Paris School of Economics, Paris, France.
UMR 1393, Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques, INRAE, Paris, France.
BMJ Glob Health. 2023 Nov;8(11). doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012062.
There is a lack of quantitative evidence on the role of food innovations-new food ingredients and processing techniques-in the nutrition transition.
Document the distribution of food innovations across 67 high-income (HIC) and middle-income (MIC) countries between 1970 and 2010, and its association with the nutritional composition of food supply.
We used all available data on food patents, as compiled by the European Patent Office, to measure food innovations. We considered innovations directly received by countries from inventors seeking protection in their territories, and those embedded in processed food imports. Food and Agricultural Organization data were used to estimate the associations between international diffusion of food innovations and trends in total food supply and its macronutrient composition, after adjusting for confounding trends in demand-side factors. We identified the role of trade by simulating the changes in average diet due to innovations embedded in food imports.
Trends in food innovations were positively and significantly associated with changes in daily per capita calorie supply available for human consumption in MIC between 1990 and 2010 (elasticity of 0.027, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.036). Food innovations were positively correlated with the share of animal and free fats in total food supply (elasticities of 0.044, 95% CI 0.030 to 0.058 for MIC between 1970 and 1989 and 0.023, 95% CI 0.003 to 0.043 for HIC between 1990 and 2010). Food innovations were associated with substitutions from complex carbohydrates towards sugars in total food supply for MIC after 1990 (elasticities of -0.037, 95% CI -0.045 to -0.029 for complex carbs, 0.082, 95% CI 0.066 to 0.098 for sugars). For these countries, the trade channel capturing access to innovations through imports of processed food played a key role.
Policy-makers should consider the impacts of the international diffusion of food innovations in assessing the costs and benefits of international trade regulations.
在营养转型过程中，新的食品成分和加工技术等食品创新对食品的影响缺乏定量证据。
记录 1970 年至 2010 年间，67 个高收入（HIC）和中等收入（MIC）国家食品创新的分布情况，并分析其与食品供应营养成分的关系。
我们使用欧洲专利局(EPO)编制的所有可用食品专利数据来衡量食品创新。我们考虑了直接从寻求在其领土上获得保护的发明者那里获得的国家创新，以及那些嵌入加工食品进口中的创新。利用粮农组织的数据，在调整需求侧因素变化对食品供应总量及其主要营养素组成的影响后，估计食品创新在国际上的传播与食品供应总量及其主要营养素组成变化之间的关联。我们通过模拟食品进口中嵌入的创新对平均饮食的影响，来确定贸易的作用。
1990 年至 2010 年间，MIC 国家人均日卡路里供应量的变化与食品创新的趋势呈正相关，且具有统计学意义（弹性系数为 0.027，95%CI 0.019 至 0.036）。食品创新与食品供应中动物脂肪和游离脂肪的比例呈正相关（MIC 国家 1970 年至 1989 年弹性系数为 0.044，95%CI 0.030 至 0.058；HIC 国家 1990 年至 2010 年弹性系数为 0.023，95%CI 0.003 至 0.043）。1990 年后，MIC 国家食品供应中总碳水化合物向糖的替代与食品创新有关（复杂碳水化合物的弹性系数为-0.037，95%CI-0.045 至-0.029；糖的弹性系数为 0.082，95%CI 0.066 至 0.098）。对于这些国家来说，通过进口加工食品获取创新的贸易渠道在评估国际贸易法规的成本和收益方面发挥了关键作用。
政策制定者在评估国际贸易法规的成本和收益时，应考虑食品创新在国际上的传播所带来的影响。
