Pizzas

• 204 products were listed for this study

• Pizzas newly arrived on the market are higher in saturated fats and proteins

• Traditionnal crust pizzas still provide more sodium than thin crust pizzas

Despite a great renewal of the products offered on the market, the variations in the nutritional value of the pizza supply in recent years have been minor. Pizzas still contain too much saturated fat and sodium and too little fibre. The pizzas purchased by the consumer were higher in fat and lower in fiber and sodium than in 2017. This improvement in the level of sodium can be attributed to a decrease in this nutrient in traditional crust pizzas. Unless there are changes in their nutritional composition, the majority of pizzas will end up with a symbol on the front of their packaging revealing high in content of saturated fat and sodium. In light of these observations, and considering that pizzas are widely consumed, efforts are needed to improve the nutritional quality of pizzas offered in Canada.

• 155 pizzas have been listed for this study
• 765 mg of sodium in 100 g (1 slice) of vegetable pizzas
• 1095 mg of sodium in 100 g (1 slice) of deli meat pizzas

The results of this study of pizzas demonstrate a certain degree of variability in terms of nutritional composition based on the various types of products. The variability in the saturated fat and sodium content within each category demonstrates that there is room for improvement with respect to the nutritional value of many products. More specifically, it would be possible to reformulate pizzas with deli meats to reduce the fat and sodium content. In addition, the saturated fat content of thin-crust pizzas should be reduced, whereas traditional-crust pizzas would benefit from a reduction in sodium content. Furthermore, pizzas targeted to children and pizzas that are considered authentic appear to offer better nutritional composition than pizzas targeted to the general population or so-called basic pizzas (pizzas with no specific characteristics).