How Do French Adults Consume Their Dairy Foods? A Characterisation Study Using the INCA3 Database

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study describes the consumption and usage of dairy products in the diet from five aspects, with the aim of increasing the consumption of dairy products.

1. Has the author taken into account the phenomenon of the decrease in dairy product consumption and the fact that there are now an increasing number of alternative foods available?
2. What proportion of the market's dairy products are “low-lactose” or “lactose-free”?
3. Will there be any overlap between different dimensions? Has this been taken into consideration?
4. May I ask the author, based on the comprehensive data, how we can increase the consumption of dairy products?

Author Response

Dear reviewers,

Thank you for your feedback. We are grateful for your insights and comments that helped in improving the quality and readability of this manuscript.

We have addressed your comments and added a point-by-point response to this document.

We have also checked the English spelling and grammar throughout the manuscript and amended this where necessary. We have two native English speakers among the authors, and can confirm that the English language is of good quality.

Kind regards,

The authors

 

 

 

How do French adults consume their dairy foods? A characterisation study using the INCA3 database. (gastronomy-3876424)

 

Reviewer 1

This study describes the consumption and usage of dairy products in the diet from five aspects, with the aim of increasing the consumption of dairy products.

1. Has the author taken into account the phenomenon of the decrease in dairy product consumption and the fact that there are now an increasing number of alternative foods available?

PBDA products were considered in the characterisation. A sentence has been added at lines 136-139, to justify their presence as consumer interest is increasing around PBDA, and their availability may have impacted dairy intakes. However, as stated, this was not a common category in the dataset, and for this reason, it was not discussed in detail.

2. What proportion of the market's dairy products are “low-lactose” or “lactose-free”?

Products were classified based on dairy categories, and no market considerations were made. The terms “low-lactose” and “lactose-free” were discussed as certain types of dairy product are naturally low or free in lactose, making them suitable for consumers with lactose sensitivity. This has been clarified, at lines 35-36, however we did not conduct separate analyses based on the presence of lactose or not.

3. Will there be any overlap between different dimensions? Has this been taken into consideration?

Dimensions have been accurately described at lines 139-179. These dimensions focus on different specific characteristics of each dairy category, and do not overlap. A brief sentence has been added at lines 142-143.

4. May I ask the author, based on the comprehensive data, how we can increase the consumption of dairy products?

Strategies to increase consumption are discussed in the discussion section, particularly from line 326. Examples of strategies have also been added to the end of the abstract, at lines 24-25. Suggested strategies include the development of new recipes and cooking activities while teaching new dairy-based recipes, including the consumption of dairy products in unusual recipes, e.g., smoothies with yoghurts, the development of new digital tools to implement the inclusion of dairy into diets based on consumer preferences and increasing availability in out-of-home settings, including vending machines.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article analyzes the characteristics of dairy product consumption among adult French people based on the INCA3 database. It categorizes dairy product intake, consumption methods, taste, and consumption time into six aspects. And put forward relevant suggestions. The overall structure of the paper is quite reasonable. The methods used in the research are described in detail, and the results are analyzed and discussed thoroughly. However, the quality of the images in the article needs to be improved, and the reference citation format also needs to be revised according to the requirements of the journal. Other suggestions can be found in the revised manuscript.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear reviewers,

Thank you for your feedback. We are grateful for your insights and comments that helped in improving the quality and readability of this manuscript.

We have addressed your comments and added a point-by-point response to this document.

We have also checked the English spelling and grammar throughout the manuscript and amended this where necessary. We have two native English speakers among the authors, and can confirm that the English language is of good quality.

Kind regards,

The authors

 

 

 

How do French adults consume their dairy foods? A characterisation study using the INCA3 database. (gastronomy-3876424)

 

Reviewer 2 (with comments on the manuscript)

This article analyzes the characteristics of dairy product consumption among adult French people based on the INCA3 database. It categorizes dairy product intake, consumption methods, taste, and consumption time into six aspects. And put forward relevant suggestions. The overall structure of the paper is quite reasonable. The methods used in the research are described in detail, and the results are analyzed and discussed thoroughly. However, the quality of the images in the article needs to be improved, and the reference citation format also needs to be revised according to the requirements of the journal. Other suggestions can be found in the revised manuscript.

The quality of the images has been improved.

The reference citation format has also been checked and amended where required.

A sentence has been added at the end of the abstract, lines 24-25: “Suggestions can be made for increasing dairy consumption based on product type, eating occasion and context, e.g. increasing availability in out-of-home settings, and considering new or unusual food combinations for new recipes.”

PBDA were added to the main exploration, however, as stated at lines 136-139, these products were not common at the time of this data collection, and for this reason was not discussed in detail. Future research recognising changes in consumption over time has also been added to the discussion section, at lines 371-380.

A sentence was added about yoghurt being suitable for consumers with lactose sensitivity at lines 281-282. However, gut health and benefits were shown in general, not just for consumers with digestive sensitivity.

