MINISTRY OF HEALTH OF BRAZIL

Dietary Guidelines
for the Brazilian
Population

brasília — DF
2015
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH
. Dietary Guidelines OFBrazilian
for the BRAZIL Population
Secretariat of Health Care
Primary Health Care Department

Dietary Guidelines
for the Brazilian
Population

Brasília — DF 1
2015
2015 Ministry of Health of Brazil.
This work is provided under the terms of this Creative Commons Public License –
Attribution – NonCommercial –ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License. It allowed
the partial or total reproduction of this work provided that the source is mentioned

The Ministry of Health’s institutional collection may be accessed, in its totality, at the virtual library of the Ministry
of Health of Brazil: <www.saude.gov.br/bvs>.
Print run: 1st edition – 2015 – Online version
formulation, distribution and information: Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
ministRy Of hEalth Of bRaZil and Health, University of São Paulo (NUPENS/USP)
secretariat of health care
Primary health care Department ana Paula b. martins
Edifício Premium, saf sul, Quadra 2, carla adriano martins
lotes 5/6, bloco ii, subsolo carlos augusto monteiro (coordinator)
cEP: 70070-600 – brasília/Df Daniela silva canella
fone: (61) 3315-9031 Denise c. coitinho
E-mail: [email protected] Enrique Jacoby
site: dab.saude.gov.br francine lima
geoffrey cannon
general editor: Jean-claude moubarac
Eduardo alves melo Josefa maria f. garzillo
larissa galastri baraldi
technical coordination: maluh barciotte
Patrícia constante Jaime maria laura da costa louzada
General Coordination of Food and Nutrition – Rafael moreira claro
Ministry of Health Regina Rodrigues
Renata bertazzi levy
technical formulation: semíramis martins Álvares Domene
carlos augusto monteiro
center for Epidemiological Research in nutrition Pan-American Health Organization
and health, university of são Paulo
ana carolina feldenheimer da silva
technical collaboration: Janine giuberti coutinho
general coordination of food and nutrition –
ministry of health Editorial coordination:
laeticia Jensen Eble
ana carolina feldenheimer da silva marco aurélio santana
ana luisa souza de Paiva
bruna Pitasi arguelhes graphic Design and artwork:
fernanda Rauber sávio marques
gisele ane bortolini
Kelly Poliany de souza alves Fotografias:
Kimielle cristina silva Department of Primary care collection
lorena toledo de araújo melo university of são Paulo collection
mara lucia dos santos costa luciana melo
Renata guimarães mendonça de santana
tradução:
carlos augusto monteiro

normalization:
Daniela ferreira barros da silva – Editora ms/cgDi

Printed in brazil

Cataloguing Data
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Brazil. Ministry of Health of Brazil. Secretariat of Health Care. Primary Health Care Department.
Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian population / Ministry of Health of Brazil, Secretariat of Health Care, Primary
Health Care Department ; translated by Carlos Augusto Monteiro. – Brasília : Ministry of Health of Brazil, 2015.
150 p. : il.

Translation of: Guia Alimentar para a População Brasileira (2ª edição)

Access mode: World Wide Web: <http://189.28.128.100/dab/docs/portaldab/publicacoes/guia_alimentar_
populacao_ingles.pdf>
ISBN 978-85-334-2242-1
1. Policy on Food and Nutrition. 2. Diet. 3. Dietary Guidelines.

CDU 612.3
________________________________________________________________________________________
Source Catalogin - General Coordination for Documents and Information - MS Publishing House - OS 2015/0116

index titles:
Portuguese: guia alimentar para a População brasileira
spanish: guía alimentaria para la población brasileña
Contents
Preface 5
Preamble 7
Introduction 11
Chapter 1. Principles 15
Chapter 2. Choosing foods 25
Chapter 3. From foods to meals 53
Chapter 4. Modes of eating 91
Chapter 5. Understanding and overcoming obstacles 103
Ten steps to healthy diets 125
How to know more 131
Annex A – Process of elaboration of the newedition of the “Dietary Guidelines
for the Brazilian Population” 143
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

4
PREFACE
During the last decades, Brazil has undergone several political,
economic, social and cultural transformations that in turn resulted
in changes in the ways of life of the population. The expansion
of social policies in health, education, labour and employment
and social assistance contributed to reducing social inequalities
and allowed the country to grow in an inclusive manner. Rapid
demographic, epidemiological and nutritional transition were
also observed, and as a consequence other indicators were
also influenced such as a higher life expectancy and a reduced
number of offspring per woman, as well as important changes
in health and food consumption patterns of the population.

The main diseases that currently affect the Brazilians are no

longer acute but chronic. Despite the impressive decrease in
malnutrition in children, micronutrient deficiencies and chronic
malnutrition are still prevalent in vulnerable population groups,
such as Indians, Maroons, and children and women living in
vulnerable areas. At the same time, Brazil is experiencing a
significant increase of overweight and obesity in all age groups
and chronic diseases are the leading cause of death among
adults. Now, one in two adults and one in three Brazilian children
are overweight.

To tackle this scenario, there is an increasing need to expand

intersectoral actions that resonate positively on the various
determinants of health and nutrition. In this context, the health
sector plays an important role in promoting adequate and
healthy eating, which is already an expressed commitment in
the National Food and Nutrition Policy and the National Health
Promotion Policy. Promoting healthy eating in the Sistema
Único de Saúde (SUS) – the Brazilian national health system –
must be based on the dimensions of encouragement, support
and protection of health, and must combine initiatives focused
on healthy public policies, on creating healthy environments,

5
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

on developing personal skills and on reorienting health services from the

perspective of health promotion.

The Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population, published in 2006,

presented the first official dietary guidelines for our population. Given the
social changes experienced by Brazilian society, which impacted people´s
health and nutrition conditions, the presentation of new recommendations
became necessary. The second edition of the Dietary Guidelines for the
Brazilian Population was submitted to a public consultation process that
allowed its broad debate by various sectors of society and guided the
construction of the final version which is presented here.

Assuming the rights to health and healthy food as general assumptions,

the Guide is an official document that addresses the principles and
recommendations of a healthy diet for the Brazilian population, representing
a tool to support food and nutrition educational activities in SUS and also in
other sectors. Considering the multiple determinants of feeding practices
and the complexity and challenges that are involved in the shaping of
current food systems, the Food Guide reinforces the commitment of the
Ministry of Health to contribute to the development of strategies for the
promotion and realization of the human right to adequate food.

Ministry of Health of Brazil

6
Preamble
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends, in its Global Strategy
on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, that governments formulate and
periodically revise national guidelines on food and nutrition. Revised
and updated versions should take into account changes in population
dietary patterns and states of health and disease, and also progress of
scientific knowledge. These Guidelines are aimed at supporting food and
nutrition education actions and national food and nutrition programmes
and policies in Brazil.

Creation of dietary guidelines is part of a set of several national intersectoral

actions that aim to improve the standards of diet and nutrition of the
population and contribute toward promoting health. WHO therefore
proposes that governments provide information and guidance to
facilitate healthier food choices and habits, taking into account national
and local food cultures, written for everybody and presented clearly and
attractively.

As part of the Brazilian government’s responsibility to promote the

nation’s health and food and nutrition security, the Ministry of Health
published Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population - Promoting
Healthy Eating in 2006. These were the first official national dietary
guidelines. They became a reference for people, families, communities,
health professionals and government at all levels in promoting proper
and healthy eating.

In line with WHO’s recommendation for periodic revision, in 2011 the

Ministry of Health began the process of developing a new edition of the
Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. The decision was included
as one of the goals of the Multi-Year Plan and of the First National Plan
for Food and Nutrition Security, for the period 2012-2015.

The Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population are part of the general
strategy to promote adequate and healthy eating, which in turn is part of
the Brazilian national policy for food and nutrition.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Adequate and healthy diet is a basic human right. This right implies
ensuring permanent and regular access, in a socially fair manner, to food
and ways of eating that satisfy the social and biological requirements
of everybody. It also takes into account special dietary needs, and the
needs to be culturally appropriate, and allow for differences in gender,
race, and ethnicity. Adequate and healthy diet should be accessible both
physically and financially, and harmonious in quantity and quality, meeting
the needs of variety, balance, moderation, and pleasure. Furthermore, it
should derive from sustainable practices of production and distribution.

The promotion of an adequate and healthy diet amounts to a set of

strategies that aim to give everybody, personally and socially, ways in
which to eat well in biological, social, cultural, economic and political
aspects, while also paying attention to the sustainable use of natural
resources and the protection of the environment. It is also a priority
within the National Policy of Health Promotion, and as such, is meant
to be implemented by the managers and professionals of the Brazilian
National Health Service (SUS, the Unified Health System) in partnership
with colleagues in other relevant sectors, emphasising the participation
of all.

Improved and expanded accessibility and quality of the Brazilian

national primary health care services network in recent years created the
opportunity to encourage and support the inclusion of health promotion
practices in the work of health teams throughout the country. Other
policies and plans developed within the Unified Health System, such as
the National Policy for Health Education of the General Public and the
Strategic Action Plan for addressing chronic non-communicable diseases
in Brazil, amplify this opportunity.

In an intersectoral context, the preparation of this new edition of the

dietary guidelines occurs amid the strengthening of the institutionalisation
of the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy, triggered by the
publication of the Law for Food and Nutrition Security, and from the
acknowledgement and inclusion of the right to food as a social right in
the Federal Constitution.

8
 . DieTAry GuiDelines for The BrAziliAn PoPulATion

The Law for Food and Nutrition Security establishes the System for
Food and Nutrition Security through which the federal government,
in partnership with organised civil society, formulates and implements
policies, plans, programmes, and actions designed to assure the human
right to adequate food This means, the right of every person to have
uninterrupted physical and economic access to adequate food, or
access to the means for obtaining food, without compromising other
fundamental rights, such as those to health and education.

Two other documents for intersectoral public policies also relate to the
need for effective health promotion and adequate and healthy diets.
These are The Framework of Reference for Food and Nutrition Education
and The Framework of Reference for General Public Education. These
Dietary Guidelines are influenced by these two documents, so as to
support work in food and nutritional education within the health sector
and in other sectors.

Thus, these Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population are designed
to support and encourage healthy eating practices personally and
collectively and also to support policies, programmes, and actions
whose purpose is to encourage, protect, and promote the good health
and the food and nutrition security of the whole Brazilian population

General Coordination of Food and Nutrition

Ministry of Health of Brazil, Brasília

9
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

10
Introduction
The Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population contain a full
set of information and recommendations about eating. Their
purpose is to promote the health and well-being of people,
families, communities, and the whole Brazilian population,
now and in future. They replace a previous version published
in 2006.

These Guidelines are for all Brazilians. Some of these Brazilians

will be workers whose jobs involves health promotion activities,
such as health professionals, community workers, educators,
capacity building trainers, as well as other professionals. These
workers will be crucial with regard to the dissemination of the
content of these Guidelines and to ensure that it is understood
by all, including people who have difficulties in reading.

