Nutritional Content of Street Food and Takeaway Food Purchased in Urban Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Street food (SF) and takeaway food (TAF) are important sources of out-of-home meals in urban Bosnia and Herzegovina, where diet-related non-communicable diseases are growing rapidly. This study aimed to characterise SF and TAF purchased in urban areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regarding customers’ characteristics and the nutritional composition of the foods and beverages. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sarajevo and Banja Luka in 2017. SF (n = 194) and TAF vending sites (n = 154) were selected through random and systematic sampling. Data on the food items purchased and customers’ characteristics were collected by direct observation. Nutritional composition was estimated using data from chemical analyses of the foods most commonly available. Two-thirds of the customers observed (n = 755) were aged ≥35 years, half were women and 27.7% were overweight/obese. A total of 929 food items were purchased. The most commonly bought SFs were confectionery (30.5%), water (27.9%) and soft drinks/juices (22.2%). TAF customers purchased mostly savoury pastries (39.8%), breads (27.1%) and main dishes (21.4%). Almost half of customers purchased industrial food (i.e., pre-packaged foods and beverages produced by the food industry). The purchases presented median contents of 18.7 g of fat (39.6% saturated, 32.3% monounsaturated, 22.1% polyunsaturated, 1.5% trans), 838 mg of sodium and 285 mg of potassium. Saturated-fat contribution was higher in SF purchases (60.4% vs. 30.2%, p < 0.001), whereas TAF purchases presented higher trans-fat proportion (1.8% vs. 0.6%, p < 0.001), sodium (1241 vs. 89 mg, p < 0.001) and sodium-potassium ratio (6.1 vs. 0.6, p < 0.001). Generally, SF and TAF bought in Sarajevo and Banja Luka were rich in saturated and trans fatty-acids and sodium, and poor in potassium. Nutrition policies promoting use of healthier fats and salt reduction in SF and TAF may contribute to the prevention of diet-related diseases in these settings.

Fatty Acid Composition of Selected Street Foods Commonly Available in Malaysia

“…This study found that the gas chromatography did not detect TFAs in any of the local street foods, which is not in agreement with the findings from other countries in the Asian [ 5 , 6 , 8 , 12 ], European [ 7 , 9 , 37 ], and African [ 10 ] regions. This is possibly due to varying ingredients used in the local street foods in other countries.…”

“…Fats in food exist in varying proportions of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and trans fatty acids (TFAs) [ 4 ]. Several studies from other countries (Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa) found the presence of TFAs [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] and high amounts of SFAs [ 6 , 7 , 8 ] in their local street food.…”

“…The presence of TFAs and SFAs may be influenced by the use of TFAs- or SFAs-rich ingredients, such as butter [ 7 ] and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils [ 9 , 12 ], and the preparation methods used, such as deep-frying [ 9 , 11 , 13 ]. Practices related to the frying process, such as the reuse of frying oil [ 6 ], the frying temperature [ 14 ], and the duration of frying using different types of oils [ 10 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], also affect the levels of SFAs and TFAs in foods.…”

“…Documentation of FA composition in Malaysian street foods is still lacking compared to the well-documented FA composition in street foods from other countries [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Previous studies in Malaysia have measured the FA composition in homemade meals [ 26 ] and the presence of TFAs in foods ranging from bakery products, snacks, breakfast cereals, dairy products, fast foods, Malaysian fast foods [ 27 ] to supermarket foods [ 28 ], but did not assess the FAs levels in street foods.…”

Street Food and Takeaway Food Purchasing Patterns in Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…For each customer, two observers independently registered the food items purchased and respective quantities. Inter-observer concordance was evaluated using Cohen’s kappa (K) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI), being high to very high, regarding both variables (food item purchased: 98.2% agreement, K = 0.98, 95%CI 0.97–1.00; quantity purchased: 92.0% agreement, K = 0.89, 95%CI 0.86–0.92) [ 23 ]. Disagreements between observers were solved using a set of standardized criteria: (1) if the two observers registered different food items, the conflicting items were checked for their availability on the corresponding vending site (if only one of the conflicting items was available, that was the observation assumed, and both observations were disregarded if the conflicting items were both available or not available); (2) if the two observers registered the same food item, but with different degrees of specificity, the broadest observation was assumed; (3) if the two observers registered a different number of food items for the same customer, the observation with the larger number of food items available was assumed; and (4) if two observers registered the same food item, but different quantities, the average quantity of the two observations was assumed.…”