Sugar contents of food items purchased by Porto Alegre City Schools for the preparation of school meals in 2002.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine sucrose contents in the food items purchased by Porto Alegre City Schools in 2002 for preparation of meals. In this descriptive study, it was reviewed data concerning food items purchased in 2002 by the Porto Alegre City School System for preparation of school meals. The items which labels indicated the presence of sucrose were selected and submitted to physical and chemical analyses with Fehling’s solution for determination of sucrose contents. In addition to that, the amount of each product consumed in 2002 was calculated through stock movement analysis to determine indirect sucrose consumption. Stock movement analysis was also used to determine how much sugar was purchased and consumed in city schools in 2002, so as to determine direct sucrose consumption. Nineteen out of 65 food items purchased by the City School System in 2002 were selected. The analysis revealed that 30,500 kg of sucrose were present in these food items. The amount of pure sugar consumed was 47,000 kg. From the 19 items analyzed, 12 contained sucrose in amounts ranging from 10 to 80% of their total weight, making these food items highly cariogenic. The food items analyzed in this study may be harmful to the health of schoolchildren, since they are nutritionally weak and contain excessive amounts of sucrose. From a health promotion perspective, these products should not be included in the meals served to schoolchildren, since they are associated with the risk of developing caries and chronic-degenerative diseases in adulthood.