The hope is that these Guidelines will be used in people’s

homes, in health facilities, in schools, and in all other places
concerned with health and its promotion, such as community
centres, social assistance reference centres, and headquarters
of social movements.

Although the focus of these Guidelines is to promote health

and prevent diseases, their recommendations may be useful
to those suffering from specific diseases. However, in this case,
it is imperative that dieticians adapt the recommendations
to the specific conditions of each person, supporting health
professionals in the organisation of nutritional care.

Specific dietary guidance for children under the age of 2,

consistent with the general recommendations of these
Guidelines, is available in other publications of the Ministry of
Health.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

What you
will find in these
Guidelines
Chapter 1, ‘Principles’, specifies five shaping principles. The first states
that diet, as well as involving nutrients, is about foods, meals, and eating
modes, and also includes social and cultural aspects of dietary practices.
The second states that sound dietary recommendations are tuned
to changes in food supplies and population health patterns. The third
acknowledges the interdependence between healthy diets and the social
and environmental sustainability of the food system. The fourth states
that reliable recommendations on diet come from a range of sources of
evidence. The fifth states that dietary guidelines should enlarge people’s
choice of and right to adequate and healthy diets.

Chapter 2, ‘Choosing foods’, presents general recommendations about

food choices. These recommendations, following the principles of
these Guidelines, propose that natural or minimally processed foods, of
different types and in large varieties, and predominantly of plant origin,
are the basis of healthy diets.

Chapter 3, ‘From foods to meals’, provides guidance on how to combine

foods in the form of meals. Its recommendations are derived from freshly
prepared dishes and meals actually consumed by a substantial part of
the Brazilian population.

Chapter 4, ‘Modes of eating’, addresses the circumstances - time, focus,

place, and company - which influence how foods are metabolised by the
body and also the pleasure afforded by eating.

Chapter 5 ‘Understanding and overcoming obstacles’, identifies barriers

in the way of healthy diets – information, supply, cost, culinary skills, time,
advertising - and indicates how these can be surmounted, by people as
consumers, family members, and as citizens.

12
 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Then follows Ten Steps to Healthy Diets, a self-contained summary of the

recommendations of these Guidelines.

Finally, ‘How to know more’ recommends further reading, chapter by

chapter.

13
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

14
Chapter 1.
Principles
All structured human activity is implicitly or explicitly
guided by principles. Dietary guidelines are not an
exception to this rule. The principles that shape these
Guidelines are presented in this chapter.

Diet is more than intake of nutrients

Diet refers to intake of nutrients, and also to the foods

that contain and provide nutrients. Diet also refers to
how foods are combined and prepared in the form of
meals, how these meals are eaten, and also to cultural
and social dimensions of food choices, food preparation
and modes of eating, all of which affect health and well-
being

Nutrients are vital and essential for good health. Equally

important are foods that provide nutrients and other bioactive
compounds, meals which result from the preparation and
combination of foods, ways of eating and commensality,
and the several cultural and social dimensions of diets.
Modern nutrition science emerged with the identification
and isolation of nutrients present in foods and the study
of the effects of these individual nutrients on the incidence
of specific diseases. These studies were crucial for the
formulation of policies and programmes designed to prevent
specific nutritional deficiencies (such as of protein, and
individual vitamins and minerals) and also cardiovascular

15
 minisTry of heAlTh of BrAzil

diseases inasmuch as these are caused by excessive consumption

of sodium or some types of dietary fat.
However, the effect of individual nutrients was increasingly
proving to be an inadequate explanation of the relationship
between diet and health. Several studies show, for example, that
protection against heart disease and certain types of cancer
gained by consumption of substantial amounts of fruits or
vegetables is not repeated with interventions based on medicines
or supplements that contain such individual nutrients found in
those foods. These studies indicate that the beneficial effect is
from the food itself, and from the combinations of nutrients and
other chemical compounds that are part of the food’s matrix,
more so than from individual nutrients.
Other studies show that the health benefits of traditional eating
patterns, like the so-called “Mediterranean diet,” is less due to
individual foods and more due to the overall quality and balance
of the foods that make up these patterns, and also to how they
are prepared and eaten. Similarly, there is evidence that the
contexts of the consumption of food—such as eating alone or on
the sofa in front of the television, in contrast with sharing a meal,
seated at a dining room table with family or friends— affect
which foods are consumed, and in what quantities.
Specific foods, and dishes and meals made by combining and
preparing these foods, in addition to ways of eating, are all part
of the culture of a society. They shape the senses of personal
identity, of self-determination, of belonging within a family and
society, as well as the pleasure given by food, and thus to states
of well-being.
For such reasons, these Guidelines take into consideration
nutrients, foods, combinations of foods, dishes and meals, and
the social and cultural dimensions of eating and dietary patterns.

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 . DieTAry GuiDelines for The BrAziliAn PoPulATion

Dietary recommenDations neeD to be tuneD to

their times

Dietary recommendations should respond to changes in food

supplies and in patterns of population health and well-being

Dietary patterns are now rapidly changing in most countries,

particularly in economically emerging countries. The main changes
involve displacing natural or minimally processed foods of plant origin
(such as rice, beans, cassava, potatoes, root and leafy vegetables) and
the preparation of meals based on these foods with industrialised food
products that are ready for consumption. These changes, which have
been intense in Brazil, have various ill-effects, including an imbalance
in the supply of nutrients and an excessive intake of dietary energy.
In most countries, and again, particularly in economically emerging
countries like Brazil, the rates of obesity and diabetes have been rapidly
increasing. Other chronic diet-related diseases, such as hypertension
(high blood pressure), heart diseases and some common cancers,
have also been increasing. Previously viewed as problems which only
affected older people, nowadays many of these diet-related diseases
afflict young adults and even teenagers and children.
In contrast, undernutrition has been declining globally, although
there are wide variations between countries and still high prevalence
in most impoverished countries notably in Africa and parts of Asia.
In Brazil, as a result of successful public policies focused on income
distribution, eradication of absolute poverty, and expansion of access
to basic health care, sanitation, and education to the population, the
decline in undernutrition and infectious diseases associated with these
conditions was remarkable over the last years. With the continuation
of these public policies and the improvement of programmes for
the control of specific micronutrient deficiencies among vulnerable
groups of the population, undernutrition is expected to be under
control within the near future.

17
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

The recommendations in these Guidelines are therefore designed to

promote adequate and healthy diets in Brazil, and thus accelerate the
decline of undernutrition, and check and reduce rates of obesity and
diet-related chronic diseases.

Healthy diets derive from socially and

environmentally sustainable food systems

Dietary recommendations need to take into account the impact of

the means of production and distribution of food on social justice
and environmental integrity

Depending on their characteristics, the production and the distribution

of foods can be socially and environmentally sustainable, promoting
justice and protection of the living and physical world, or else may
generate social inequalities and threats to natural resources and
biodiversity.
Factors affecting the social sustainability of food systems include
the size and use of farms, the freedom of farmers to choose seeds,
fertilisers and ways to control pests and diseases, working conditions
and exposure to occupational hazards, the nature and number of

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

intermediaries between farmers and consumers, the fairness of the

trading system, employment generation and the sharing of profit
between capital and labour.
Factors affecting environmental sustainability include the techniques
employed for soil conservation, use of organic or synthetic fertilisers,
the planting of conventional or genetically modified seeds, chemical
or biological control of pests and diseases, intensive or extensive
forms of stockbreeding, the degree of use of antibiotics, production
and treatment of wastes and residues, conservation of forests and
biodiversity, intensity and nature of food processing, the distance
between producers and consumers, transportation, and the amount
of water and energy consumed.
In most parts of the world, the means of production and distribution of
food has been changing, in ways that jeopardise the equitable distribution
of wealth, the autonomy of farmers, the generation of employment
and income opportunities, and the protection of natural resources and
biodiversity, as well as production of safe and healthy food.
Long established sustainable food systems that favour family farming,
traditional effective farming techniques and soil management,
intensive use of labour, intercropping of various foods combined with
the rearing of animals, minimal food processing done by farmers
and by local industries, and supply systems based on small traders
and municipal and local markets, are losing strength. They are being
displaced by industrialised food systems. These include monocultures,
very large farms that produce one or a few crops as raw materials
for the manufacture of ultra-processed foods or for the feed used in
the intensive production of animals. These industrial systems demand
more and more land, intensive technology and mechanisation,
heavy consumption of water and fuel, and use of chemical fertilisers,
genetically modified seeds, pesticides, and antibiotics, and long-
distance transportation. Such systems also have huge distribution
networks that determine prices in ways that are unfair to producers
and also to consumers.
In such ways, these Guidelines consider the means by which food is
produced, distributed, and sold, favouring those which are socially
and environmentally sustainable.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Different sources of knowledge inform sound

dietary advice

Diet has various dimensions and a complex relationship with

population health and well-being. Therefore, the evidence
required to construct recommendations on diet is generated
from different sources of knowledge

Knowledge acquired from evidence produced by experimental and

clinical studies is one vital base for dietary recommendations. This
knowledge informs how different components of food – including
nutrients and other chemical compounds with biological activity –
interact with human physiology . Recent researches have demonstrated
the presence of various chemical compounds with biological activity in
foods, highlighting the presence of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
properties compounds in foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish.
The interaction between nutrients and other compounds with biological
activity is another area in which important scientific discoveries have
been made.

Population studies on food and nutrition are critical for determining the
practical relevance of the knowledge obtained from experimental and
clinical studies, and also for generating hypotheses for investigation by
such studies. Coupling population science with social studies such as from
anthropological research gives insight into the evolution and adaptation
of food supplies and dietary patterns. Such information is essential to
ensure that recommendations are consistent, appropriate, and feasible,
and relate well with the nature and culture of population dietary patterns.

Traditional dietary patterns, evolved and adapted often for very many
generations, are also vital evidence. These amount to vast repositories
of knowledge about the types and varieties of plants and animals best
adapted to climate and terrain and other environmental factors, to
techniques of production that have proved to be most productive and
sustainable, and to the combination of foods and culinary preparations

20
 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

that make meals beneficial and enjoyable. All this represents an essential
natural experiment that needs to inform guidance on nutrition and on
health in all senses.

So, the recommendations of these Guidelines are based on the evidence

generated by a whole range of experimental, clinical, population, and
social studies, and also on the knowledge implicit in the creation and
development of traditional dietary patterns.

Dietary guidelines broaden autonomy in food

choices

Access to reliable information on characteristics and determinants

of healthy diets contributes towards people, families, and
communities increasing their autonomy in making good food
choices; it also contributes to leading them to demand compliance
with the human right to adequate food.

