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Objective: The present study aimed at surveying the nutritional quality of prepacked biscuits and sweet snacks sold on the Italian market, and at identifying whether the product type and other information reported on the pack could discriminate the overall quality of products analysed., Design: Data on energy, nutrient and salt content of the products from two different categories of prepacked sweet cereal products (i.e. biscuits and sweet snacks) were collected from thirteen retailers present on the Italian market. Based on the product type, nutrition and health claim (NHC) and gluten-free (GF) declaration, a comparison of nutrient profile within each category was performed., Setting: This work is part of the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) study that aims at systematically investigating the overall quality of the prepacked foods sold on the Italian market., Results: A total of 1290 products were analysed (63 % biscuits and 37 % sweet snacks). After comparing different product types within each category, a high intra-type product variability was evidenced, which was more pronounced for biscuits. Overall, NHC-carrying products seemed to have a better nutrition profile than those without claims, except for salt content. Conversely, a comparison between GF and gluten-containing products did not show consistent results within the two categories analysed., Conclusions: Due to the high intra-type variability within each category, the different characteristics and regulated information reported on the pack do not seem to be a clear marker of the overall nutritional quality of biscuits and snacks.

The market for organic products is growing rapidly, probably attributable to the general customer perception that they are healthier foods, with a better nutritional profile than conventional ones. Despite this, the available studies show limited differences in the nutrient profile of organically and conventionally primary food products. Apart from this literature, no studies have focused on the nutrition profile of commercially prepacked foods. Thus, the aim of the present survey was to compare the nutritional quality intended as nutrition facts of organic and conventional prepacked foods sold in Italy. A total of 569 pairs of prepacked products (organic and their conventional counterparts) were selected from nine food categories sold by online retailers. By comparing organic and conventional products in the "pasta, rice and other cereals" category, the former were lower in energy, protein, and higher in saturates compared to the latter. Organic "jams, chocolate spreads and honey" products were lower in energy, carbohydrates, sugars and higher in protein than their regular counterparts. No differences were found for energy, macronutrients and salt for other categories. Therefore, based on the mandatory information printed on their packaging, prepacked organic products are not of a superior nutritional quality than conventional ones, with just a few exceptions. Consequently, the present study suggests that organic certification cannot be considered an indication of better overall nutritional quality. Further studies examining the nutritional quality of organic foods, taking into account the ingredients used, might better explain the results obtained.

Breakfast cereals are present on the market as different types and, in general, are one of the food categories in which voluntary information, such as nutrition or health claims (NHC) or gluten free (GF) declarations, have the largest distribution. The aims of the present study were to compare (i) the nutritional declaration among different types of breakfast cereals, as well as among products with and without NHC or GF declarations; and (ii) the salt and sugar contents with the "Italian shared objectives for the improvement of the nutritional characteristics of food". To this aim, the nutrition declarations of 371 different breakfast cereal items, available in 13 retailers present on the Italian market, were analysed. Data showed an elevated inter-product variability, with cereal bars and muesli having the highest energy, total fat, and saturate contents per 100 g. Limited differences were found comparing products with and without NHC, as well as those with GF declaration. Most of the breakfast cereals were compliant to the shared objectives, although some items with NHC or GF declaration still have sugar or salt contents higher than these objectives. In conclusion, these data suggest that the different characteristics and the regulated information reported on the food label should not be considered as a marker of the overall nutritional quality. Thus, this study supports the importance of reading and understanding the information made on food label.