Evaluation of food sodium level monitoring: a comparative analysis of goals for voluntary reduction in sodium intake in Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Martins, Ana Paula Bortoletto
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Andrade, Giovanna Calixto, Bandoni, Daniel Henrique
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Vigilância Sanitária em Debate
• Texto Completo: https://visaemdebate.incqs.fiocruz.br/index.php/visaemdebate/article/view/323
• topic: Sódio; Alimentos industrializados; Monitoramento; ANVISA; Sodium; Processed Foods; Monitoring; ANVISA

Objective: To analyze the monitoring of sodium content in processed foods conducted by the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (ANVISA) and to compare the results with the goals of sodium reduction of the voluntary agreements signed between the Brazilian government and representatives of the food industry. Methods: We used data from 4 technical reports (TR) on sodium content in processed foods by ANVISA published between 2010 and 2014. We characterized the TR according to the year of data collection, state, method of analysis, and number of samples collected by food category. We described the sodium content of the categories that were monitored at least twice and compared the results with the voluntary goals. Results and Discussion: Of the monitored categories of food, only 39.6% were assessed at least twice. Among the 34 categories included in voluntary agreements, 53% were monitored at least once. Even before the voluntary agreement, 7 food categories had mean sodium content below the targets. We observed that there was a lack of standardization and that the scope of the monitoring of sodium content in foods, and consequently of the voluntary agreements, was limited. Conclusions: Several weaknesses in the monitoring of sodium content in foods in Brazil were detected, which could compromise the effectiveness of the regulatory strategy on health.