Increasing autonomy in making choices of food involves the

strengthening of people personally and as members of families and
communities. This enables them to be agents able to protect their
own health and that of people close to them, and also to act so as to
affect social, environmental and other external determinants of health.
The constitution of autonomy for healthier eating choices depends on
people personally, and also the environments where people live. In
other words, it depends on people’s ability to make choices, govern
and produce their own lives, and also the external conditions, including
the form of organisation of society and its laws, cultural values and
access to educational and health services.
Adopting a healthy diet is not merely a matter of personal choice. Many
factors—whether of a physical, economic, political, cultural, or social
nature—can positively or negatively influence eating patterns. For

21
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

example, living in neighbourhoods or areas where there are markets

that sell quality fruits and vegetables makes it more feasible to adopt
healthy eating patterns. Other factors may hinder the adoption of
these patterns, such as the higher cost of some minimally processed
foods in comparison to the cost of ultra-processed products, the need
to eat meals in places where healthy food options are not offered, and
the intense exposure to advertising of unhealthy foods.
Thus, tools and strategies for food and nutrition education should
support people, families, and communities in order to assist them in
adopting eating habits that promote health. These should also give
them the necessary skills to make decisions and transform reality,
as well as to enforce the human right to adequate food. It is crucial
that actions toward food and nutrition education be developed by
the different public sectors, including those responsible for health,
education, social development, agricultural development, and housing.
These Guidelines have been developed with the objective of
facilitating access for people, families, and communities to knowledge
on characteristics and determinants of healthy eating, enabling them
to expand their autonomy to making better choices for themselves,
reflect on everyday situations, seek changes in themselves and the
environment they live in, contribute to ensuring food and nutrition
security for all, and demand compliance with the human right to
adequate food.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

The five
principles that shape
these Guidelines

Diet is more than intake of nutrients

Diet refers to intake of nutrients, and also to the foods that contain and
provide nutrients. Diet also refers to how foods are combined and prepared
in the form of meals, how these meals are eaten, and also to cultural and
social dimensions of food choices, food preparation and modes of eating, all
of which affect health and well-being

Dietary recommendations need to be tuned to their times

Dietary recommendations should respond to changes in food supplies and in
patterns of population health and well-being.

Healthy diets derive from socially and environmentally

sustainable food systems
Dietary recommendations need to take into account the impact of the means of
production and distribution of food on social justice and environmental integrity.

Different sources of knowledge inform sound dietary

advice
Diet has various dimensions and a complex relationship with population health
and well-being. Therefore, the evidence required to construct recommendations
on diet is generated from different sources of knowledge.

Dietary guidelines broaden autonomy in food choices

Access to reliable information on characteristics and determinants of healthy
diets contribute toward people, families, and communities increasing their
autonomy in making good food choices; it also contributes to leading them to
demand the compliance to the human right to adequate food.

23
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

24
Chapter 2.
Choosing foods
This chapter contains general recommendations to guide
the choice of foods that make up nutritious, delicious
and culturally appropriate diets, which also support and
encourage socially and environmentally sustainable food
systems. These recommendations follow the principles
set out in the previous chapter, and, like all other
recommendations of these Guidelines, aim at maximising
the health and well-being of everybody, both now and in
the future.

The recommendations of this chapter focus on the types

of processing undergone by food prior to its purchasing,
preparation, and consumption. As will be seen further
ahead, the types of processing used in the production of a
food largely determines its nutrient profile and its sensory
qualities, in addition to influencing what other foods it will
be consumed with, under what circumstances (when, where,
and with whom), and even what quantities will be consumed.
The social and environmental impact of the production of
foods is also influenced by the type of processing used.

Four food categories, defined according to the type of

processing used in food production, are addressed by the
recommendations of this chapter.

The first category is of natural or minimally processed foods.

Natural foods are those obtained directly from plants or
animals (such as green leaves and fruits, or eggs and milk)
and purchased for consumption without having undergone
any alteration following their removal from nature.
Minimally processed foods are natural foods which have
been somewhat altered before being purchased. Examples
include grains that are dried, polished, or ground as grits or

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

flour; roots, tubers and vegetables that are washed; cuts of meat that
are cooled or frozen; and pasteurised milk.

The second category is of products that are extracted from natural

foods or from nature itself, and used for seasoning and cooking food
for the creation of culinary preparations. Examples include oils, fats,
sugar, and salt.

The third category is of products that are manufactured essentially

with the addition of salt or sugar to natural or minimally processed
foods. Examples include canned and bottled vegetables or fruits,
cheeses, and breads.

The fourth category is of products whose manufacture involves several

stages and various processing techniques and ingredients, many of
which are used exclusively by industry. Examples include packaged
salty oily snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, sweetened breakfast
cereals, packaged biscuits and cakes, chicken and fish nuggets or
sticks, pre-prepared packaged pizzas, and instant noodles.

What follows, are recommendations for the consumption of the

four food categories addressed by these Guidelines. Each category
is defined and listed in some detail, together with reasons for the
recommendations.

Natural or minimally processed foods

Make natural or minimally processed foods the basis of your

diet.

Natural or minimally processed foods, in great variety, mainly of

plant origin, are the basis for diets that are nutritious, delicious,
appropriate, and supportive of socially and environmentally
sustainable food systems.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Natural or minimally processed foods include very many

varieties of grains, roots and tubers, vegetables, fruits, fish,
meat, milk, eggs, and also water.

As we have mentioned, natural foods are obtained

directly from plants or animals and are acquired
for consumption without having undergone any
change after leaving nature.

The purchasing of natural foods is limited to a

few varieties of foods such as fruits, vegetables,
greens, roots, tubers, and eggs. Furthermore,
it is common that even these foods undergo
some changes prior to being acquired, like being
washed, having inedible parts removed, or being
refrigerated. Other foods, like rice, beans, and
meat are commonly purchased after they have
been dried, packaged, pasteurised, cooled, or

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

frozen. Grains like wheat and corn, and roots such as cassava, tend
to be ground and consumed as pasta, tortillas and tapioca. Milk can
be fermented and consumed in the form of yogurts and curds.

Cleaning, removal of inedible parts, drying, packaging, pasteurising,

cooling, freezing, grinding, and fermentation are examples of
minimal processes that transform natural foods into minimally
processed foods. In all minimal processing, there is no addition of
salt, sugar, oils, fats or other substances to the food.

Natural foods tend to deteriorate quickly and so need to be minimally

processed before being acquired and consumed. Minimal processes
preserve foods and make it possible to store them. Minimal processes
can also decrease stages of food preparation (cleaning and
removing inedible parts) or facilitate their digestion, or render them
more palatable (grinding or fermentation).

In some cases, minimal processing techniques, such as the industrial

refining of grains, reduce the nutrient content of foods. In such
cases, a better choice is less processed foods like brown rice and
whole grain flour. However, the benefits of minimal processing
usually exceed possible disadvantages.

The table below defines the natural or minimally processed foods

and lists examples. Following are the justifications that support the
recommendation of these Guidelines to make these foods the basis
of healthy diets.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Natural or minimally
processed foods

What are they? Examples

Natural foods are Natural, packaged, cut, chilled or

obtained directly from frozen vegetables, fruits, potatoes,
plants or animals and cassava, and other roots and tubers;
do not undergo any bulk or packaged white, parboiled and
alteration following their wholegrain rice; whole or separated
removal from nature. corn; grains of wheat and other
Minimally processed cereals; cassava, corn, or wheat grits
foods are natural and flours; dried or fresh pasta made
foods that have been from wheat flour and water; all types
submitted to cleaning, of beans; lentils, chickpeas, and other
removal of inedible legumes; dried fruits, fruit juices fresh
or unwanted parts, or pasteurised without added sugar or
fractioning, grinding, other substances; nuts, peanuts, and
drying, fermentation, other oilseeds without salt or sugar;
pasteurisation, cooling, fresh and dried mushrooms and other
freezing, or other fungi; fresh and dried herbs and spices;
processes that may fresh, frozen, dried beef, pork, poultry
subtract part of the and other meat and fish; pasteurised,
food but which do not ‘long-life’ and powdered milk; fresh and
add oils, fats, sugar, salt dried eggs, yoghurt without sugar; and
or other substances to tea, herbal infusions, coffee, and tap,
the original food. spring and mineral water.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Reasons to base diets on many body requires. This explains why

varieties of natural or minimally the human species has evolved so
processed foods mainly of plant as to be able to consume a wide
origin variety of foods. It also explains why
several societies and traditional
food systems were established by
Biological and cultural combining foods of plant origin with
reasons nutrient profiles that complement
each other, together with small
The amount of energy per unit of amounts of food of animal origin.
weight (energy or calorie density)
and the quantity of nutrients per Examples of combinations of plant
unit of energy (nutrient density) foods are grains with legumes
of different types of natural or (common in Mexican cuisine, and
minimally processed foods vary in Brazil represented by rice and
very greatly. beans), cereals with vegetables
(common in Asian cuisines and
Animal foods are usually good found in the Brazilian state of Pará
sources of proteins, vitamins and in rice with jambu leaves), tubers
minerals, but contain no dietary with legumes (common in African
fibre, and when fatty are energy- countries and present in Brazilian
dense and contain excessive tutu based on beans with cassava
amounts of unhealthy saturated grits), and cereals or tubers with
fats. Substantial consumption of fruits (common in various cuisines
such foods increases the risk of and present in the rice with pequi
several chronic diseases. fruit from Goiás and in cassava
grits with the açaí berry from the
Foods of plant origin are often good Amazon).
sources of dietary fibre and several
nutrients, and almost all are low in In most traditional cuisines, meat,
energy density. But they need to be fish, eggs and other animal foods
consumed in combination to supply are consumed sparingly, as part of
an adequate range of nutrients. dishes and meals that are based
on plant foods. Animal foods add
In fact, apart from breast milk flavour and also enhance the flavour
during the first six months of life, of grains, beans, vegetables and
no food alone gives human beings tubers, and improve the nutritional
the nutrient content that their composition of the overall diet. Use

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

of plant foods with intense flavours, thus production of animal

such as garlic, onion, peppers, and foods will reduce emissions
herbs like basil and coriander, has a of the greenhouse gases
similar purpose. responsible for global warming,
of deforestation caused by
Combination of a plentiful variety creation of new grazing areas
of foods of plant origin with small for cattle, and of intensive use
quantities of foods of animal origin of water. It will also reduce the
results in nutritious, delicious number of intensive animal
and appropriate diets, which production systems, which
therefore are satisfying biologically, are particularly harmful to the
sensorially, and culturally. environment. The crowding of
animals, characteristic of these
systems, stresses the animals,
Social and increases animal wastes, requires
environmental reasons systematic use of antimicrobial
drugs, pollutes and contaminates
Choosing diets based on a variety groundwater, reservoirs, lakes
of foods of plant origin with and rivers, and generates
sparing amounts of foods of animal diseases of animals that transmit
origin implies the choice of a food to humans. Intensive production
system that is relatively equitable, requires vast amounts of animal
and less stressful to the physical feed produced by monoculture
environment, for animals and systems producing soybeans
biodiversity in general. and corn. Like all intensive
agriculture, these also require
Food supplies and dietary patterns
intensive use of water, and
based on rice, beans, corn,
of chemical pesticides and
cassava, potatoes, vegetables and
fertilisers that contaminate
fruits are socially beneficial. They
sources of water, degrade soil,
encourage family farming and
increase pest resistance and
local economies, and living and
reduce biodiversity. The use
producing in solidarity. They also
of genetically modified seeds
promote biodiversity and reduce
in intensive agriculture is also a
the environmental impact of food
cause for environmental concern.
production and distribution.
Foods of plant or animal origin
Reduced consumption and
derived from food systems that

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

promote a sustainable use of the natural resources are called

organic and agro-ecological based foods. These food systems
produce foods free of contaminants, protect biodiversity,
contribute to a fairer distribution of productive lands and the
creation of work, and respect and improve knowledge and
traditional forms of production.

