Review Article Nutrient Profiling: An Approach Promoting Healthy Food Choices

Over the past few years, there has been a steep rise in the problems of overweight, obesity and other chronic degenerative diseases owing to the intake of unhealthy diets. There is an urgent need for a system that could assist the consumers in making healthy food choices. „Nutrient profiling ‟ helps in classification of foods according to their nutrient content. There are several nutrient profiling models that have been developed all over the world so far for various purposes like promotion of food to children, regulation of health claims, food certification or even for research purpose based on different criteria. However, there is still need for further research and validation of the models for easy and effective applicability of this concept in promoting healthy diets. Food based strategies aimed at improving public health can be strengthened by nutrient profiling. This paper reviews the concept of nutrient profiling and evaluates the various models in use across the world