{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T17:11:00Z","timestamp":1785431460021,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]],"date-time":"2026-07-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784678400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente M\u00e1rtir"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03d7a9c68","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Front-of-pack labelling systems such as Nutri-Score are promoted as public health tools to guide consumers towards healthier food choices. However, their capacity to accurately signal sugar content in child-targeted foods\u2014a key determinant of dental caries risk\u2014remains poorly characterised. This study aimed to evaluate whether Nutri-Score category reliably reflects sugar content in pre-packaged foods marketed to children, and to discuss the implications for paediatric oral health. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study analysed the nutritional labels of 100 pre-packaged foods directed at the paediatric population, all displaying a Nutri-Score label, selected from three major supermarket chains in Valencia, Spain. Products were grouped into eight predefined food categories. Sugar content (g\/100 g or 100 mL), Nutri-Score category (A\u2013E), and ordinal position of sugar in the ingredients list were recorded. Global association between Nutri-Score grade and sugar content was evaluated using Spearman\u2019s rank correlation coefficient; category-level analyses used the Kruskal\u2013Wallis or Mann\u2013Whitney U test as appropriate. Results: A moderate statistically significant positive correlation was found between Nutri-Score grade and sugar content across all 100 products (\u03c1 = 0.515, p &lt; 0.001). In the exploratory category-level analyses, suggestive differences were observed in biscuits (H = 8.72, p = 0.033), milks and milk drinks (H = 9.02, p = 0.029), and desserts (H = 8.31, p = 0.016); none of these p-values survived Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (adjusted \u03b1 = 0.006). Notably, some products rated A and B contained high sugar levels: one A-rated breakfast cereal reached 22.4 g\/100 g, and the highest B-rated product (a flavoured milk drink) contained 22.1 g\/100 g. No significant association was detected in cereals, breads, dairy products, juices, or frozen foods. Conclusions: Nutri-Score demonstrated limited discriminatory ability to identify high-sugar child-targeted foods consistently across food categories. These findings support recommending that paediatric dental practitioners advise caregivers to evaluate sugar content and ingredients lists beyond front-of-pack grading. Further regulatory refinement of the algorithm to specifically weight added sugar exposure in child-targeted products may be warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18142401","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T01:01:28Z","timestamp":1784768488000},"page":"2401","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Does Nutri-Score Reliably Identify High-Sugar Foods Marketed to Children? A Cross-Sectional Study with Implications for Dental Caries Prevention"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5722-0547","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Marqu\u00e9s-Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Medicine and Health Science Faculty, Catholic University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"},{"name":"Stomatology Department, University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlota Rosa","family":"P\u00e9rez-Dallal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Medicine and Health Science Faculty, Catholic University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0054-1005","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Ignacio","family":"Aura-Tormos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stomatology Department, University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9356-4416","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carla","family":"Borrell-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Medicine and Health Science Faculty, Catholic University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9737-716X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paula","family":"Boo-Gordillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Medicine and Health Science Faculty, Catholic University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"},{"name":"Stomatology Department, University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda","family":"Carmona-Santamar\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Medicine and Health Science Faculty, Catholic University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8841-7975","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clara","family":"Guinot-Barona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Medicine and Health Science Faculty, Catholic University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8864-3702","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Esther","family":"Garc\u00eda-Miralles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stomatology Department, University of Valencia, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2025, June 10). 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