The more the people seek for organic and agro-ecological based
foods, the greater will be the support received by agro-ecologic
family farmers, and the more socially and environmentally
sustainable food systems will become.

Although nutritionally balanced diets could be made up solely

from natural or minimally processed foods, diets all over the
world and throughout history have been and still are made from a
combination of foods with culinary ingredients like oils, fats, salt
and sugar. These products are used in home or restaurant kitchens
for seasoning and cooking natural or minimally processed foods
and to create with them delicious as well as nourishing dishes
and meals. The second recommendation of this chapter applies
to this category of products.

Oils, fats, salt and sugar

Use oils, fats, salt, and sugar in small amounts for seasoning
and cooking foods and to create culinary preparations.

As long as they are used in moderation in culinary preparations

based on natural or minimally processed foods, oils, fats,
salt, and sugar contribute toward diverse and delicious diets
without rendering them nutritionally unbalanced.

Plant oils such as those made from soybeans, corn, sunflowers, or

olives, fats such as butter and coconut fat, and sugar, are industrial
products extracted from foods. Salt is extracted from nature.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

All these products are used by people, in kitchens, to season and cook
natural or minimally processed foods and to create with them varied
and enjoyable dishes and meals. They are rarely consumed in the
absence of such foods.

Thus, oils and fats are used in the cooking of rice and beans, the grilling
and roasting of vegetables and meat, the frying of eggs, potatoes and
cassava, and in preparation of soups and broths. Oils are also added
to vegetable salads and green salads as seasoning. Salt is used as
seasoning in all these preparations. It is also used in the preparation
of homemade vegetable preserves and is added to the dough of flour
and water used to make pies and homemade breads. Sugar is used
to create homemade sweets made of fruits, milk, and eggs, and in the
preparation of cakes and pies made of wheat, corn or cassava flour.

Oils, fats, salt, and

sugar are food products
used for seasoning and
cooking natural or
minimally processed
foods and to create
culinary preparations

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Oils, fats, salt, and sugar

What are they? Examples

They are products extracted from
natural foods or from nature by Oils made from
processes such as pressing, grinding, soybeans, corn,
crushing, pulverising, and refining. They sunflower, or olives;
are used in homes and restaurants to
butter, lard, coconut
season and cook food and thus create
varied and delicious dishes and meals
fat; white, brown and
of all types, including broths and soups, other types of sugar;
salads, pies, breads, cakes, sweets, and refined or coarse salt.
preserves.

Reasons why oils, fats, salt, and sugar should be used in

small amounts

Oils, fats, and sugar are energy-dense. Oils and fats contain six times
more calories per unit of energy than cooked grains, and twenty times
more than cooked vegetables. Sugar is five or ten times more energy-
dense than most fruits.

Oils, fats, sugar, and salt contain high amounts of dietary constituents
that in small amounts are harmless but in large amounts are harmful.
As well as being energy-dense, various oils and fats contain substantial
amounts of saturated fats, which increase the risk of heart diseases.
When consumed in large amounts, free sugar from any source including
table sugar increases the risk of dental caries as well as obesity, and
other chronic diseases. The sodium in salt is an essential nutrient but
only in small amounts. In large amounts, it increases the risk of heart
diseases.

However, as these products are essentially used to season and cook

food, their impact on the nutritional quality of diets depends on the
amount used in freshly prepared dishes and meals.

It is true that oils, fats, salt, and sugar tend to be quite easily accessible.
They can be stored for a long time and are usually not expensive.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

This encourages their excessive use. Yet, if used with restraint and
appropriately combined with natural or minimally processed foods,
they enable the creation of varied, delicious, and nutritionally balanced
freshly prepared dishes and meals.

As will be seen in the next chapter of these Guidelines, natural or minimally

processed foods and culinary preparations made from these foods
plus oils, fats, salt, and sugar make diets having considerably superior
nutritional quality than diets based on processed or ultra-processed
foods, which are referred to in the next two recommendations.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Processed foods

Limit the use of processed foods, consuming them in small

amounts as ingredients in culinary preparations or as part of
meals based on natural or minimally processed foods.

The ingredients and techniques used in the manufacture of

processed foods—such as vegetables in brine, fruits in syrup,
cheeses, and breads - unfavourably alter the nutritional
composition of the foods from which they are derived.

Processed foods include canned vegetables and fruits, cheeses, and

breads made from wheat flour, yeast, water, and salt.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Processed foods are relatively simple and originally ancient

products manufactured essentially with the addition of salt or sugar
(or another substance of culinary use, such as oil or vinegar) to a
natural or minimally processed food. The processing techniques
used in the manufacture of these products are similar to culinary
methods and include cooking, drying, fermentation, canning and
bottling, and other preservation methods like salting, pickling,
curing, and smoking. A processed food is usually easily recognisable
as a modified version of the original food.

Processed foods include canned foods preserved in salt or vinegar

or by pickling, fruits preserved in sugar, meat that is salted, smoked
or cured, fish canned in salt or oil, cheeses made from milk, salt and
fermenting agents, and breads made of wheat flour, yeast, water
and salt.

In all such examples, the purpose of industrial processing is to

increase the duration of natural or minimally processed foods and,
frequently, to render more enjoyable.

Processed foods are often consumed as ingredients in dishes, as with

cheese added to pasta and salted meats added to beans. At other
times, as with breads and canned fish, processed foods are part of
meals based on natural or minimally processed foods. However,
processed foods may displace natural or minimally processed
foods, such as when sandwiches are consumed instead of freshly
prepared dishes. This use of processed foods is not recommended
in these Guidelines.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Processed foods

What are they? Examples

Processed foods are products Vegetables such as carrots,

manufactured by industry with the use cucumbers, peas, heart-of-
of salt, sugar, oil or other substances palm, onions, and cauliflower
added to natural or minimally processed preserved in salt or vinegar, or
foods to preserve or to make them more by pickling; tomato extract or
palatable. They are derived directly from concentrates (with salt and/
foods, and are recognised as versions or sugar); fruits in sugar and
of the original foods. They are usually candied fruits; beef jerky and
consumed as a part of or as a side dish in bacon; canned sardine and
culinary preparations made using natural tuna; other salted, smoked or
or minimally processed foods. cured meat or fish; cheeses;
and breads made of wheat
flour, yeast, water, and salt.

Reasons to limit consumption of processed foods

Processed foods retain the basic identity and most of the nutrients
of the foods from which they are derived. But the added ingredients
and the processing methods used in their manufacture compromise
their nutritional composition.

The addition of salt and sugar, in quantities generally greater than

used in culinary preparations, transforms the original food into a
source of nutrients whose excessive consumption is associated
with heart disease, obesity, and other chronic diseases.

The loss of water in the manufacturing of processed foods and the

addition of sugar or oil transform foods with low or medium energy
density, such as milk, fruits, fish, and wheat, into foods with high energy
density, such as cheeses, sugared fruits, canned fish in oil, and breads.
Diets that have high energy density increase the risk of obesity.

Therefore, the consumption of processed foods should be limited to

small quantities, either as ingredients in culinary preparations, or as
a side dish in meals based on natural or minimally processed foods.
They should not displace freshly prepared meals. When processed

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

foods are chosen, it is important to consult the labels on the foods

to opt for those with a lower content of salt or sugar.

Ultra-processed foods

Avoid ultra-processed foods

Because of their ingredients, ultra-processed foods—such

as packaged snacks, soft drinks, and instant noodles—are
nutritionally unbalanced. As a result of their formulation
and presentation, they tend to be consumed in excess, and
displace natural or minimally processed foods. Their means of
production, distribution, marketing, and consumption damage
culture, social life, and the environment.

Ultra-processed foods include biscuits, packaged snacks,

soft drinks, and instant noodles

The manufacturing of ultra-processed foods, generally done by large

industries, involves several stages of processing techniques and many
ingredients, including salt, sugar, oils and fats, and several substances for
exclusive industrial use.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Ingredients for industrial use, common in ultra-processed foods, include

soy and milk proteins, meat extracts, substances obtained from the
additional processing of oils, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, and
substances synthesised in laboratories from food substrates or other
organic sources, like petroleum and coal. Many of these synthesised
substances serve as food additives whose function is to extend the
duration of the ultra-processed foods or, more frequently, to give them
hyper-attractive colour, flavour, aroma, and texture.

When natural or minimally processed foods are present, they represent a

tiny proportion of all the ingredients found in ultra-processed foods.

Industrial processes employed in the manufacture of ultra-processed

foods include those only used by industry, such as extrusion of corn
flour to make packaged snacks, as well as industrial versions of culinary
techniques, such as pre-processing with frying.

Ultra-processed foods include confectionery, drinks that are sweetened

with sugar or artificial sweeteners, powders for juices, sausages and
other products that are derived from meat and animal fat, pre-prepared
frozen dishes, dried products such as cake mix, powdered soup, instant
noodles, ready-seasonings, and an infinity of new products that arrive
at the markets every year including packaged snacks, morning cereals,
cereal bars, and ‘energy’ drinks. Breads and baked goods become ultra-
processed foods when, in addition to wheat flour, yeast, water, and salt,
their ingredients include substances such as hydrogenated vegetable fat,
sugar, starch, whey, emulsifiers, and other additives.

A practical way of distinguishing ultra-processed foods from processed

foods is to consult the list of ingredients, which by law, should provide
labels on packaged foods that possess more than one ingredient. A
high number of ingredients (usually five or more) and the presence of
ingredients whose names are not familiar and are not used in culinary
preparations (hydrogenated vegetable fat, interesterified oils, fructose
syrup, protein isolates, bulking agents, thickeners, emulsifiers, colorants,
flavour enhancers, and several other types of additives) identify ultra-
processed foods.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Unlike processed foods, a majority of ultra-processed foods are consumed

throughout the day, displacing foods like fruits, milk, and water or, as
main meals, instead of culinary preparations. Therefore, these products
tend to limit the consumption of natural or minimally processed foods.

