Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
1/31/2017
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Measure also covers beverages, ingredients, food additives and any other food coadjuvant.
The declaration of the presence of lactose shall be mandatory in foods with more than 100 milligrams (mg) of lactose per 100 grams or milliliters of the product. That is, any food containing lactose in amounts above 0.1% should be labeled "Contains lactose" on its label.
The 100 mg limit was defined based on the experience of other countries that have already adopted this regulation for a long time, such as Germany and Hungary. This limit has been shown to be safe for people with lactose intolerance. Anvisa also considered the existence of quality control laboratories that have the capacity to identify lactose at such levels.
Food manufacturers may also use the term "low lactose content" in cases where the amount of lactose is reduced to between 100 mg and 1 g per 100 g or milliliters of the ready-made food according to the manufacturer's instructions.
With the establishment of these rules, the Brazilian food market will have three types of lactose labeling: "zero lactose" or "low" for products whose lactose content has been reduced and "contains lactose" in other foods with Presence of such sugar.
Appropriate labels until 2019
Within 24 months, all foods available on the market must meet the new rule. This deadline was defined based on the time that the industry and its suppliers need for adequacy and also to deplete existing inventories.
Only establishments that prepare food, whether unpackaged or packaged at the point of sale at the consumer's request, are not obliged to report on the lactose content.
The standard was approved on Tuesday (31/1) by Anvisa and should be published in the Official Gazette of the Union in the next few days. The regulation is due to Law 13,305 of 2016, which made it compulsory to report the presence of lactose in food labels.
Understand better how the food label will look
Amount of lactose Sentence on the label
Below 100 mg / 100g or ml Zero Lactose, Lactose Free, 0% Lactose, or Lactose Free
100mg to 1g / 100g or ml Low Lactose Content or Low in Lactose
Equal to or above 100mg / 100g or ml Contains Lactose
What is lactose
Lactose is the main sugar present in mammalian milk. When foods containing lactose are ingested, this sugar is processed by the enzyme lactase and transformed into glucose and galactose. In most people, the activity of the enzyme lactase decreases after weaning and causes people to become less tolerant to lactose over the years. The prevalence and age of lactose intolerance vary considerably, depending on the ethnic group. In Europe, for example, its prevalence ranges from 4% in Denmark and Ireland to 56% in Italy.
The main symptoms of intolerance are abdominal, such as pain and distention, flatulence, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or constipation as a result of poor digestion of lactose. Intolerance is different from allergies. In this last case the reactions of the organism can be more serious and the limit of ingestion can not be defined.
Source: Anvisa
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.