Rotulagem de produtos alimentícios: análise quanto aos critérios definidos pela legislação vigente

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate if the food products labels information marketed in the city of Dourados/MS meet the criteria defined by the current legislation. Methods: Forty-eight food labels collected in retail stores in Dourados were used as object of the study, of these, 29 were traditional products, 4 diet products and 15 light products, selected according to their availability in local supermarkets. The labels were tabulated using the softwares Word and Excel, for building tables with percentage of regular or irregular products according to the assessed items, observing the total content and nutritional information based on the current legislation. Results: Irregularities were found in the diet and light products regarding the minimum reduction of 25% for light products and in the absence of sweetener amount used to replace sugar and warning phrase "it may contain laxative effect". Irregularities related to the nutritional information, ingredients list, information about the presence or absence of gluten, identification of the labels origin of some analyzed products were also found. Compliances were found regarding the information about quantity in g or ml and expiration date. Conclusion: The labels of evaluated diet and light products showed unconformities concerning what Brazilian legislation advocates. It is necessary to intensify the supervision of responsible agencies, so that it is ensured that labeling, in a general way, provides reliable information to the consumer.