Ultra-processed foods

What are they? Examples

Ultra-processed foods are industrial Fatty, sweet or salty packaged snacks,

formulations made entirely or mostly biscuits (cookies), ice-creams, candies and
from substances extracted from foods confectionery in general; cola, soda, and other
(oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), soft drinks; sweetened juices and ‘energy’
derived from food constituents drinks; sweetened breakfast cereals; cakes
(hydrogenated fats and modified and cake mix, and cereal bars; sweetened
starch), or synthesised in laboratories and flavoured yogurts and dairy drinks;
from food substrates or other organic canned, packaged, dehydrated and other
sources (flavour enhancers, colours, ‘instant’ soups, noodles, and seasonings; pre-
and several food additives used to prepared meat, fish, vegetables, pizza and
make the product hyper-palatable). pasta dishes, burgers, hot dogs, sausages,
Manufacturing techniques include poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’ and
extrusion, moulding, and pre- other animal products made from remnants;
processing by means of frying. sliced bread, hamburger or hot dog breads,
sweet breads, and baked products in general
made with ingredients such as hydrogenated
vegetable fat, sugar, yeast, whey, emulsifiers,
and other additives.

Reasons to avoid consumption of ultra-

processed foods

There are many reasons to avoiding the consumption of ultra-

processed foods. These reasons are related to the nutritional
composition of these products, the characteristics that link them
to the excessive consumption of dietary energy, and the impact
that the ways in which they are produced, distributed, marketed
and consumed creates on culture, social life and the environment.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Ultra-processed foods have an unbalanced nutritional

composition.
The main ingredients of ultra-processed foods make them fatty
or sugary, or both. It is common that these products have
high content of sodium because of the addition of a lot salt.
The addition of salt is necessary to extend the duration of
the products and intensify their flavour or even to disguise
undesired flavours that result from additives or from
substances generated from the techniques involved in the
ultra-processing.

For ultra-processed foods to last longer and not become

prematurely rancid, they are often prepared with fats that
resist oxidation. These fats, however, tend to obstruct
arteries that carry blood within our bodies. Particularly
common in ultra-processed foods are vegetable oils with a
high content of saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. Apart
from being high in saturated fats, hydrogenated fats also
contain trans fats.

Ultra-processed foods tend to have a very low content of

dietary fibre, which protects against heart diseases, diabetes,
and some common cancers. The absence of fibre is a result
of the lack of or the limited presence of natural or minimally
processed foods in these products. This same reason also results
in ultra-processed foods having low contents of vitamins,
minerals, and other substances with biological activity, which
are naturally present in natural or minimally processed foods.

Ultra-processed foods are now often reformulated and

advertised as if they are healthy, being labelled as for
example ‘light’ or ‘diet’, or low in fat or sugar, or free from
trans fats, or high in fibre or vitamins and minerals. These
adjustments may improve the products which however
remain ultra-processed and unhealthy, and certainly not
good alternatives to natural or minimally processed foods
and freshly made dishes and meals.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Therefore, in summary, the unbalanced nutritional

composition of the ingredients of ultra-processed foods
favours heart disease, diabetes, and common cancers,
and contributes towards increasing the risk of nutritional
deficiencies. Furthermore, although each additive used in
these products have to pass tests and be approved by health
authorities, the long-term and cumulative effects on health
of being exposed to various additives are not always known.

Ultra-processed foods promote excessive consumption

of dietary energy
Ultra-processed foods disturb mechanisms located in the
digestive system and the brain that ensure that the intake and
expenditure of dietary energy is balanced. These mechanisms
tend to underestimate the energy contained in ultra-processed
foods, with the result that the sense of satiety occurs only after
excess consumption. Excess dietary energy is stored as body fat.
The result is obesity.

The high quantity of energy per gram is one of the main features
of ultra-processed foods which can disturb the regulation of
energy balance. The energy density of ultra-processed foods
ranges from about 2.5 calories per gram (most baked products)
to about 4 calories per gram (cereal bars), and may reach up to
5 calories per gram in the case of packaged snack products and
filled biscuits. Such energy density is 2 to 5 times higher than
that of common freshly prepared dishes, such as the traditional
Brazilian mix of two servings of rice to one serving of beans.

Other attributes common to many ultra-processed foods can

also compromise the mechanisms that signal satiety and control
the appetite, thus further favouring the involuntary consumption
of calories and increasing the risk of obesity.

• Hyper-palatable. Ultra-processed foods are formulated with

combinations of oils, fats, sugars, salt and additives, so as to

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

be hyper-palatable, and sometimes habit-forming or even in

effect addictive. The advertising of some of these products
correctly identifies them as ‘irresistible’.

• Designed to be consumed mindlessly. Most ultra-processed

foods are made ready-to-consume, without plates, cutlery or
tables. They are eaten at home while watching television, at a
desk at work, or while walking in a street. These characteristics
are often advertised as desirable.

• Gigantic sizes. The cost to the manufacturer of the ingredients

of ultra-processed foods is usually low and often trivial. So they
are commonly sold in ‘super-sizes’ with discounted prices. This
induces over-consumption.

• ‘Liquid calories’. Sweetened drinks ‘deceive’ the body’s

mechanisms that signal satiety. All such drinks – colas, other soft
drinks, ‘energy’ drinks, fruit juices with added sugars, other fruit
drinks – are therefore very likely to be over-consumed.

Ultra-processed foods damage culture, social life, and the

environment
The reasons described until here, seen in their totality, would alone be
sufficient to justify the recommendation for avoiding the consumption
of ultra-processed foods. Their ingredients and the processing
techniques used in their manufacture make them intrinsically unhealthy.

However, there are still other reasons to avoid ultra-processed foods.

These arise from the impact of their production, distribution, marketing,
and consumption on culture, social life, and the environment. These
reasons also, indirectly, affect human health and well-being.

Impact on culture. Brands, packages, labels, and the contents of ultra-

processed foods tend to be identical throughout the world. A type of
soft drink made by one giant manufacturer is essentially the same the
world over. Types of burger made by various manufacturers are much the
same everywhere. Leading brands are promoted often using the same

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

entertainers, models, music and slogans everywhere, including on television,

the internet and social media. They are disseminated by means of intensive
and aggressive advertising campaigns, including the launching of hundreds
of new products every year, which leads to a false sense of diversity.
Because of these campaigns, genuine food cultures come to be regarded
as uninteresting. All this creates a sense especially to children and young
people that the culture and identity of their own country, region, ethnicity
and tradition including food culture and patterns, are boring. Young people
especially are being induced by major manufacturers, in effect acting in
concert, to have a false sense of belonging in a superior, modern, high cost
and expense consumer culture.

Impact on social life. Ultra-processed foods are formulated and

packaged to be ready-to-consume without any preparation. This
makes meals and sharing of food at table unnecessary. Ultra-
processed foods can be consumed anytime, anywhere, often when
being entertained or when working, walking in a street, driving,
or talking on a phone. These are mostly isolated situations, which
are disguised by advertisements suggesting that such products
promote social interaction, which they do not.

Impact on environment. The need for cheap oils, sugar and other raw
materials for ultra-processed foods creates monocultures and farms
producing for export and not for local consumption. Intensive farming
of raw materials is dependent on pesticides and intensive use of
fertilisers and water. The manufacture and distribution of most ultra-
processed foods involves long transport routes, and thus excess use of
non-renewable energy and water, and emission of pollutants. This all
results in environmental degradation and pollution, loss of biodiversity,
and draining and loss of water, energy and other natural resources.
Production and consumption also causes creation of vast amounts of
waste and garbage, dumped in disgusting and dangerous landfill sites.
Overall, ultra-processed foods are a serious threat to the sustained
survival of the planet.

For all the reasons described above, ultra-processed foods should be

avoided.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

46
 . DieTAry GuiDelines for The BrAziliAn PoPulATion

The GolDen
rule
always PREfER natuRal OR minimally
PROcEssED fOODs anD fREshly maDE
DishEs anD mEals tO ultRa-PROcEssED
fOODs

Like all golden rules, the overall rule here is easy

to remember and follow: always prefer natural
or minimally processed foods and freshly made
dishes and meals to ultra-processed foods.
In other words, opt for water, milk, and fruits
instead of soft drinks, dairy drinks, and biscuits,
do not replace freshly prepared dishes (broth,
soups, salads, sauces, rice and beans, pasta,
steamed vegetables, pies) with products that
do not require culinary preparation (packaged
soups, instant noodles, pre-prepared frozen
dishes, sandwiches, cold cuts and sausages,
industrialised sauces, ready-mixes for cakes),
and stick to homemade desserts, avoiding
industrialised ones.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

FINALLY
The four recommendations and the golden rule—
highlighted yet again at the end of this chapter—are
universal, and therefore can be applied everywhere.
Specific orientations for the Brazilian population,
developing and detailing the recommendations, are in
the following chapter.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Four
recommendations and
one golden rule

Make natural or minimally processed foods the basis of

your diet
Natural or minimally processed foods, in great variety, mainly of
plant origin, are the basis for diets that are nutritious, delicious,
appropriate, and supportive of socially and environmentally
sustainable food systems

Use oils, fats, salt, and sugar in small amounts for seasoning
and cooking foods and to create culinary preparations
As long as they are used in moderation in culinary preparations based on
natural or minimally processed foods, oils, fats, salt, and sugar contribute
toward diverse and delicious diets without rendering them nutritionally
unbalanced.

Limit the use of processed foods, consuming them in small

amounts as ingredients in culinary preparations or as part
of meals based on natural or minimally processed foods
The ingredients and techniques used in the manufacture of
processed foods—such as vegetables in brine, fruits in syrup,
cheeses and breads - unfavourably alter the nutritional composition
of the foods from which they are derived.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Avoid ultra-processed foods

Because of their ingredients, ultra-processed foods —such as
packaged snacks, soft drinks, and instant noodles—are nutritionally
unbalanced. As a result of their formulation and presentation, they
tend to be consumed in excess, and displace natural or minimally
processed foods. Their means of production, distribution, marketing,
and consumption damage culture, social life, and the environment.

The golden rule. Always prefer natural or minimally

processed foods and freshly made dishes and meals to
ultra-processed foods
Opt for water, milk, and fruits instead of soft drinks, dairy
drinks, and biscuits Do not replace freshly prepared dishes
(broth, soups, salads, sauces, rice and beans, pasta, steamed
vegetables, pies) with products that do not require culinary
preparation (packaged snacks and soups, instant noodles,
pre-prepared frozen dishes, sandwiches, cold cuts and
sausages, industrialised sauces, ready-mixes for cakes), and
stick to homemade desserts, avoiding industrialised ones.

