Composição nutricional e preço de produtos integrais e convencionais comercializados em um supermercado de rede nacional do Brasil: produtos integrais e convencionais

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the nutritional composition and the price of industrialized and conventional products. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in DouradosMS, using census (August / 2018) for biscuits, toasts, breads and cereals available at an establishment belonging to one of the largest supermarket chains in Brazil. The following information was collected from product labels: ingredient list, nutritional information per portion (energy, carbohydrates, proteins, total and saturated fats, fiber and sodium), unit price, portion weight and net product weight. To compare the nutritional composition, price and number of ingredients, sugars, additives and trans fat, the Mann-Whitney U test or Student's T-test was used, according to the normal distribution of the data. The value of p <0.05 was considered statistically significant. For the analyzes, Stata® version 11.0 (Statacorp, College Station TX, USA) was used. Results: A total of 103 products were analyzed, of which 59 (57.3%) were whole, with a higher amount of fiber and protein, lower sodium content, higher sugar content in the list of ingredients and a higher price (p <0.05) . Whole-grain and conventional products have similar calories, carbohydrates, and fats. Conclusion: Even whole foods with higher amounts of fiber and protein and less sodium, still continue to present calories, carbohydrates, fats and the number of additives similar to conventional foods. The use of ingredients that improve the nutritional profile of the products, such as the addition of fibers, also implies the addition of other ingredients that simulate desirable sensorial characteristics, such as the addition of sugar to impart darker coloring that refers to the whole product. The higher price of whole products does not correspond to a better nutritional profile. Nutritional marketing by the food industry in whole foods may be confusing consumers as to the real health of the products and therefore persuading them to consume ultraprocessed and healthy products.