Autor(es):
Assunção, Ricardo ; Boué, Géraldine ; Alvito, Paula ; Brazão, Roberto ; Carmona, Paulo ; Carvalho, Catarina ; Correia, Daniela ; Fernandes, Paulo ; Lopes, Carla ; Martins, Carla ; Membré, Jeanne Marie ; Monteiro, Sarogini ; Nabais, Pedro ; Thomsen, Sofie T. ; Torres, Duarte ; Pires, Sara M. ; Jakobsen, Lea S.
Data: 2021
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/132220
Origem: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Assunto(s): Bacillus cereus; Cereal-based foods; Children; Fiber; Free sugars; Mycotoxins; Public health; Risk–benefit assessment; Sodium; Food Science; Nutrition and Dietetics; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Descrição
Funding Information: This research was funded by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (Grant Agreement Number?GA/EFSA/AFSCO/2017/01?GA02) (The authors declare that this manuscript reflects only the authors? view and EFSA is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.). R.A., P.A. and C.M. also thanks FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020), through national funds. R.A. was supported by FCT Individual CEEC 2018 Assistant Researcher Grant CEECIND/01570/2018. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Cereal-based foods, including breakfast (BC) and infant cereals (IC), are among the first solid foods introduced to infants. BC and IC are sources of macro and micronutrients that have bene-ficial effects on health, but can also be sources of harmful chemical and microbiological contaminants and nutrients that may lead to adverse health effects at high consumption levels. This study was performed under the RiskBenefit4EU project with the aim of assessing the health impact associated with consumption of BC and IC by Portuguese children under 35 months. Adverse effects associated with the presence of aflatoxins, Bacillus cereus, sodium and free sugars were assessed against the benefits of fiber intake. We applied a risk–benefit assessment approach, and quantified the health impact of changes in consumption of BC and IC from current to various alternative consumption scenarios. Health impact was assessed in terms of disability-adjusted life years. Results showed that moving from the current consumption scenario to considered alternative scenarios results in a gain of healthy life years. Portuguese children can benefit from exchanging intake of IC to BC, if the BC consumed has an adequate nutritional profile in terms of fiber, sodium and free sugars, with levels of aflatoxins reduced as much as possible.