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 . DieTAry GuiDelines for The BrAziliAn PoPulATion

ANA
AL MTU
LIIIM
LIM MEENRA
NTTOL
O
IN FOOD

PROCESSE
D
FOOD

ULTRA-
PROCESS
AFr
BAesCA
h XI FOOD
ED
PiFR
neap
ESpl Canned
COe
Pineappl
e
juice po
wder

NATURA
L
FOOD

PROCESSE
D
FOOD

ULTRA-
PROCESS
ED
FOOD
corn cob
canned
corn
corn sn
ack

NATURA
L
FOOD

PROCESSE
D
FOOD

ULTRA-
PROCESS
ED
fresh fis FOOD
h
canned
fish
Fish nu
ggets

51
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

52
Chapter 3.
From foods to meals
The previous chapter of these Guidelines presented
general recommendations about food choices aiming at
creating diets that are nutritionally balanced, enjoyable,
culturally appropriate, and supportive of socially and
environmentally sustainable food systems.
Essentially, the basis of such diets consists of a great variety
of natural or minimally processed foods, predominantly
of plant origin, and of culinary preparations made with
these foods Processed foods can be used as long as
they are consumed in small quantities and are part of or
a side dish in culinary preparations based on natural or
minimally processed foods. Ultra-processed foods should
be avoided.
This chapter offers specific guidance for the Brazilian
population on how to combine foods in the form of meals.
As will be detailed in the first section of the chapter, this
guidance is based on the dietary patterns of Brazilians
who give priority to natural or minimally processed foods
in their meals. The following section provides examples of
meals consumed by these Brazilians, and the final section
shows how these examples can be varied.

Brazilian dietary patterns

The characteristics of Brazilian dietary patterns

described below are the result of special analyses of
the official national Household Budget Survey (HBS)
conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography
and Statistics (IBGE) between May 2008 and May
2009. These analyses were a part of the work done in
preparation of these Guidelines.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

The 2008–2009 HBS made which provide more calories

a detailed study of the diet are breads and sandwiches,
of a national representative industrialized cakes, sweet
sample of Brazilians aged biscuits and sweets in general,
10 or older. The sample was sodas, “snack packs”, milk
drawn from all the regions of drinks, sausages and other
the country and has included processed meats and cheeses.
urban and rural areas and all
socio-economic classes. All Analyses of the 2008–
the foods consumed by over 2009 HBS, which are of
30,000 individuals during two great importance to the
days of the week, at home and recommendations of these
also out of the home, were Guidelines, indicate that, in
carefully registered. Brazil, the share of the diet
made of natural or minimally
Although previous studies processed foods and culinary
conducted by IBGE indicate preparations of these foods
increasing consumption of is nutritionally far superior to
ultra-processed foods the the share of the diet made of
2008–2009 HBS showed processed foods and ultra-
that, on average, natural or processed foods.
minimally processed foods
and culinary preparations The superiority of the natural
made with these foods still or minimally processed foods
made up almost two-thirds of is particularly evident with
the total dietary energy intake regard to nutrients whose
in Brazil. content in the Brazilian
diet, according to the
Rice and beans alone made up World Health Organization
almost a quarter of total dietary (WHO) recommendations, is
energy, followed by beef or considered insufficient, as in
pork (red meats), chicken, the case of dietary fibre and
milk, roots and tubers (mostly some vitamins and minerals,
cassava and potatoes), fruits, or excessive, as in the case
fish, vegetables, and eggs. of sugar and saturated fats
and trans fats.
Among processed or
ultraprocessed ​​f oods, those The 2008–2009 HBS also

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

reveals that one fifth of the provided were all extracted

Brazilian population (or about from the groups of Brazilians
40 million people of all ages) whose consumption of natural
still widely base their meals on and minimally processed foods
natural or minimally processed and their culinary preparations
foods. These Brazilians, who correspond to at least 85% of
consume at least 85% of their the total energy intake. One
daily energy from natural or attempt was made to represent
minimally processed foods in the examples both genders,
and dishes and meals based all age groups (age 10 or above),
on these foods, nearly meet all classes of income, urban and
WHO recommendations for rural settings, and the five big
the consumption of proteins, regions of the country.
fats (several types), sugar, and
dietary fibre. Furthermore, The examples are of the three
their content of vitamins and main meals of the day: breakfast,
minerals is most often well lunch, and dinner. Among
above the average level in the Brazilians who base their
Brazil. meals on natural or minimally
processed foods, these three
Small changes in the diets of meals provide about 90% of
the Brazilians who eat most the total calories consumed
natural or minimally processed throughout the day.
foods — such as eating more
vegetables and less red meat Upon selecting examples, to meet
— would render the nutritional the desired regular consumption
profile of their overall diet of vegetables (poorly consumed
practically ideal. The diets of in Brazil), lunches and dinners
these Brazilians will be used as where there was a presence of
the basis for the meal options at least one of these foods were
shown in the following section selected. On the other hand, red
of this chapter. meats (excessively consumed in
all of Brazil) appear in only one
third of the selected lunches and
dinners.
Healthy meal options
The meals illustrated here
This section describes examples are of course not in any
of healthy meals. The examples

55
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

sense ‘set menus’ or rigid There is no emphasis on the

recommendations. Variationsamount of each food or the
among the combinations total calories in each meal.
presented are crucial. These This omission is deliberate
variations substituting types of since the nutritional needs of
foods with similar nutritional people, particularly with regard
composition and culinary use to calories, are very variable
(such as replacing beans for depending on age, sex, size
lentils or chickpeas, potatoes (weight and height), and level of
for cassava or yam, and okra for physical activity. Furthermore,
eggplant or pumpkin) render there is considerable variability
the meal even healthier, because between people regarding
varieties within the same food how they distribute their foods
group imply a greater diversity through their daily meals. The
in the supply of nutrients. control of body weight (not the
counting of calories) is a simple
The variations among the foods and efficient way to determine
of the same group are also whether the amount of food
pleasing to the senses: they being consumed is suitable.
create diversity of flavours,
aromas, colours, and textures.
They also allow for regional and
personal preferences.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Breakfast

Coffee and milk, corn cake, and melon Milk, couscous, eggs, and banana

Coffee, whole wheat bread, cheese and Coffee with milk, tapioca (made from
prune cassava), and banana

Here are shown the breakfasts of eight Brazilians selected among

those who base their meals on natural or minimally processed foods.

Fruits and coffee with milk are a constant part of the first meal of
the day. With regard to other foods, there is a great variety, with
several culinary preparations based on cereals or cassava and, in
one of the examples, the consumption of eggs. The variety reflects
regional preferences shown through the consumption of tapioca,
corn couscous, and corn cake.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Coffee and milk, cassava cake, cheese and

Coffee and milk, cheese bread and papaya papaya

Orange juice, French bread with butter Coffee and milk, couscous and mango
and papaya

Breads and cheese are part of breakfast in some of the examples, showing
how processed foods can be integrated into meals based on natural or
minimally processed foods.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Lunch

Rice, beans, baked chicken leg, beetroot and Rice, beans, omelette and sautéed jilo
cornmeal with cheese

Feijoada, rice, onion and tomato vinagrette, Tomato salad, rice, beans, grilled beef and
cassava flour, sautéed cole and orange fruit salad

Here are shown the lunches of eight Brazilians selected as above.

The combination of rice and beans is present in almost all the selected
lunches. This reflects a basic aspect of the eating habits of the great
majority of Brazilians who opt for natural or minimally processed foods –
and indeed, most of the Brazilian population in general.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Lettuce, rice, lentils, gammon , potatos, Lettuce, tomato, beans, cassava flour, fish
cabbage and pineapple and coconut sweet

Rice, beans, corn angu, pumpkin , okra Lettuce and tomato, rice, beans, eggplant
and papaya and cupuacu juice

In one example, lentils are used instead of beans. In another example,

beans are served together with cassava flour (not rice). In two examples,
preparations based on corn (corn mush and polenta) are served together
with rice and beans.

As mentioned before, vegetables are present in all the examples of lunch,

although this is not a common practice in Brazil. To demonstrate the
possibilities of increasing and diversifying the consumption of vegetables,
examples were sought where different varieties of these foods (lettuce,
tomatoes, onions, kale, cabbage, beetroot, squash, okra, eggplant, scarlet
eggplant, courgette) are prepared in different ways, like raw, in salads, or
in dishes cooked in different ways.

Red meats (beef or pork) are restricted to one third of the meals
presented, giving priority to lean cuts and grilled or roasted preparations.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Aiming to present food choices for replacing red meats, meals were
selected where there was the presence of grilled, roasted, or stewed
preparations of chicken or fish, eggs (omelettes), or vegetables (squash
with okra).

Fruits and homemade desserts complete the meals. Processed foods

are sometimes used as ingredients, as the cheese in corn polenta.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Dinner

Rice, beans, bovine liver and sautéed Green leaf salad, rice, beans, eggs and
zucchini apple

Vegetable soup, cassava flour and acai Green leaf salad, pasta and chicken
berry

Here are shown the dinners of eight Brazilians selected as above.

As with the lunches, most of the dinners include rice and beans. In
one example, beans with rice is replaced by cassava flour with açaí,
and in another example, by pasta served with chicken.

Vegetables are part of every meal, raw in the form of salads, or

cooked and served as a side dish, with rice and beans, or within
soups.

Red meats are used again in one third of the meals. For the remaining
meals, chicken, fish, eggs, and several types of preparations of
vegetables serve as options for replacing red meats.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Rice, beans, chicken leg, cabbage, pumpkin Lettuce, tomato, rice, beans, omelette, and
and orange cassava

Rice, beans, chicken breast, pumkin with Rice, beans, ground meat with vegetables
okra and jenipapo jam

Fruits are desserts or part of the dinner, as with açaí mixed

with cassava grits.

The appropriate use of processed foods to complement (and

not replace) meals that are prepared using natural or minimally
processed foods is exemplified by the jenipapo jam dessert.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Small meals

In addition to the main meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), some people
might find the need to eat or simply have the habit of eating at other times
of the day. Children and teenagers, because of being in their growing phases,
usually require one or more small meals. However, the same need might also
occur with people during other phases of their lives.
In the case of small meals, the choice of foods should also follow the
general recommendations of these Guidelines: opting for natural or
minimally processed foods, limiting the consumption of processed foods,
and avoiding ultra-processed foods. Fresh or dried fruit are excellent
alternatives, as well as milk, yogurt, or nuts. These foods have high
nutrient content and great power of satiety, in addition to being practical
to carry and consume.
It is very important to plan ahead what will be consumed during small
meals, especially when not at home, for example at work or at school.
To refrain from consuming ultra-processed foods, due to lack of options,

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

pack and take fresh or dried fruits, or natural or minimally processed

foods, or a favoured dish.

For more options

As previously said, the meals exemplified in this chapter show options for
combining foods that can be transformed into many other options with the
substitution among foods that belong to a same food group.

