According to a consumer profile study published by Revista de Saúde Pública of the University of São Paulo (USP), the consumption of ultra-processed foods by Brazilians has increased by an average of 5.5% over the past ten years.

The survey was conducted by the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (Nupens/USP), which is responsible for the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population.

According to the researcher, the consumption of ultra-processed foods has been on the rise for decades. Photo: Freepik/Disclosure/ND

“The increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods between 2008 and 2017, although not very large, was significant. This increase confirms other surveys that have assessed Brazilian household purchases since the 1980s, showing that the increase has been occurring over decades,” says Nupens/USP Deputy Coordinator Maria Laura Luzada.

The study assessed the socio-demographic factors associated with the consumption of this type of food and the time evolution of consumption in Brazil between 2008 and 2018.

Ultra-processed foods are ready-to-eat industrial formulations made from numerous ingredients often derived from high yield crops such as sugar and syrups, refined starches, fats, protein isolates, and the remains of intensively farmed animals.

These foods typically contain little or no whole foods in their composition, in addition to being high in sugar and fat and lacking in fiber and micronutrients.

Among them are soft drinks, packaged biscuits, sweets and snacks, instant noodles, ready-to-heat foods, sweets, candy, chocolate, and sausages such as ham, mortadella, and others.

User profile

The study also indicates that women, teenagers, higher-income and educated whites, and residents of urban areas, the South, and the Southeast consume the most ultra-processed foods.

Other data show that about 20% of Brazilians’ calories come from ultra-processed foods.

However, in the past ten years, the largest increases in consumption have been among those who consume the least: Blacks and Indigenous, Rural, Northern and Northeastern, and lower-educated and lower-income populations.

The explanation for this growth is the changes in the globalized food system, characterized mainly by the growing penetration of these food companies into the country, the researcher believes.

“Highly processed foods have always been promoted and advertised with enticing messages that can make people believe that they are superior to traditional foods like rice and beans and that they will make people happier. The increase in its consumption is due to a combination of factors, namely a decrease in relative prices, an increase in supply in a wide variety of trading places, mainly due to the expansion of retail chains, the movement of the population from places where food is sold to more traditional markets such as grocery stores and fairs, and the growing penetration of transnational industries into the more remote areas of the country.

health risk

The conclusion of the study showed that in Brazil there is a trend towards national standardization and high consumption of ultra-processed foods, with a subsequent increase in public health risks.

“Consecutive studies have shown an association between high consumption of these foods and the risk of obesity and a number of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disease. In addition, recent publications show that they are associated with unprecedented environmental damage, contributing a large part of greenhouse gas emissions and causing deforestation, soil degradation and massive loss of biodiversity,” warns Maria Laura.

According to the researcher, to reverse this trend, it is enough to stick to the traditional Brazilian diet.

“Fortunately, we still have most of our diet based on natural or minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations. That is, even with the growth of ultra-processed foods, our rice and beans still surpass them in many ways,” he emphasizes.

“This is a great opportunity to reverse the negative trend. That is, we do not need to reinvent the wheel, but rather to strengthen and save what we have been doing for generations: the traditional diet based on natural or minimally processed foods. But this requires public policy.”

According to Maria Laura, who studies the impact of ultra-processed foods on the living conditions and health of the population, certain actions can help reduce the high consumption of this type of food.

“To manage this scenario, systemic and interconnected actions are needed to ensure that people have access to healthy food: higher taxes on ultra-processed foods, combined with subsidies on natural or minimally processed foods, severe restrictions on advertising – especially, but not only, for children – front marking warnings on food; a ban on offering these products in places of public interest, such as schools and hospitals, in addition to mass education campaigns to ask people for support for the implementation of actions,” the researcher states.

Methodology

To conduct the study, the researchers used data on food consumption by Brazilian men and women over 10 years of age from the Household Budget Surveys (POF) conducted by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) between May 2008 and May. 2009 and July 2017 to July 2018