Perfil nutricional de alimentos licitados em Institutos Federais de Educação

Abstract

School meals aim to contribute to the growth and biopsychosocial development, learning, academic performance, and the formation of healthy eating habits of students, by offering meals that cover their nutritional needs. In public educational institutions, food acquisition occurs through formal public purchasing models, with bidding in the auction mode being the most used. The criteria required in bidding processes, such as the lowest price of products, can contribute to the acquisition of foods with an excess of critical nutrients, which have been linked to unfavorable outcomes for healthy eating habits and health. Given this, the present study aimed to evaluate the nutritional profile of foods approved for purchase at the Federal Educational Institutes of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN). A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 15 campuses, in which data from public biddings were collected, referring to the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, to evaluate the nutritional profile of the foods tendered to make up the menus offered to students. The results showed that most foods approved during the evaluated period were classified as fresh or minimally processed, representing 59.70%, 55.60%, and 73.10% of the total foods approved for purchase in the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. Of the total food tendered in the aforementioned period, 21 to 31% were classified as processed and ultraprocessed foods. Furthermore, it was found that, for the most part, the tendered foods classified as processed and ultra-processed presented an excess of at least one critical nutrient. The foods at these levels of processing most frequently were cream crackers, cheeses, and cakes. The presence of foods with transgenic ingredients in the biddings analyzed was observed. Regarding food origin, the majority of approved foods in the years 2019 and 2021, had a local origin, that is, from RN state (50.70% and 59.21%, respectively), while in 2020 the majority of foods had a national origin (37.50%). It is concluded that, although most of the foods tendered by the IFRN evaluated are fresh or minimally processed, there was a considerable percentage of ultra-processed foods with an excess of critical nutrients, in addition to the considerable presence of foods with transgenic ingredients in their composition.