy choices on the basis of the Nutrient Profile Model (NPM), a non-industry-developed, validated nutritional standard.
A total of 100 packaged products that qualified for a 'Smart Choices' designation were sampled from eight food and beverage categories. All products were evaluated using the NPM method.
In all, 64 % of the products deemed 'Smart Choices' did not meet the NPM standard for a healthy product. Within each 'Smart Choices' category, 0 % of condiments, 8·70 % of fats and oils, 15·63 % of cereals and 31·58 % of snacks and sweets met NPM thresholds. All sampled soups, beverages, desserts and grains deemed 'Smart Choices' were considered healthy according to the NPM standard.
The 'Smart Choices' programme is an example of industries' attempts at self-regulation. More than 60 % of foods that received the 'Smart Choices' label did not meet standard nutritional criteria for a 'healthy' food choice, suggesting that industries' involvement in designing labelling systems should be scrutinized. The NPM system may be a good option as the basis for establishing FOP labelling criteria, although more comparisons with other systems are needed.
“明智之选”计划是一个由行业驱动的、位于包装正面（FOP）的营养标签系统，于 2009 年 8 月在美国推出，旨在帮助消费者在购物时选择更健康的食品。其营养标准由食品行业成员与营养和公共卫生专家以及政府官员合作制定。本研究的目的是根据非行业制定的、经过验证的营养标准——营养概况模型（NPM），检验被贴上“明智之选”标签的产品在多大程度上可以被归类为健康选择。
从 8 个食品和饮料类别中抽取了 100 个符合“明智之选”标准的包装产品。所有产品均采用 NPM 方法进行评估。
在所有被认为是“明智之选”的产品中，有 64%不符合 NPM 健康产品标准。在每个“明智之选”类别中，0%的调味品、8.70%的脂肪和油、15.63%的谷物以及 31.58%的零食和甜食符合 NPM 标准。根据 NPM 标准，所有被认为是“明智之选”的汤、饮料、甜点和谷物都被认为是健康食品。
“明智之选”计划是行业自我监管尝试的一个例子。超过 60%的获得“明智之选”标签的食品不符合标准营养标准，这表明应该对行业参与设计标签系统进行审查。尽管需要与其他系统进行更多比较，但 NPM 系统可能是建立 FOP 标签标准的一个不错选择。
