In 2022, the Nutrient Profiling (NP) Task Force was created within the Food Quality Observatory at INAF, Université Laval, following the Observatory’s designation to pilot the research work related to Action 3.2.5 in the Plan d’action interministériel 2022-2025 of the Politique gouvernementale de prévention en santé (PGPS) deployed in Quebec. This action was about “identifying reliable NP models that can be used in stores by consumers to support more nutritious food choices, and setting up pilot projects in Quebec”. The current talk aims at presenting the scientific evidence generated by the first two phases of this project defined jointly with the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ) and the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS). The first part will briefly highlight the NP models (algorithms) and their methods of use identified as being potentially the most relevant for encouraging the in-store choice of nutritious foods by Quebec consumers. Results from a study in the NutriQuébec web cohort, which investigated how Quebec consumers understood and perceived the selected NP models, will then be shared. The last part will provide an overview of the project’s third and final phase (ongoing), which aims to more deeply explore how consumers perceive and use the nutritional information provided NP models in an experimental setting simulating real-life conditions. Following this presentation, the audience will be able to describe how nutrient profiling could support consumers in purchasing more nutritious foods.
Marie-Ève Labonté is an associate professor at the School of Nutrition and a researcher at the Centre Nutrition, Santé et Société (NUTRISS, INAF), Université Laval, since June 2017. She is also a registered dietitian, member of the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec (ODNQ) since 2009. Her current research program focuses on characterizing and following up the quality of the food supply in different settings (e.g. grocery stores, healthcare establishments, institutional foodservices), in the aim to support the creation of healthier food environments. She is more specifically developing expertise in the use, adaptation and validation of nutrient profiling models, as a method for assessing the overall nutritional quality (i.e. healthfulness) of the food supply, as well as its associations with determinants of food choices. Her current work is mainly part of the activities of the Food Quality Observatory at INAF.