Assessing the SAIN,LIM nutrient profile of foods sold by fast food restaurants in Tunisia: Exploring ways for improvement |
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Authors: | Meriem Thabet Tasnime Fouchali Jalila El Ati |
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Affiliation: | 1. World Health Organization, Tunisia;2. Higher School of Statistics and Data Analysis, University of Carthage, Tunisia;3. National Observatory for New and Emerging Diseases (NONED), Tunisia;4. Faculty of Medicine Tunis, University El Manar, Tunisia;5. Tunisian Society of Epidemiologists, Faculty of Medicine Tunis, University El Manar, Tunisia |
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Abstract: | ObjectivesNon-communicable diseases have increased in Tunisia after the epidemiological transition. That is why the national strategy to prevent and control obesity was elaborated and implemented. Improving the quality of foods is one axis of this strategy. The purpose of this paper was to estimate and evaluate the nutritional profiles of Tunisian foods sold by fast food restaurants, and explore ways for improvement.Material and methodsNutritional quality of 35 average recipes or items was assessed by 70 recipes of dishes sold by fast food restaurants. The SAIN,LIM French scoring system was used. Foods were classified into the four SAIN,LIM classes, i.e. from the healthiest (class 1) to the least healthy (class 4). The recipes were then reformulated and improved by deleting or reducing some unfavorable ingredients like salt.ResultsBefore reformulation, the items were spread over the 4 SAIN,LIM classes (class 1: 42.9%; class 2: 8.6%; class 3: 20.0% and class 4: 28.6%). After reformulation, the items were spread over class 1 (85.7%) and class 3 (14.3%), showing clear improvement of their nutritional quality.ConclusionIn Tunisia, an important percentage of foods sold by fast food restaurant have a good nutrient profile (43%). After reformulation, most items were in the healthiest class. This study is the first to show that it is possible to improve the nutritional quality of foods sold by fast food restaurants, and that the SAIN,LIM system can help to that end. |
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Keywords: | Fast food Nutrient profiling SAIN score LIM score Tunisian dishes Restauration rapide Profil nutritionnel Score SAIN Score LIM Plats tunisiens |
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