From the requirement of frontal labeling and declaration of the total and added sugar content in the mandatory nutritional information of packaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages, it becomes necessary to have the appropriate analytical tools to determine the added sugars to them, both for declaration by manufacturers and for use by control agencies. Since the analytical methods, both chemical and instrumental, do not allow discriminating between natural and added sugars, the objective of the work is to offer an adequate methodology for the estimation of the added sugar content, according to the definition of the current Argentine regulation, that allows to obtain safe, reliable results and within the established tolerance range. For its achievement, the use of calculations of material balances based on the content of total sugars and other analytically determined parameters and on composition tables that discriminate the content of sugars for fruits and vegetables is proposed. The proposed methods are applicable to fruit preserves, yogurt and other fermented milk, preserves such as jams, sweets, fruits in syrup and candied, etc., and milk jelly.
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Article/Mexico – Labeling of pre-packaged and pre-labeled foods has a positive impact on consumption habits
Objective: To determine if the modifications made to the NOM-051-SCFI/SSA-2010, relative to the labelling of harmful pre-packaged foods has induced changes in the consumption habits of the Mexicans.
Materials and Methods: A survey in Goggle Forms was configured to research into the consumption habits of pre-packaged foods, both previous to the introduction of the aforementioned changes in the NOM-051-SCFI/SSA-2010 norm, and with the norm in force. Significant differences were determined by a paired Student’s t test.
Results: The consumption pf pre-packaged foods was significantly reduced during NOM-051-SCFI/SSA-2010 norm’s force (p≤0.0001). Nonetheless, the majority of the surveyed population still thinks that healthier pre-packaged foods must be introduced into the market, rather than having the labelling norm in place.
Conclusions: Food labeling has been detected to improve the consumption habits of the surveyed population, inducing a significant reduction on the consumption of labelled foods.
Article – What do packaging labels tell us about industrialization and the brazilian reality? – an interdisciplinary report
The purpose of this work was to explore the packaging labels of products consumed in everyday life by students, seeing them as textual and geographic and biological information genres and thus, through them, introduce the curricular contents in ten (10) 1st year classes of the Integrated Technical Education of CEFET-MG, in Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil, in an interdisciplinary view in the subjects of Geography and Biology. Topics concerning the progress of industrialization in the Brazilian territory and the quality of products were discussed, especially those consumed by the population (nutritional data and its technical vocabulary, processing of industrialized foods, malnutrition and food exports, expansion of agribusiness…), associating them with the movement of globalization of the world economy. Among the topics studied, we also highlight: history and spatialization of industry, transformation of geographic space, stages of Brazilian industrialization, urbanization, concentration of infrastructure, consumer market, internationalization of the economy, labor qualification, degree of nationalization by industrial sector, privatization, industrial decentralization, precariousness of labor rights, among others. Exercises were carried out based on the data collected using printed maps, in addition to the use of the Google Earth app, devices used to locate industries in the country, which also contributes to a better perception of cartographic images. In a didactic investigation that combined prosaic resources – packaging labels – with geotechnology – the Google Earth application, the need for diversification of instruments and methodologies used in the classroom is evidenced, which together with adequate planning can help students to achieve meaningful learning, as happened in this reported experience. The theoretical-methodological foundations that guided this work are present, especially, in the theories of David Ausubel and Jerome Bruner.
Thesis/Chile – Review and proposal for updating the Food Sanitary Regulations (Decree 977/96)
The prevalence of food allergies have experienced sensitivity in recent years. It is estimated that 2.5% of the population suffers from some type of food allergy, of which 90% corresponds to allergies caused by 8 internationally recognized foods, which are milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, crustaceans, fish, nuts and soy. In the present study, the different legislations related to food are reviewed, such as the Codex Alimentarius, Regulations of the European Union, Code of Federal Norms of the United States (CFR), Sanitary Regulations of Japan, Regulations of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) and the Chilean Sanitary Regulation (DTO 977/96) based on food labeling criteria with a focus on mentions and mandatory declarations, list of ingredients and precautionary labeling. Also, the legislations regarding formulas for infants with special nutrition are reviewed and compared, considering that allergy to cow’s milk protein, APVL, has a high prevalence in infants. Food labeling is essential to inform consumers of the presence of allergens in food. The words “contains…” and “may contain…” are defined differently in different regulations. An update of the sections of the Sanitary Regulation (DTO977/96) related to these mentions is proposed in order to save the food safety of all consumers. Due to the poor supervisory capacity of the SEREMI of health, a change in the regulation of “gluten-free” seals is suggested with the purpose of decongesting the inspection system of the Ministry of Health. Infant formulas are foods considered “for special mechanisms” in all the aforementioned regulations and standards, since infants are a high-risk group that requires special treatment in legislative terms. However, formulas for infants with special nutritional needs, specifically allergic infants, are not very well regulated in most laws and regulations. Consequently, a modification in the Sanitary Food Regulations (DTO 977/96) is recommended to give greater legal protection to this vulnerable group.
Article/Bazil – Learning about food labels about food and nutrients: the use of labeling in research education
The function of labels is to guide consumers to understand food ingredients and promote healthy food choices. However, this does not mean that consumers use labels as a tool to choose which foods should be part of their diet. This investigative activity will address cellular biochemistry content – water and minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, and nucleic acids. The proposal will have a duration of 4 classes, and students will be divided into food groups, where after the exposure of images of unprocessed, processed and ultra-processed foods made by the teacher, the groups will create a label of the type of food designated for each group. Next, the teacher will challenge the students with a guiding question, and from this question they will develop hypotheses. The students will use real labels of foods that make up their diet to answer a questionnaire and compare the information on the real labels with the label they produced. A text will be produced reporting if after the research and activities done by the students, their hypotheses were right or not. Finally, there will be a round of conversation in which students can orally explain the difference between the label created by them and the real label. It is hoped that this proposal, based on the reading and analysis of food/beverage labels present in their diet, will alert and make students aware of the importance of having good eating habits, giving priority to unprocessed or minimally processed foods that contain nutrients necessary for the proper functioning of their bodies.
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