Salt and fat contents in a range of Portuguese processed foods

Processed foods are recognized as a source of fat (namely saturated and trans fats), salt and sugar. A high intake of processed foods has been related with an increased risk for the presence of several chronic diseases, such as, obesity, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, cancer. In the last years, the diversity of this type of foods in the global market has increased, due to consumer convenience and demand. This study brings an overview of the current salt and fat (including fatty acids profile) contents of Portuguese processed foods. Between 2013 and 2016, 263 different foods were acquired in food chains and restaurants from Portugal. Charpentier-Volhard’s method was used to evaluate the salt content in the selected samples. Total fat content was determined by acid hydrolysis followed by Soxhlet extraction with petroleum ether. Fatty acids profile was evaluated by gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detection. The selected foods were distributed into 9 categories (cookies and biscuits, bakery products, cereals products, snacks, nuts and oilseeds, potato products, sauces, fast-food, and ready-to-eat meals). The highest mean values for salt were obtained in sauces, followed by cereals products and fast-food, with 1.96, 1.91 and 1.42 g/100 g, respectively. Concerning total fat 56% of the analysed food categories had contents higher than 20 g/100 g. Most of the analysed foods had a low trans fatty acids (TFA) content, confirming that food industry have developed efforts to decrease the levels of TFA in this type of foods. However, it is necessary to take actions to reduce the salt content of processed foods, since some categories still have high values and can represent a health concern.

This work was funded by INSA under the project “PTranSALT” (2012DAN828). Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque acknowledges the PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/99718/2014) funded by the FCT, FSE and MEC.

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