To classify snack foods as "healthy" or "less-healthy" we used the Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) [ 21, 22].
Foods (including drinks) were classified as being 'healthy' or 'non-healthy' using the Foods Standards Agency nutrient profiling model of 2011.33 Then within the unhealthy category if the food contained high sugar (that is, more than 20% total sugars33) or high sugar and low pH13,14(for example, non-diet fizzy drinks, acidic sweets) it was considered to be detrimental to oral health.
The impact of such regulations will depend upon the choice of the nutrient profile model used to support them.
The different classifications produced by the models tested in this paper are a result of variations in the way that they have been developed, including the nutrients selected for the model and the number of food categories that the nutrient profile model uses.
The analysis reported in this paper is one of the few instances of nutrient profile models being compared using a data set of foods that is representative of a population that is appropriate and relevant to the design of the nutrient profile models.
In addition, the nutrient profile of Salba is highly standardized, which allows for a high degree of reproducibility.
The Daily Menu Method estimates the potential effect on nutrient intakes of the nutrient profile system, in this case the criteria for the Choices logo.
The advantage of using a nutrient profile model in such a way is that the differences in foods consumed within food categories by the different diet quality groups can be assessed objectively, as opposed to relying on value judgments regarding the relative 'healthiness' of different foods within categories.
The nutrient profiling model WXYfm was used to identify the healthiness of foods in the Nutrient Databank (Rayner et al., 2005, 2009).
An advantage of using a nutrient profile model to underpin regulation is that it can be applied universally, as opposed to restricting regulation to arbitrarily selected food categories, which allows no scope for product reformulation.
