The project generates robust, comparable estimates of total bread, whole-grain bread, and refined bread intake across countries.
Overview
The client context, challenges, audience, and objectives that shaped our approach and defined success.
Context
Lesaffre is the sponsor of the Global Bread Intake (GBI) Study, with TheraVita as the lead implementer and Tufts University as a core academic partner supporting scientific methods and execution. The project generates robust, comparable estimates of total bread, whole-grain bread, and refined bread intake across countries—designed for decision-makers who need credible evidence on dietary patterns at scale.
Objectives
Produce global, regional, and national estimates of bread consumption—overall and by whole-grain vs refined subtypes—across population subgroups and over time (where data allow), with transparent methods and uncertainty, enabling research, policy, and industry R&D planning grounded in real-world intake data.
Requirements
Specific needs, deliverables, constraints, and compliance considerations required to achieve objectives within timeline and budget.
- Data acquisition & governance: identify, obtain, and manage dietary survey data and supporting public data sources under appropriate data governance.
- Standardization & measurement: apply a consistent approach to defining and capturing bread intake across heterogeneous survey formats, including subtype classification (total / whole-grain / refined).
- Harmonization & QA/QC: clean and harmonize inputs using standardized templates, documented assumptions, and quality checks to ensure comparability.
- Modeling & estimation: generate comparable estimates across countries and key subgroups with appropriate uncertainty and validation checks.
- Stakeholder-ready outputs: deliver datasets, documentation, and reporting materials suitable for scientific and stakeholder use.
Our Process
A stepwise, evidence-based workflow from discovery to delivery, measurement, iteration, and scalable knowledge transfer.
- Alignment & definitions — confirm endpoints, subgroup stratifications, and reporting needs with sponsor and academic partner.
- Data acquisition & intake — structured intake workflow, documentation of sources, and readiness assessment.
- Harmonization & QA/QC — standardized processing, subtype classification, and reproducible quality checks.
- Statistical modeling & uncertainty — estimation approach designed for cross-country comparability; validation and sensitivity checks.
- Iteration & review — internal scientific review with Tufts partnership and structured updating cycles with sponsor.
- Delivery & handover — final datasets, methods documentation, and stakeholder-ready reporting assets.
Results
The measurable outcomes, qualitative feedback, and lasting assets that created value and informed next steps.
- A standardized evidence base for global bread intake, designed for cross-country comparability and subgroup insights.
- A reproducible analytic pipeline (templates + QA/QC + documentation) enabling updates and extension as new surveys become available.
- Decision-ready outputs translating complex dietary survey inputs into interpretable national/regional estimates and distributions.
- A scalable model for diet surveillance that can be replicated to other endpoints requiring harmonized intake estimation.
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