The Nutritional Quality of Gluten-Free versus Non-Gluten-Free Pre-Packaged Foods and Beverages Sold in Hong Kong

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The consumption of gluten-free foods has continued to increase in recent years. Given their higher intake among individuals both with and without a medically diagnosed gluten allergy or sensitivity, it is important to understand how the nutritional quality of these foods compares against non-gluten-free foods. As such, we aimed to compare the nutritional quality of gluten-free and non-gluten-free pre-packaged foods sold in Hong Kong. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Data from 18,292 pre-packaged food and beverage items in the 2019 FoodSwitch Hong Kong database were used. These products were categorized as (1) “declared gluten-free”; (2) “gluten-free by ingredient or naturally gluten-free”; and (3) “non-gluten-free” according to information presented on the package. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the differences in the Australian Health Star Rating (HSR), energy, protein, fibre, total fat, saturated fat, <i>trans</i>-fat, carbohydrates, sugars, and sodium content between products in different gluten categories, overall and by major food category (e.g., bread and bakery products) and region of origin (e.g., America, Europe). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Products declared gluten-free (mean ± SD: 2.9 ± 1.3; <i>n</i> = 7%) had statistically significantly higher HSR than those gluten-free by ingredient or naturally gluten-free (2.7 ± 1.4; <i>n</i> = 51.9%) and non-gluten-free (2.2 ± 1.4; <i>n</i> = 41.2%) (all pairwise comparisons <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Overall, non-gluten-free products have higher energy, protein, saturated fat, <i>trans</i>-fat, free sugar and sodium, and less fibre compared with products in the other two gluten categories. Similar differences were observed across major food groups and by region of origin. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Non-gluten-free products sold in Hong Kong were generally less healthy than gluten-free products (regardless of the presence of gluten-free declaration). Consumers should be better educated on how to identify gluten-free foods, given that many gluten-free foods do not declare this information on the label.