The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA in Portuguese) announces a ban on all food supplements containing ora-pro-nobis. The measure was adopted because the plant (pereskia aculeata) is not authorized as a food supplement ingredient.
The measure does not affect the consumption or sale of the fresh plant. Ora-pro-nóbis is a plant that has a tradition of being used in everyday food, especially in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais.
The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA in Portuguese) has published Normative Instruction IN No. 356/2025, which amends Normative Instruction – IN 211/2023 on the technological functions, maximum limits and conditions of use of food additives and processing aids authorized for use in food.
By means of ADMINISTRATIVE RESOLUTION – SENASAG N°65/2025, the National Agricultural Health and Food Safety Service (SENASAG in Spanish) has published “Regulations for the issuance of the Certificate of Validation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Plan – HACCP for companies in the food industry”.
All natural or legal persons, owners or holders of food companies, established in the national territory, that have a valid Sanitary Registration, and that have implemented their HACCP Plan as a food safety assurance system and request their Certificate of Validation, are subject to the validation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Plan – HACCP.
The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA in Portuguese) will hold, on Thursday, March 13, two sectoral dialogues on food regulation. Participation in the dialogues is open to all, without prior registration.
Infant formula regulations
The virtual sectorial dialogue will discuss the review and consolidation of regulations on infant formulas for infants and young children, follow-on foods and cereal-based foods for infants and young children, enteral nutrition formulas and dietary therapy formulas for inborn errors of metabolism.
Regulation of plant-based foods
In the afternoon, the Sectoral Dialogue on Plant-Based Food Regulation will be held. This dialogue aims to discuss issues relevant to the regulation of foods of plant origin, with emphasis on:
(a) presentation of the activities carried out by Anvisa in 2024 on the subject and proposal of regulatory flow that will be submitted to the deliberation of the Collegiate Council for the opening of the regulatory process;
(b) proposal for periodic updating of the lists of food additives and technological adjuvants authorized for use in products imitating dairy products and other standardized animal products.
The Special Multi-Party Commission for Monitoring, Control and Oversight of the Zero Hunger Program organized a working group to address the challenges in nutrition and public health related to the use of pesticides, trans fats in processed foods and the optional deficient labeling of products offered in the market.
According to its president, Roberto Kamiche Morante (APP), the objective is to promote healthier family diets, reduce the risks of toxic substances, ultra-processed foods and improve the nutritional information available, all with the aim of reducing chronic diseases and improving public health in the long term.
This is a crucial task, said the representative for La Libertad, “to move towards a public health model that promotes healthier nutrition and results in the prevention of chronic diseases, such as cancer”.
For Kamiche Morante, the “implementation of stricter policies and consumer education are essential to generate a healthier food environment, where people have access to clear information and make conscious decisions that favor their wellbeing”.
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