International Symposium on Understanding the Double Burden of Malnutrition for Effective Interventions

Acceptance of sugar reduction in processed foods among Moroccan population

Not scheduled

15m

Boardroom A (IAEA, Vienna)

Poster Policy implications Poster Session 7

Speaker

Prof. Hassan AGUENAOU (Joint Research Unit in Nutrition and Food, URAC 39 (Ibn Tofaïl University-CNESTEN)Regional Designated Center of Nutrition (AFRA/IAEA), Morocco)

Description

Bakground: High sugar consumption is one of the real problems that have swamped the world because of the known nutritional transition. In Morocco, a national action plan to reduce consumption of sugar, salt and fat 2017-2021 has been developed to strengthen the prevention of different non-communicable diseases and to achieve the goals outlined by ICN2 by 2025. The purpose’s study was to assess acceptance of yogurts with different percentage reduction of sugar by the Moroccan population and to determine the level of sugar reduction in yogurt. Methods: A sample of 201 participants (age > 15 y.) was studied. Acceptance of yoghurt taste was tested using different concentrations 166.5; 149.8; 133.2; 116.5; 99; 83.2 mM/l, corresponding to the reduction of sugar of 0%, -10%, -20%, -30%, -40% and -50%, respectively, compared available yogurt in local market and based on taste, "Just About Right" (JAR) to define the acceptability scores of different yogurts. In addition, purchase intent scales were used to evaluate different yogurts. Results: High acceptability was remarked for Yogurts containing -20% and -30% added sugar with 81% and 74% of respondents. Results from JAR score, yoghurt with 20% (133.2mM/l) and 30% (116.5 mM/l) reduction were defined as "just about right" by 42.7% and 44.3% respectively. The strong purchase intention was noticed for the sucrose concentration of 149.8 mM / l, while just 35.8% and 40.3% of participants, confirmed the purchase of yogurt with a concentration of 133.2 mM / l and 116.5 mM / l respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that the yogurts acceptability is major for those with -20% and -30% of added sugar. Hence, the need of advocating the dairy industry in order to engage them in the sugar reduction policy and to participate in achieving the national strategy of sugar reduction in Morocco.