News briefs

Australian packaged foods less healthy than UK, US

A global survey has found that the United Kingdom has the healthiest packaged foods and drinks, followed by the United States and Australia, as published in Obesity Reviews. The George Institute for Global Health analysed more than 400 000 food and drink products from 12 countries and territories. The survey highlights the high levels of sugar, saturated fat, salt, and energy density in many popular food. The countries were ranked with the Australian Health Star Rating system, assigns a star rating from ½ (least healthy) to 5 (most healthy) according to the measured levels of energy, salt, sugar, saturated fat, protein, calcium, and fibre. The survey found that the highest mean Health Star Ratings were for products in the UK (2.83), the US (2.82), and Australia (2.81). The lowest mean ratings were for India (2.27), China (2.43) and Chile (2.44). Drinks in China were among the healthiest in the survey, with an average Health Star Rating of 2.9, but packaged foods scored only 2.39. The mean Health Star Rating for drinks in South Africa was only 1.92, but the mean score for its foods was 2.87. Salt levels in foods and drinks were highest in Canada, with a median 291 mg sodium/100 g, and the US (279 mg/100 g). Median sugar levels were lowest in the UK (3.8 g/100 g) and Canada (4.6 g/100 g). China's packaged foods and beverages included the highest median levels of saturated fat (3.4 g/100 g); median sugar levels were highest in China (8.3 g/100 g) and India (7.3 g/100 g). India's packaged foods and drinks were the most energy‐dense (median 1515 kJ/100 g) and South African products the least energy‐dense (median 1044 kJ/100 g).

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/obr.12879

Blood biomarkers may help predict mortality risk

Fourteen biomarkers in the blood that are associated with all‐cause mortality are reported in Nature Communications. The findings may help improve the prediction of 5‐ and 10‐year mortality risk. Predicting mortality in the final year of a patient's life is generally feasible because of the amount of clinical data available. Previous studies have analysed blood metabolite profiles and other physiological parameters in order to identify biomarkers that could be used to predict mortality risk. However, there is no consensus regarding a set of predictors for estimating longer term (5–10 years) mortality risk. Researchers from Monash University in Melbourne and Leiden University in the Netherlands applied metabolomic profiling to 44 168 individuals from 12 cohorts including participants ranging between 18 and 109 years of age, all of European descent. They identified 14 metabolites associated with all‐cause mortality. These biomarkers are involved in various processes, including lipoprotein and fatty acid metabolism, glycolysis, and inflammation. A model for predicting 5‐ and 10‐year mortality risk based upon these biomarkers was more accurate across all ages than a model based on conventional risk factors. The researchers suggested that a risk score derived from the 14 biomarkers and sex could guide treatment strategies in clinical practice after further investigation.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-11311-9