Conteúdo de circulares de um supermercado do centro oeste brasileiro: análise do grau de processamento de alimentos de acordo com as estações do ano

Abstract

Objective: Verify association between seasons and degree of food processing in Brazilian Central-West supermarket circulars. Methods: All supermarket circulars distributed from May 2017 to January 2018 were collected, being considered for analyzes only one month of each season (May-Fall / August-Winter / October-Spring / January-Summer). Food items were identified and classified according to degree of processing which they are submitted (unprocessed or minimally processed, processed culinary ingredient, processed and ultraprocessed). Chisquare test was applied to verify association between the seasons of the year and the degree of food processing promoted in supermarket circulars. It was considered statistically significant difference p <0.05.Results: In the 16 documents analyzed, 469 food items were identified. Most of which were unprocessed or minimally processed (n=240, 51.1%), followed by ultraprocessed (n=173, 36.89 %), processed (n=39), 8.32%), and processed culinary ingredients (n=17, 3.6%). The summer was the season with the highest number of foods advertised in supermarket circulars (n=274, 58.4%), followed by winter (n=84, 17.9%), autumn (n=64,13.7 %) and spring (n=47; 10%). Conclusions: Unprocessed and minimally processed foods are more promoted in winter circulars while ultraprocessed foods are more promoted in summer circulars. It becomes relevant understand the supermarket sale strategies behind seasons, since food items promoted in supermarket circulars can influence consumer’s purchase healthiness.