A comparison of the nutritional content of processed foods available on the French market, according to the type of brand, and potential impact on nutrient intakes—An Oqali study

The French Observatory of Food Quality (Oqali) aims to collect all nutrition data provided on processed food labels, at the level of brand products, in order to monitor reformulation and nutrition labeling changes over time. This work aimed to make a cross‐sectional comparison of the nutrition content of processed foods on the French market, according to their type of brand (national brands, retailer brands, entry‐level retailer brands, hard discount, and specialized retailer brands), and to study the potential impact of the differences observed on simulated nutrient intakes. A total of 16,453 branded processed foodstuffs were considered, collected between 2008 and 2011 and divided into 24 food sectors. Labeled nutrition values were compared between types of brands by family of products. Nutrition values were matched with consumption data from the French Individual and National Study on Food Consumption (INCA 2) (Afssa, 2006–2007) to determine whether the nutrition differences underlined were magnified or diminished when crossing them with consumption data. Only isolated differences in nutrient contents between types of brands could be highlighted. In the case of a theoretical and exclusive consumption of processed foodstuffs from one specific type of brand, protein intakes from first‐price products (entry‐level retailer brands and hard discount) appeared to be significantly lower than the ones from national or retailer brand products. The absence of systematic differences in the nutrition contents of processed foods from various types of brands is an encouraging result when considering social inequalities and nutrition. As protein intakes in France are currently above recommended levels (Afssa, 2007), consumption of first‐price foodstuffs does not imply any risk of deficiency for French consumers.