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Food and health

Plant sterol and stanol intake in Finland: a comparison between users and nonusers of plant sterol- and plant stanol-enriched foods

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 587–591 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/ Objectives:

We evaluated plant sterol and stanol (PS) intakes from natural sources and enriched foods in the Finnish population-based national FINDIET 2007 Survey. In addition, we compared the users and nonusers of PS-enriched foods in terms of their characteristics and dietary intake.

Subjects/Methods:

This was a cross-sectional population-based study on 958 men and 1080 women aged 25–74. Users and nonusers of PS-enriched products were compared with respect to sex, age, education, region, cholesterol-lowering medication and cholesterol-lowering diet. Intakes of PS, energy, energy nutrients, fat composition, cholesterol and dietary fibre were calculated on the basis of a 48-h dietary recall. The distribution of PS intake was assessed for the users of enriched products.

Results:

PS-enriched foods were used by 9.5% of all subjects. The usage increased significantly with age (P<0.001) and level of education (P=0.01). The usage of enriched products was more common among those following a cholesterol-lowering medication or diet (P<0.001 for both). Among users, the mean intake of PS was 2.2 g/d for men and 1.6 g/d for women, and among nonusers it was 363 mg/d for men and 286 mg/d for women. The majority of users received less than 2 g/d of PS from enrichment, but 20% of users obtained more than 3 g of PS per day.

Conclusions:

The intake of PS can reach several grams in a subgroup of subjects consuming PS-enriched foods. The manufacturers’ recommendations on PS-enriched food consumption are not consistently followed, and customer guidance needs to be improved.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Heli Tapanainen for her assistance in the statistical analyses. This study was funded by the Finnish Food Research Foundation and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. The National Institute for Health and Welfare (former National Public Health Institute) in Finland is acknowledged for making the national FINDIET 2007 Survey possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nutrition, Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    M Marttinen & M Mutanen

  2. Department of Lifestyle and Participation, Nutrition Unit, National Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    M Kosola & M-L Ovaskainen

  3. Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    S Männistö

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  1. M Marttinen
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  2. M Kosola
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  3. M-L Ovaskainen
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  4. M Mutanen
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  5. S Männistö
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Correspondence to M Marttinen.

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Marttinen, M., Kosola, M., Ovaskainen, ML. et al. Plant sterol and stanol intake in Finland: a comparison between users and nonusers of plant sterol- and plant stanol-enriched foods. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 587–591 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.3

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