To assist in making meals, here below are the major food groups commonly
consumed in Brazil. Each group includes varieties of foods that have similar
culinary use and nutritional profile. Foods within each group are listed, with
varieties, culinary uses, and nutrient composition.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Beans

Chickpea in salads

Black beans

This group includes several types of beans and

other foods from the group of legumes, such
as peas, lentils, and chickpeas.

There are many varieties of beans in Brazil:

black, white, mulatinho, carioca, black-eyed
peas, broad beans, cowpeas, among many
others. Other legumes, which have similar
nutritional properties and culinary uses, are
peas, lentils, and chickpeas. Varying the
choices of beans and other legumes is good
nutritional practice and makes meals more
varied and enjoyable.

The combination of rice and beans is the most

popular in the country; however, there are
many other preparations made with beans Carioca beans
that are appreciated by Brazilians, such as
tutu à mineira, black-eyed peas, feijoada (bean
and meat stew), bean soup, acarajé, among

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

many others. Cooked white beans, black-eyed peas, peas, lentils, and
chickpeas are also consumed in salads.

The preparation of beans (and other legumes) can be quite time-

consuming. Strategies that shorten the cooking time include washing
the beans and letting them soak in water for a few hours before
cooking (discard the water in which the beans are soaked and use
fresh water to cook it). Another good alternative is to cook the beans
in a pressure cooker. Furthermore, beans that are cooked in a greater
quantity during a single preparation can be stored in the freezer for
use in preparations throughout the week.

As in all food preparations, special attention should be given to the use

of oil and salt in the preparation of beans. Use any standard vegetable
oil— soy corn, sunflower, or others—but always in the smallest possible
amount so as to not excessively increase the dietary energy of the
preparation. The same guidance applies to the amount of salt. Keep it
to a minimum in order not to render the content of sodium excessive.

To reduce the amount of oil and salt added to the beans, and the
occasional use of salted meat, prepare the beans with generous
amounts of onions, garlic, and favoured herbs and spices like bay
leaves, parsley, chives, pepper, or coriander. If you cook the beans
with other foods such as carrots and green beans, they will also add
flavour and colour to the preparation.

Beans, as well as all other legumes, are sources of proteins, dietary

fibre, vitamin B complex, and minerals, such as calcium, zinc, and iron.
The high content of fibre and the moderate amount of calories per
gram, make these foods satisfying, which checks overeating.

67
 Cereals

Cornmeal with tomato

sauce

Pasta with tomato and

fresh herb sauce

This group includes rice, corn (including

grains, grits and flour), wheat (including
grains, grits, flour, and also pasta and breads),
and other cereals, such as oats and rye.

Rice

Rice is the main cereal in Brazil. It is most

commonly served with beans, but, being an
extremely versatile food, it is also consumed
with vegetables, eggs, and meat, as well as
with several types of risotto, Greek rice, cuxá
rice, carreteiro rice, galinhada, and Maria Izabel.
It is also the basis of arroz doce, a traditional
Brazilian dessert.

As with beans, only small amounts of oils and

salt should be used in the preparation of rice,
which can be made more delicious with garlic,
onion and herbs.

Rice 68
with vegetables
 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Corn salt, and yeast, which is used to

ferment the flour. Wheat flour
Corn (maize) is also an important is also used for breading meats
cereal in Brazil. It is eaten in the form and vegetables.
of cooked whole cobs or kernels,
or in the form of creams or soups. As described in these Guidelines,
Corn dishes include porridges and all types of pasta made from
desserts, such as canjica, mungunzá, wheat flour and water (with
porridge, mingau (gruel), curau or without the addition of
and puddings. Corn flour used to eggs) are culinary preparations
make couscous, polenta, farofa, when made at home and are
corn cake, corn mush, fish sauce, minimally processed foods when
and xerém, consumed at lunch and industrially produced.
dinner and, in some regions, also at
breakfast. Quick preparation and many
types and uses are the main
culinary features of pasta.
Several types of pasta are eaten
Wheat simply with garlic and olive
The wheat consumption in Brazil oil or with sauces made from
is mainly through flour. However, tomatoes, courgettes, ground
wheat grain is sometimes used meat, and many other foods.
in salads, in hot preparations Adding grated cheese to pasta
with vegetables, or in soups preparations is very common
(wheat canjica). Tabule (broken and this is a good example of
wheat salad) is prepared with the appropriate integration of
olive oil, tomatoes, onions, mint, processed foods into freshly
and parsley. prepared dishes and meals.

Wheat flour has multiple culinary The so-called “instant pasta”

uses in Brazil. With vegetables, (or instant noodles) is a typical
eggs, and meat, and added oil ultra-processed product, as can
and salt, it is used to prepare be seen by reading the long list
savoury pies. Sweet pies and of ingredients on the product
cakes are prepared with wheat label. Therefore, its consumption
flour, oil, sugar, milk, eggs, and should be avoided.
fruits. Homemade breads are As also described in these
made with wheat flour, water, Guidelines, industrialised breads

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

can be processed or ultra- vitamins (especially B complex),

processed. They are processed and minerals. Combined with
when they are made with the beans or other legumes, cereals
same ingredients used in the are also an excellent source of
preparation of homemade quality proteins.
breads. As processed foods,
they should be consumed in White rice and white wheat flour
small quantities and as part of have lower amounts of dietary
meals with natural or minimally fibre and micronutrients, which
processed foods. are lost in the refining process.
Less processed versions of
Breads that, in addition to these foods, such as brown
flour, water, salt and yeast, rice and whole-wheat flour,
contain other ingredients such are preferable. Parboiled rice
as hydrogenated vegetable fat, (husked and polished after
sugar, starch, whey, emulsifiers, being immersed in water) is also
and other additives are ultra- a good alternative, being close
processed foods and as such to wholegrain rice in nutritional
should be avoided. quality, and having an aroma,
flavour and texture similar to
Rice, corn, wheat, and all white rice.
cereals are important sources
of carbohydrates, dietary fibre,

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Roots and tubers

Cooked potato with
rosemary

Boiled cassava with chive Sweet potato purée

and or parsley

This group includes cassava, potatoes, sweet

potatoes, baroa potatoes, inhame (taro), and
cará (water yam).

Roots and tubers are very versatile foods and

can be eaten cooked, roasted, in stews, or
as purees. Brazilians often consume them at
lunch and dinner, along with beans and rice,
vegetables, and meats. In some regions of Brazil,
cassava and sweet potatoes are consumed at
breakfast as bread substitutes. Cassava is also
used in the preparation of homemade desserts
including cakes and puddings.

Cassava consumed in the form of grits or flour is

frequently a side dish with fish, vegetables, açaí
and several other foods. Cassava flour is also
used as an ingredient in recipes for porridge,
couscous, tutu, drover beans, and farofa. In the
North and Northeast regions of the country, it
often replaces rice when eaten with beans.

The starch extracted from cassava is used for Batata inglesa ao

the preparation of tapioca and pão de queijo. In forno com ervas
some regions of Brazil, tapioca replaces bread
for breakfast.
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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

As with all foods, roots and tubers should be prepared and cooked
with only small amounts of oil and salt. They are best boiled or baked
because when fried they absorb a lot of oil or fat. Again, plentiful use of
peppers, onions and garlic, and herbs, make root and tuber preparations
more delicious.

Roots and tubers are also rich sources of complex carbohydrate and
dietary fibre. Some also are good sources of some vitamins and minerals.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Vegetables

Mix of sautéed vegetables

Sautéed pumpkin with

onions, chive and or
parsley

In Brazil, there is a huge variety of

vegetables: squash, zucchini, eggplant,
beetroot, carrots, cucumber, bell peppers,
okra, tomatoes, onions, garlic, maxixe, jiló,
lettuce, chard, watercress, cabbage, endive,
broccoli, mustard, chicory, chayote, kale,
spinach, gueroba, jurubeba, catalonha, ora-
pro-nobis, among others. Varieties within
the same type of vegetables are frequent
and vary regionally, such as the varieties of
squash that are named paulista, japanese,
baianinha, pescoço, garota. Lettuce may
be americana, romana, roxa (purple), lisa
(smooth) or crespa (curly).

Many vegetables are sold throughout the Lettuce, tomato and

year all over the country. Varieties that are Salada onion salad
crua de
local or in season are cheaper and have alface, tomate e
more flavour. Organic vegetables and those cebola

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

that are produced agro-ecologically are particularly flavoursome,

as well as being produced in ways that protect the environment.

Vegetables are consumed as salads, in hot preparations (boiled,

sautéed, baked, au gratin, breaded, and stews) or in soups. Some
are stuffed, or made into purees, or breaded. Some have more
flavour when cooked (like squash) or sautéed (like cabbage).
Others are eaten raw, in the form of salads (lettuce, endives,
chicory, pepper, cucumber and tomatoes, as examples). Others
such as carrots and onions can be prepared in different ways
(boiled, steamed, sautéed, or raw). Vegetables can also be added
into rice dishes, sauces and farofas and used as pie fillings.

The recommendation of adding small amounts of salt and oil, and generous
use of natural herbs and spices, also applies to vegetables. The use of
lemon in salads helps reduce the need of additional salt or oil.

Microorganisms that cause disease can contaminate vegetables;

therefore, it is very important to properly sanitize them, especially
when eaten raw. Therefore, before being prepared and consumed, all
vegetables should be washed in running water and then to be quite
safe, placed in a basin with water containing sodium hypochlorite,
which can be purchased in supermarkets and retail shops. The label
for sodium hypochlorite states the amount that should be used and
how long vegetables should be soaked in it. Vinegar solution soaks
do not have the same ability to eliminate microorganisms that can
contaminate vegetables.

Vegetables are very healthy foods. They are excellent sources of

several vitamins and minerals, and therefore very important for the
prevention of micronutrient deficiencies. In addition to being a source
of dietary fibre, they provide, in general, several nutrients while
being low in dietary energy, making them ideal in the prevention of
obesity, and chronic diseases associated with this condition, such
as diabetes and heart disease. Numerous antioxidants in vegetables
protect against some cancers. For their exceptional nutritional
properties and extensive culinary versatility, this food group is an
excellent alternative to red meat in Brazil.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Vegetables canned or bottled in a solution of water and salt and

sometimes vinegar, such as carrots, cucumbers, or onions (as well
as peas or potatoes) are processed foods. Like other processed
foods, they preserve most of their nutrients as when they are
raw but contain excessive amounts of sodium, which is why their
consumption should be limited.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Fruits

Green leaf salad

with mango

Fruit salad

Brazil has a vast variety of fruits, some found

only in or near Brazil, many native, and many
others originally imported from other tropical
and also temperate countries. In alphabetical
order, these include abiu, açaí, acerola, apple,
araça, araticum, atemoia, avocado, bananas,
bacuri, blackberries, breadfruit, cagaita,
cajá, caqui, cacao, ciriguela, cupuaçu, fig,
grapes, guava, graviola, jabuticaba, jackfruit,
jenipapo, lemon, lime, mountain apples,
murici, oranges, papaya, passion fruit,
pequi, pineapple, pitanga, pitomba, plums,
pomegranates, tamarinds, tangerines.

