Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
05/24/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
No color data and alert the front of the pack, able to identify only 28% level of fat and salt. With the so-called 'light' nutritional 'total of hits rises to 90%
Survey Idec is part of Consumers International survey in nine countries
Goal is to mobilize member states of WHO to implement the recommendations of the Action Plan presented at the World Health Assembly
RIO - The Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense (IDEC) participated in a survey sponsored by Consumers International (CI) in nine countries - Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas - nutrition labeling of foods and concluded that the Brazilians are less able to identify nutritional data reported on the labels.
More than three thousand consumers answered a quiz, which demonstrated the challenges faced in choosing a healthy diet. Brazil is the third country with more participants (786), behind only Slovenia and the Netherlands, was the one that had the worst outcome, only 28% correct. Were presented images of popular foods with no nutritional information and simple. In the case of Brazil, there were four types of cream cracker biscuits
- Lack of information is general. The other participating countries also do not have foods with nutritional information on the front of the pack, which creates difficulty for the consumer. The result here was worse because there is no culture of reading this information and the difficulty of understanding. The information there is today is not the clearest. Are very technical. And it confuses more than it helps the consumer - says nutritionist and researcher Ana Paula Bortoletto Idec.
Where the same product contained clear and consistent information on the front of the package from the "light" nutrient, the percentage of correct identification of the fat and salt was 84%, a value three times higher when compared to the responses without the traffic. The labels "traffic light nutrition" were based on a proposal from the Agency for Regulation of Foods UK: red indicates that foods are high in sugar, salt, fat and saturated fat, yellow indicates average levels, and green indicates low level.
The number of hits further increased, exceeding 90%, while "light" nutrient was used to compare one product with another.
- As for sugar, for example, in Brazil the industries are not required to declare the value of this nutrient on the label, which makes the task of choosing healthier options more difficult. The quiz is not allowed to reproduce the exact evaluation of labels made in person, however, brought important results regarding the use and understanding of "nutritional traffic" on the packaging - Ana Paula explains.
The quiz was available on the portal Idec, accepting responses of Brazilian consumers from April 22 to May 5.
The results obtained by the CI and its members were presented to the member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the afternoon of Wednesday, during the 66th World Health Assembly in Geneva. WHO members were asked to ratify, implement and go beyond the recommendations relating to the supply of the Global Action Plan of WHO for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.
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Source: The Globe - Online
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.