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Policy PointsGovernment and civil society should be held more accountable for creating food and beverage regulatory policies rather than assigning moral agency to the food and beverage industry.Nutrition policymaking institutions should ensure civil society's ability to design regulatory policy.Government policymaking institutions should be isolated from industry interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, providing nutritious food to all people is one of the greatest challenges due to rapid human population growth. The global poultry industry is a part of the agrifood sector playing an essential role in food insecurity by providing nutritious meat and egg sources. However, limited meat production with less nutritional value is not fulfilling the higher market demands worldwide. Researchers are focusing on nanobiotechnology by employing phytosynthesized mineral nanomaterials to improve the growth performance and nutritional status of broilers as these mineral nanoparticles are usually absorbed in greater amounts from the gastrointestinal tract and exert enhanced biological effects in the target tissues of animals with greater tissue accumulation. These mineral nanoparticles are efficiently absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and reach essential organs via blood. As a result, it enhances growth performance and nutritional value with less toxicity and tremendous bioavailability properties. In this review, the research work conducted in the recent past, on the different aspects of nanotechnology including supplementation of mineral nanoparticle in diet and their potential role in the poultry industry, has been concisely discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: While public and civil sector nutrition interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries have demonstrated positive impacts on nutritional status, micronutrient deficiency remains persistent and severe. Accordingly, there is much debate about the viability of market‐based strategies directed at reducing micronutrient deficiencies among the poor, particularly concerning the role businesses can take. Purpose: This article explores the potential for both large and micro/small businesses to engage in markets for nutrient‐dense foods. It examines the challenges businesses face in establishing and maintaining sustainable business models and whether these businesses can achieve the scale required to achieve substantive impacts on the nutrition of the poor. Methodology: This article presents a comprehensive literature review and in‐depth case studies of market‐based initiatives directed at enhancing the access of the poor to nutrient‐dense foods. The case studies involved analysis of secondary data and interviews with stakeholders, including value chain actors, civil society organizations, government officials, etc. Findings: All bottom of the pyramid (BOP) businesses face considerable challenges in the context of markets for nutrient‐dense foods directed at the poor that relate to the difficulties faced in presenting a viable value proposition to consumers and in distributing products to the places where the poor reside, while achieving sustainable scale. Importantly, the results indicate a critical role for micro/small businesses in promoting the consumption of nutrient‐dense foods by the poor. Policy implications: The findings raise important questions over the role and focus of public support to businesses looking to enter and/or expand in markets for nutrient‐dense foods directed at the poor, and especially with respect to micro/small businesses as opposed to large/multinational corporations. Originality: The article presents the first comparative analysis of market‐based strategies of micro/small to large businesses directed at reducing micronutrient deficiencies in the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The extent to and mechanisms by which agricultural biodiversity may influence diet diversity and quality among women are not well understood.Objectives: We aimed to 1) determine the association of farm-level agricultural biodiversity with diet diversity and quality among women of reproductive age in Peru and 2) determine the extent to which farm market orientation mediates or moderates this association.Methods: We surveyed 600 households with the use of stratified random sampling across 3 study landscapes in the Peruvian Andes with diverse agroecological and market conditions. Diet diversity and quality among women were assessed by using quantitative 24-h dietary recalls with repeat recalls among 100 randomly selected women. We calculated a 10-food group diet diversity score (DDS), the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) indicator, probability of adequacy (PA) of 9 micronutrients by using a measurement-error model approach, and mean PA (MPA; mean of PAs for all nutrients). Agricultural biodiversity was defined as a count of crop species cultivated by the household during the 2016-2017 agricultural season.Results: In regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographic and agricultural characteristics, farm-level agricultural biodiversity was associated with a higher DDS (incidence rate ratio from Poisson regression: 1.03; P < 0.05) and MPA (ordinary least-squares β-coefficient: 0.65; P < 0.1) and higher odds of achieving a minimally diverse diet (MDD-W: OR from logistic regression: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.23) and a diet that met a minimum threshold for micronutrient adequacy (MPA >60%: OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.35). Farm market orientation did not consistently moderate these associations, and in path analyses we observed no consistent evidence of mediation of these associations by farm market orientation.Conclusions: Farm-level agricultural biodiversity was associated with moderately more diverse and more micronutrient-adequate diets among Peruvian women. This association was consistent across farms with varying levels of market orientation, although agricultural biodiversity likely contributed to diets principally through subsistence consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study examines relationships between perceived and observed nutrition environments, diet, and BMI, in order to examine the criterion validity of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Perceived (NEMS-P).Methods: In a cross-sectional study, perceived nutrition environments were assessed (NEMS-P) among 221 adults from four neighborhoods in the Philadelphia area in 2010 and 2011. A total of 158 food store environments were observed using the NEMS-Stores. Data analyses were conducted in 2016. Bivariate Spearman rank correlations were used to examine relationships between perceived and observed availability, quality, and price of fruits and vegetables in respondents' neighborhoods. Linear regression models were used to examine relationships between perceived neighborhood and home food environments and daily fruit and vegetable consumption and BMI.Results: A significant, positive relationship was found between perceived and observed availability of fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood (r = 0.36, p<0.001). A similar relationship was seen between perceived and observed quality of fruits and vegetables (r = 0.34, p<0.001). Perceived availability and quality of fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood, and availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables in the home, were significantly related to daily fruit and vegetable consumption. Perceived price of food in the neighborhood was significantly associated with BMI.Conclusions: Responses to a self-reported survey to assess perceived food environments related to fruits and vegetables were significantly associated with observed nutrition environments, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI. The perceived prices of fruits and vegetables were modestly associated with BMI and warrant further testing in prospective studies. When observations of food environments are not feasible, residents' survey responses are an acceptable indicator, with reasonable criterion validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, there are few vitamin and mineral ingredient manufacturers. To support local, in‐country or regional procurement and production of multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), the following production scenarios are possible: (a) straight ingredients of vitamins and minerals forms imported or locally produced that are mixed, tableted, or encapsulated and packaged by a local manufacturer; (b) import or local production of a vitamin and minerals premix that is tableted or encapsulated and packaged locally; (c) import of a bulk, finished product (tablets or capsules) that is packaged and branded; and (d) or import of a branded packaged product. This paper is a situation analysis of the market, manufacturing, and policy factors that are driving the production of MMS in 12 lower and upper middle‐income countries. Key informants completed a self‐administered structured questionnaire, which examined the local context of products available in the market and their cost, regulations and policies, in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Our study found that although most countries have the capacity to produce locally MMS, the major barriers observed for sustainable and affordable production include (a) poor technical capacity and policies for ensuring quality along the value chain and (b) lack of policy coherence to incentivize local production and lower the manufacture and retail price of MMS. Also, better guidelines and government oversight will be required because not one country had an MMS formulation that matched the globally recommended formulation of the United Nations Multiple Micronutrient Preparation (UNIMMAP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]