Thanks for the valuable comments about the ratio of milk consumption. Milk was stated to be “the most consumed product in terms of weight” (line 274). Considering all ten sub-groups, only two of them (milk and PBDA) were found to be more drunk than eaten. To make this clearer, at line 330, “products” has been changed to “sub-groups”, and “except for milk” has been added at line 388.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments

This study uses a large, nationally representative dataset (INCA3) to describe how French adults aged 18–44 consume dairy products. Overall, the manuscript is well-organized, thorough, and underpinned by an analysis of a large data set. Nevertheless, incorporating the most recent census data would enhance the findings presented. The author should point out the following –

Line 23-25: “Various suggestions can be made for increasing dairy consumption among French adults, based on product type, eating occasion, and eating context.” It would be beneficial to include a specific example to support this statement.

Line 81: This study utilized data from the 2014-2015 census, which is relatively old. There should be the latest version, as it is updated every 7 years (line 83).   In this rapidly changing world, food habits are expected to evolve by a decade, which may call into question the originality and novelty of this research.

Line 92: “Among them, n=783 (males n=324, 41.3%) were aged 18-44 years and so considered 92 in this study”- what are the basis of this age restriction? Discuss the implications of this age restriction on generalizability, especially when different consumption patterns are expected between younger and  older people.

 

Fig 1A: better add value in the pie chart

Line 200: replace the word “drunk ” with “drink”. The same applies to the whole manuscript.

Fig 5 & 6 Axis labels should be clearer, for example, Hours of the day.

Line 258: It is also better to add the average total consumption as milk equivalent

Line: 370, what are the consumption gaps?

Author Response

Dear reviewers,

Thank you for your feedback. We are grateful for your insights and comments that helped in improving the quality and readability of this manuscript.

We have addressed your comments and added a point-by-point response to this document.

We have also checked the English spelling and grammar throughout the manuscript and amended this where necessary. We have two native English speakers among the authors, and can confirm that the English language is of good quality.

Kind regards,

The authors

 

 

 

How do French adults consume their dairy foods? A characterisation study using the INCA3 database. (gastronomy-3876424)

 

Reviewer 3

This study uses a large, nationally representative dataset (INCA3) to describe how French adults aged 18–44 consume dairy products. Overall, the manuscript is well-organized, thorough, and underpinned by an analysis of a large data set. Nevertheless, incorporating the most recent census data would enhance the findings presented. The author should point out the following –

Line 23-25: “Various suggestions can be made for increasing dairy consumption among French adults, based on product type, eating occasion, and eating context.” It would be beneficial to include a specific example to support this statement.

A sentence has been added at the end of the abstract, lines 24-25: “Suggestions can be made for increasing dairy consumption based on product type, eating occasion and context, e.g. increasing availability in out-of-home settings, and considering new or unusual food combinations for new recipes.”

Line 81: This study utilized data from the 2014-2015 census, which is relatively old. There should be the latest version, as it is updated every 7 years (line 83).   In this rapidly changing world, food habits are expected to evolve by a decade, which may call into question the originality and novelty of this research.

At line 85, it is stated that “The INCA takes place every seven years, and the INCA3 was, at the time of this study, the most recent dataset”. In the following lines, this dataset has been described, and public references have been used to justify why these data are still valuable and representative of the French population. This study was approved by Bournemouth University in late 2022 (added at line 182), and more recent data were not available at that time. Future research using more recent datasets has also been added as a recommendation at the end of the discussion section, lines 371-380.

Line 92: “Among them, n=783 (males n=324, 41.3%) were aged 18-44 years and so considered 92 in this study”- what are the basis of this age restriction? Discuss the implications of this age restriction on generalizability, especially when different consumption patterns are expected between younger and older people.

At lines 93-94, a sentence was added to clarify why the entire group of participants aged between 18 and 44 years old was taken into account: “No further data on age, allowing finer discrimination, were available”.

Other segmentations have been suggested at lines 378-380, for instance, considering genders or other age groups.

Fig 1A: better add value in the pie chart

Graph 1A has been updated. “kJ/day” was added to graph 1B.

Line 200: replace the word “drunk ” with “drink”. The same applies to the whole manuscript.

The term ‘drunk’ is used as a verb to describe a behaviour. It is more appropriate throughout this paper than the term ‘drink’. No change has been made.

Fig 5 & 6 Axis labels should be clearer, for example, Hours of the day.

Axis labels have been updated, as suggested.

Line 258: It is also better to add the average total consumption as milk equivalent

A sentence was added to compare our data to the current recommendations, lines 269-273: “However, milk and yoghurt intakes are lower than those recommended, i.e., 118 grams/d for milk, instead of 150 grams/d, and 78 grams/d for yoghurt and other fer-mented dairy instead of 125 grams/d. The only recommendation that can be considered as achieved is that related to cheese, i.e., 31 grams/d vs a recommended 30 grams/d.”. We have provided this per sub-group rather than in milk-equivalents to aid understanding for readers unfamiliar with mlk-equivalents.

Line: 370, what are the consumption gaps?

A sentence has been added at lines 379-383: “. Consumption of soft dairy products is promising, i.e., 118g milk and 78g yoghurt and other fermented dairy; consumption that is higher than other dairy sub-groups, despite remaining below the recommendations, i.e., 150ml milk and 125g yoghurt and other fermented dairy.”

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf