As the government considers setting up a simplified nutritional labeling for the sake of transparency, a new study by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) unveils an additional advantage of this system of colored dots. This signage could also provide information on the risk of developing cancer in the coming years.
The nutritional labeling used by the researchers for their study corresponds to the FSA-NPS (Food Standard Agency Nutrient Profiling System) nutritional score, used as a basis for the five-color code green, yellow, orange, fuschia pink, red), approved last August by the High Council of Public Health.
Inserm researchers analyzed the content of the plate of 6,400 subjects recruited in 1994-1995, and followed for 13 years. Every two months, they were invited to respond to a food survey. The authors then calculated the nutritional quality score of each participant’s diet based on the FSA-NPS criteria. The results were then put into perspective with cancer cases that occurred in the panel during the five years of the survey.
Conclusion: participants who had a diet of poorer nutritional quality presented a 34% increased risk of cancer.
A poor diet increases the overall risk of cancer
More broadly, the overall cancer riskincreased as the quality of the diet deteriorated. On the other hand, this correlation was less obvious for the risk of breast cancer and the risk of prostate cancer. For the researchers, this study encourages the application of the five-color code to both better inform consumers about the nutritional quality of foods but also to prevent the risk of cancer.
>> To read also:Color codes on food: a bad idea?
Food labeling deciphered by a nutritionist
The French are in favor of the 5-color code
