TABLE 3.
Presentation of Greek food-based dietary guidelines for adults (21) per food group/subgroup and the relevant distribution of Nutri-Score calculated for the branded food products of the Hellenic food thesaurus (HelTH) branded food composition databases (BFCD) (n = 3,224).
| Food group/Subgroup | Guideline | A n (%) |
B n (%) |
C n (%) |
D n (%) |
E n (%) |
| Vegetables | Consume 4 portions a day Prefer fresh and uncooked vegetables Consume vegetable based main dishes 1–2 times/week |
135 (90.6) | 4 (2.7) | 5 (3.4) | 4 (2.7) | 1 (0.7) |
| Fruits | Prefer fresh fruits Consume dried fruits in moderation Avoid canned fruit especially if preserved in syrup |
15 (40.5) | 10 (27.0) | 11 (29.7) | 1 (2.7) | – |
| Juices | Prefer fresh fruits to juices and consume up to 1/2 cup a day Avoid prepacked juices |
– | 1 (0.6) | 10 (6.4) | 48 (30.6) | 98 (62.4) |
| Cereals1 | Prefer wholegrain cereals, pasta and rice When choosing bread and breakfast cereals read the labels carefully as they can be hidden sources of salt and/or sugars |
253 (39.7) | 88 (13.8) | 92 (14.4) | 176 (27.6) | 29 (4.5) |
| Potatoes | Consume 3 times a week Avoid French fries |
10 (58.8) | 7 (41.2) | – | – | – |
| Dairy products | Consume 2 portion/day with preference toward low fat milk, low fat yogurt and low-fat cheese Prefer foods naturally lower in fat and sodium |
146 (25.4) | 170 (29.6) | 54 (9.4) | 171 (29.8) | 33 (5.7) |
| Milk | Prefer low fat milk Avoid sugar sweetened milk |
51 (34.7) | 86 (58.8) | 6 (4.1) | 2 (1.4) | 2 (1.4) |
| Cheese | Prefer low fat and low sodium cheese | 2 (1.3) | 3 (1.9) | 15 (9.4) | 125 (78.6) | 14 (8.8) |
| Yogurt | Prefer low fat yogurt | 78 (51.3) | 54 (35.5) | 20 (13.2) | – | – |
| Cream | Avoid cream and replace it with yogurt when possible | – | 2 (6.7) | 7 (23.3) | 21 (70.0) | – |
| Pulses | Consume 3 times/week Source of plant protein, fiber and micronutrients |
40 (90.9) | 2 (4.5) | 2 (4.5) | – | – |
| Eggs | Consume up to 4 eggs/week Source of high-quality protein |
11 (36.7) | 19 (63.3) | – | – | – |
| Meat | Consume up to 1 portion/week red meat Consume 1–2 portions/week white meat Avoid processed or cured meats |
1 (0.9) | 3 (2.8) | 11 (10.4) | 61 (57.5) | 30 (28.3) |
| Fish and seafood | Consume 2–3 portions/week Prefer fresh fish to seafood Avoid any processed fish/seafood |
4 (6.9) | 15 (25.9) | 14 (24.1) | 22 (37.9) | 3 (5.2) |
| Fats and oils | Consume all fats and oils in moderation (total 4–5 portions/day) Prefer olive oil as the main oil followed by other vegetable oils (except palm oil) Avoid animal fats and hard margarines |
– | – | 22 (34.9) | 25 (39.7) | 16 (25.4) |
| Nuts and products | Consume in moderation Count toward the 4–5 portions/day of fats and oils Prefer unsalted nuts Use nut spreads as a snack |
– | – | 15 (25.0) | 41 (68.3) | 4 (6.7) |
| Sweets2 | Reduce all sweets to 1 portion/week | 3 (0.6) | 3 (0.6) | 34 (6.6) | 179 (34.8) | 296 (57.5) |
| Spices and condiments | Avoid commercial spices and condiments as they are sources of sodium and sugar | 1 (0.7) | 6 (4.2) | 59 (41.0) | 63 (43.8) | 15 (10.4) |
| Beverages | Prefer water and unsweetened beverages Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages |
– | 55 (25.8) | 27 (12.7) | 10 (4.7) | 121 (56.8) |
1Not including fine bakery ware.
2Including fine bakery ware.