Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41877140›Full record

ArticleNutrition journal2026

Development and application of a healthy plant content estimation algorithm for Australian packaged foods.

Daisy H Coyle, Allison Gaines, Tazman Davies, Gary Sacks, Alexandra Jones, Bridget Kelly Gillott, Caroline Miller, Nadine Ghammachi, Kylie Howes, Eden M Barrett and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nutrition journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Daisy H CoyleThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia. dcoyle@georgeinstitute.org.au.
Allison GainesThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Tazman DaviesThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Gary SacksGlobal Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE), Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Alexandra JonesThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Bridget Kelly GillottEarly Start, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
Caroline MillerSchool of Public Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, Australia.
Nadine GhammachiThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Kylie HowesThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Eden M BarrettThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Simone PettigrewThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.

Funding

National Health and Medical Research Council 2006620
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHigh intakes of red and processed meat, trans fats, sodium and low intakes of fibre and minimally processed plant foods such as wholegrains, fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables are major dietary risk factors for the development of non-communicable diseases. Despite the acknowledged health and environmental benefits of many plant foods, consumers lack accessible tools to identify the healthy plant content of packaged foods. This study aimed to develop an algorithm for predicting levels of healthy plant content of packaged foods (namely fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole-grains, nuts and seeds, while excluding oils, ultra-processed ingredients, and plant ingredients with high levels of sugar, such as dried fruit, fruit and vegetable juices, pastes, purees and gels) and to apply this algorithm to the Australian packaged food supply.

methodsA five-step method of estimating plant content was developed and applied to 19,269 packaged foods in the 2022 Australian FoodSwitch database. This database contains nutrition composition data for products available in-store across major supermarkets in Australia. The mean (SD) plant content was calculated for different food categories within the food supply and across each of the plant components.

resultsIn total, 1154 unique ingredients were identified in the packaged food sample, 38.4% of which contained healthy plant content. The mean weight of healthy plant content was 24.6 g/100 g (range 0–100 g/100 g). This was mostly driven by vegetable content (10.0 g/100 g, 40.7% of the total weight), followed by nuts/seeds (5.2 g/100 g, 21.1%), whole-grains (3.9 g/100 g, 15.9%), fruit (3.1 g/100 g, 12.6%) and legumes (2.4 g/100 g, 9.8%). Categories with the highest mean healthy plant content included ‘fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes’ (66.7 (34.1)g/100 g), ‘snack foods’ (43.4 (29.5)g/100 g), and ‘sauces, dressings, spreads, and dips’ (36.0 (34.3)g/100 g). There was wide variation in the healthy plant content within food categories (e.g., 0.0 g to 78.4 g/100 g for ‘cereal and grain products’).

conclusionsThe healthy plant content of packaged food in Australia varies substantially between and within product categories. This suggests the potential utility of this algorithm for providing consumers with key information to make healthier and more sustainable food choices.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsFood AnalysisFood PackagingAustraliaDatabases, FactualFabaceaeFood, ProcessedFruitHumansNutritive ValueNutsSeedsVegetablesAlgorithmFruitLegumesNutsPackaged foodsPlant contentProfiling systemSeedsVegetablesWhole-grains

Identifiers

PMID41877140
PMCPMC13137757

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.