An update on processed foods: Relationship between salt, saturated and trans fatty acids contents

To update the current situation on salt, fat and fatty acid composition of processed foods, a study including a wide range of different food categories was conducted in Portugal. Different validated analytical techniques were used, and a PCA and correlation analysis were conducted to establish a trend between the different components in each food category. The highest salt content was found in snacks, fast-food, sauces and ready-to-eat meals, while the saturated fatty acids were higher (p < .05) in bakery products, cookies, biscuits and wafers, and snacks. The highest levels of trans fatty acids were found in the fast-food group, followed by the snacks, potato and potato-products and bakery products. A significant positive correlation (p < .05) was found between salt and fat content in ready-to-eat meals and in the potato and potato-products. The PCA analysis identified total fat, low trans fatty acids and high salt content as distinctive characteristics of some food categories.

This work has been funded by National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, I.P., under the project PTranSALT (Reference number 2012DAN828). This work was also supported by the project UID/QUI/50006/2013 – POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque acknowledges the PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/99718/2014) funded by the FCT, FSE and MEC. Joana Santos is thankful for her post-doc research grant from the project Operação NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000011 – denominada Qualidade e Segurança Alimentar – uma abordagem (nano)tecnológica. The authors also thank Susana Santos for her valuable help on the statistical analysis performed in this work.

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