The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA in Portuguese) published Normative Instruction IN N° 223/2023, which amends Normative Instruction – IN N° 211, dated March 1, 2023, establishing the technological functions, maximum limits and conditions of use of food additives and technological adjuvants authorized for use in food.
Panama – Ministry of Health publishes draft amendment to regulations on food supplements with therapeutic properties
The Ministry of Health published a draft amendment to the Resolution “Establishing the regulation for the registration of Vitamin, Dietetic and Food Supplements with Therapeutic Properties.
The purpose of the notified Resolution is to update the current regulations, which date from 29 May 2019, in order to ensure that the sanitary registration process for vitamin, dietary and food supplements is consistent with Law No. 1 of 10 January 2001. The regulations will be updated based on the contributions received from the local industry, the Technical Advisory Committee and other bodies through the national and international public consultations.
Canada – Updated Guidance on Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling
This guide is intended for stakeholders in the Canadian food industry. This includes Canadian manufacturers, retailers and importers of foods for sale in Canada and foreign companies who export food to Canada. The guide provides the Government of Canada’s interpretation of the new regulations related to FOP labelling that came into force on July 20, 2022. It is intended to help regulated parties become familiar with core elements of the regulations. The user is encouraged to consult the regulations including Schedule K.1, the Directory of Nutrition Symbol Specifications, the Compendium of Nutrition Symbol Formats, the Table of Daily Values, the Table of Reference Amounts, and the Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims while using this guide.
Article/Brazil – Analysis of labeling of brands of whey protein powder supplements (WheyProtein) according to RDC N° 18, april 27, 2010
The industry of dietary supplements has increased in recent years, mainly add-ons to the base protein powder, are widely used by practitioners of bodybuilding, interested in the gain of muscle mass. In this way, to prevent the indiscriminate consumption of protein supplements by practitioners of physical activity, the present study aimed to evaluate the labels of whey protein ` whey protein sold in the shops of Fortaleza – CE, according to the standards RDC n° 18, 27 April 2010. This is a quantitative study, exploratory and descriptive, where there has been a review of different brands of protein supplements whey. The samples were selected according to the indication of protein supplements, being analyzed in accordance with availability of shops, the municipality of Fortaleza – CE. Were evaluated 20 brands, of these, only 80% were in compliance with the legislation, while 20% were in disagreement. With regard to the non- conformities highlighted the lack of information, ` The expressions: anabolic, muscle hypertrophy in 20% of the labels, and the description `Images, and or expressions regarding weight loss, muscle mass gain 10% were in disagreement. As the Addition of fibers 75 % were in disagreement with the legislation. With this, we highlight the need of continuous surveillance and effective of the labels of supplements for athletes and practitioners of physical activity, with a guarantee that consumers have access to trusted information about the product. It is concluded that a large part of the labels of protein supplements for athletes had some type of inadequacy in accordance with the proposed objective.
Article – Editorial: Strengthening food labeling policies in Brazil
Food labeling policies can have different purposes, but consumers’ right to protection, human rights to health and to adequate food, the rights of the child and all other interdependent human rights prevail. For this reason, research that seeks to inform the best policy options in fulfilling, protecting, and respecting these rights is paramount.
Brazil is known for novel research and action that have led to great advance of knowledge and policies on nutrition and health globally. Different sorts of edible and drinkable products have been historically defined as foods and manufactured and labeled to mimic foods.
Unhealthy edible and drinkable commodities industry have insisted on the use of market-forged categorization of products with the purpose of demonstrating an artificial diversification of alike products, for which labeling has been an instrument of consumer deception.
Labeling is often used to distort the real composition of products. Batti et al. found that half of the food products they assessed in Brazil that highlighted the term whole grain or related expressions on the front label did not have a whole-grain ingredient listed in the first position of the ingredients list. Barros et al. also revealed how the ingredients are listed on labels in ways that hide products real content and composition, showing that the use non-specific terms for listing industrially produced trans fatty acids (i-TFA) ingredients in foods that are sources of i-TFA increased in Brazil. Prates et al. have shown how the use of nutrition claims convey such deception, corroborating previous findings. Unfortunately, the labeling regulation in Brazil still allows the use of claims in products that are not recommended as part of a healthy diet, as Mais, Borges et al. described. Along these lines, Sato et al. also highlighted in their paper the importance of regulating other persuasive elements that can strengthen deception, such as mascots and cartoon characters.
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