Nutritional Profile and the use "Whole Grains" Claims in Packaged Food in Brazil

Abstract

Background: Although the nutrition claim “whole grains” can be found in packaged foods marketed in Brazil, the current legislation does not establish composition or labelling criteria to its use, which may confuse and misinform consumers and lead to inadequate food choices. Thus, the present study aims to assess the use of “whole grains” claims in food products marketed in Brazil, and to assess the nutritional profile of these products. Methods: We used data from 775 grain-based packaged foods collected in Brazil from April to July 2017. Using the INFORMAS’s protocol for food labelling, we estimated the prevalence of packaged foods with “whole grains” claims. The amount of whole grains was evaluated using the ingredients list. We compared the nutritional profile of the products with and without "whole grains" claims using the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) nutrient profile criteria. Results: Results show that about 19% of the assessed products had "whole grains" claims; of these, 35% did not have any whole grain among the top three ingredients. These products also had a high proportion of refined ingredients (e.g. refined flour and sugar) and were high in critical nutrients according to PAHO´s criteria. Conclusion: Our results showed the need to improve Brazilian food labeling regulation in order to determine thresholds for wholemeal flour content to allow foods to receive “whole grains” claim.