Like vegetables, fruits that are local or in

season are the best choices, as are fruits
produced agro-ecologically.

Fruits can be eaten fresh or dried, as part of

the main meal or as small meals. They are
an important breakfast component, and at
Varied fruits
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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

lunch and dinner, they can be eaten in the form of salads or as a

dessert. In some regions of Brazil, fruits are consumed with fish and
cassava flour (açaí) or with rice and chicken (pequi).

Especially when eaten with the peel, fruits, like vegetables, need to
be cleaned.

Like vegetables, fruits are very healthy foods. They are an

excellent source of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals, and several
compounds that contribute to the prevention of many diseases.

Fruit juices do not always provide the same benefits of the whole
fruit. Fibre and many nutrients may be lost in juice preparation and
its satiety power is always lower than the whole fruit. Therefore, it
is always best to consume the entire fruit.

Whole fruits with added sugar, such as candied fruits and canned
fruits in syrup, are processed foods. As such, they retain most of
their nutrients, but the processing excessively increases their sugar
content. Like other processed foods, they should be consumed in
small quantities, as part of culinary preparations, or in meals where
natural or minimally processed foods predominate. Candied fruits,
for example, can be part of pies and cakes, and fruits in syrup may
occasionally be consumed as desserts.

Industrially manufactured juices and fruit-based drinks are generally

made from fruit extracts and refined sugar from concentrated grape
or apple (consisting primarily of sugar), or artificial sweeteners are
added. Frequently, preservatives, flavourings, and other additives
are also added. As such they are ultra-processed foods, to be
avoided.

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Nuts

Nuts, as understood in these

Guidelines, include cashew, baru
and Brazil nuts, as well as walnuts,
peanuts, and almonds.

Nuts have many culinary uses.

They are used as ingredients
in salads, sauces, and various
Nuts savoury and sweet dishes
(farofas, paçocas, pé de moleque)
and are also added to fruit salads.
Since they require little or no
preparation, they are excellent
choices for small meals.

Nuts contain plenty of dietary

fibre, vitamins, minerals and other
protective bioactive compounds,
and are also high in healthy
(unsaturated) fats.
Green leaf salad with
cashew nuts Nuts with added salt or sugar
become processed foods. As
such, their consumption should
be limited.

Ground beaf kibbeh with

walnuts

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Milk and cheese

Natural yogurt with

fruits

Papaya smoothie
with cow milk

This group includes minimally processed

foods such as cow’s milk, cheese curds,
plain yogurt, and processed foods such as
cheeses.

In Brazil, cow’s milk is often consumed

pure, with fruit or with coffee in the first
meal of the day. It is also an ingredient
in creams, pies, cakes, and other sweet
and savoury dishes. The consumption of
natural yoghurt and other fermented milk
foods is increasing in Brazil. Cheeses are
mainly consumed as part of dishes based
on minimally processed foods, as in pasta
with tomato sauce or polenta made with
corn flour. Milk
Milk and plain yoghurt are good sources of
proteins, and some vitamins and minerals

Copo de leite de vaca

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

(in particular vitamin A and calcium). When they are whole, they
are also high in fat, particularly unhealthy fats (saturated fat).
Versions without fat or with less fat (skimmed or semi-skimmed)
may be more appropriate for adults.

Cheeses are also rich in proteins, vitamin A, and calcium. However,

besides the very high content of saturated fats, they are products
with high energy density(due to loss of water during processing)
and high sodium concentration (due to the addition of salt).
Therefore, cheeses, like all processed foods, should always be
consumed in small amounts as part of culinary preparations or as
side dishes in meals with mainly natural or minimally processed
foods.

Milk drinks and yogurts that have been sweetened, coloured,

and flavoured are ultra-processed foods, and as such should be
avoided.

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 . Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population

Meat and eggs

Meat stew with Vegetable omelette Cooked fish

potatoes and
vegetables

This group includes beef, pork, goat and lamb (all known as red
meat), poultry and fish, and all types of eggs. Various types of
meats and eggs are commonly consumed in Brazil with rice and
beans or other foods of plant origin; they are valued because of
the flavour they add to the meal. They also have in common the
fact that they are rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Red
meat, poultry, fish, and eggs are considered separately in this
section.

Red meat

Beef and pork, as well as other red meats, are greatly appreciated
in Brazil and are eaten very often in all regions of the country.
Some red meat cuts are eaten grilled with salt. Others are used
to make stews or are consumed with baked potatoes, cassava,
vegetables, and assorted seasonings; they can also be ground to
prepare sauces or toppings. The best way to prepare fatty cuts is
by roasting, grilling, or sautéing, while less fatty cuts may be used
in stews.

As with the foods above, red meat should be prepared with the
least possible amount of oil and salt. One way to reduce the use
of salt in the meat seasoning is to use herbs such as thyme, sage,
and rosemary.

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All red meats are excellent sources of high-quality proteins and

many have a high content of micronutrients, particularly iron, zinc,
and vitamin B12. However, they tend to be high in fats, particularly
saturated fats, that when consumed in excess, increases the risk
of heart disease and numerous other chronic diseases. High
consumption of red (and processed) meats also increase the risk
of bowel cancer.

Poultry

Poultry, especially chicken, is also enjoyed throughout Brazil. Poultry

is part of traditional Brazilian cuisine such as in galinhada mineira,
galinhada goiana, galinha guisada, galinha à cabidela and pato no
tucupi.

Poultry cuts are also prepared in various ways. Cuts with more fat,
such as drumstick, thigh, and wings should be baked or grilled and
those with less fat can be boiled or stewed. As with other foods,
the use of natural seasonings reduces the amount of salt added to
poultry cuts.

Poultry, like red meat, is a good source of proteins and vitamins and
minerals. But it is also high in unhealthy fats. However, the fat in
poultry is mostly in the skin, which is best discarded.

Fish

Although Brazil has a large coastline and numerous large rivers,

in most regions fish supply is very small and prices are relatively
high compared with those of red meats and poultry. This helps
to explain the low fish consumption frequency in the country.

Fish are eaten baked, grilled, stewed (moqueca), or cooked. Their

juices can be used to make pirão (a thickened fish sauce made
also with cassava flour) or serve as a filling for pies. Culinary
preparations of fish with vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, and

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onions or with fruits like banana and açai are classics in regional
cuisines.

Similar to red meats and poultry, fish are rich in high-quality

proteins, and many vitamins and minerals. Because of the low
fat content and because they have a high proportion of healthy
fats (unsaturated fat), fish, as well as vegetables, are excellent
substitutes for red meats.

Eggs

Unlike fish, eggs, especially chicken eggs, are relatively cheap

and affordable in Brazil. They are extremely versatile and can be
eaten boiled, scrambled, fried, or used as ingredients in omelettes,
soufflés, and several other culinary preparations. They combine
well with vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, spinach, chayote,
broccoli, courgette, and maxize. They are also used with milk
and sugar in the preparation of cakes, puddings, and pastries.

Similar to meat and fish, eggs are rich in high-quality proteins,

minerals, and vitamins, especially B complex, and are also a good
substitute for red meat.

For diverse reasons, some people choose not to consume animal

foods; they are known as vegetarians. The restriction may be
only for meat or might include eggs and milk or even all foods of
animal origin.

Although the consumption of meat and other foods of animal

origin or any other food group is not absolutely essential for
a healthy diet, the restriction of any food obliges one to pay
greater attention when choosing a food combination that will be
part of the diet. The level of restriction will establish the level of
attention required and need of advice from a dietician.

Specific vegetarian guidance, as well as specific guidelines

for other types of food restriction, such as for milk or wheat
consumption, are not addressed in these Guidelines. However,

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the general recommendations to give priority to fresh and

minimally processed foods, and avoid ultra-processed foods,
apply to everyone, including vegetarians.

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Pure water
Water

Water with lemon

Water is essential for the maintenance of

life. Without water, humans cannot survive
for more than a few days. Three-quarters
of the body weight of infants, and more
than half of the weight of adults, is water.

As with food, the amount of water that is

needed daily is very variable and depends
on several factors like age and weight, the
amount of physical activity, and the climate
and temperature. For some people, two
litres of water per day may be sufficient;
others will require three or four litres or
even more, as in the case of athletes.

An important fact is that humans can

efficiently regulate their daily water
balance so that, throughout the day, the
water intake corresponds to water that
has been used or eliminated by the body.

The daily water balance is controlled by

sophisticated sensors located in the brain
and in different parts of the body. These
sensors induce the sense of thirst and induce
drinking of water when intake is not sufficient
to replenish water used or eliminated. It is
very important to pay attention to the first
signs of thirst and to drink plenty of water.
Filtro de barro
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Water drunk should be from water as such, and also as contained

in natural or minimally processed foods and culinary preparations
made with these foods. All the water used for drinking and used
in culinary preparations needs to be fit for human consumption;
free of microorganisms and chemicals that might endanger
human health. The water provided by the public water supply
should meet these criteria. When in doubt, water should be
filtered and boiled before being drunk. .

Pure water (or, as preferred by some people, “seasoned” with

lime slices or mint leaves) is the best option. Brazilians also
consume water in the form of coffee and tea, in which case sugar
should be reduced to a minimum or not added at all.

To protect the environment, non-disposable utensils such as

glass cups or mugs should be used when drinking water, coffee,
or tea. When away from home, it is wise to keep at hand bottles
or canteens with fresh water.

Most natural or minimally processed foods have high water

content. Milk and most fruits contain between 80% and 90%
water. Vegetables typically have more than 90% of their weight
in water. Pasta, potatoes, and cassava contain about 70% water
after cooking. A plate of rice and beans is made up of two-thirds
water. When diets are based on these foods, they provide about
half the total amount of water needed.

Unlike natural or minimally processed foods, processed and ultra-

processed foods generally contain little water and one of the
reasons is that they must last longer on shelves. This is the case
with packaged salty snacks and biscuits, which usually contain
less than 5% water. Ultra-processed foods such as soft drinks
and various types of sweetened drinks are almost all water but
contain sugar or artificial sweeteners and various additives, and
should be avoided.

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Finally

With the combination of beans, grains, roots, tubers, flour, pasta,

vegetables, fruits, nuts, milk, meat, eggs, coffee, tea, and water,
readers of these Guidelines may indefinitely multiply the examples
of meals presented in this chapter, creating healthy, diverse, and
tasty alternatives for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and small meals.

A healthy diet requires some attention concerning the safety of the

food consumed. Foods that are not properly sanitised, dirty cutlery,
insects, and people themselves can be sources of contamination.
To ensure the nutritional quality and avoid risks of infection
or poisoning, food must be selected, maintained, and handled
appropriately. Guidance is given at the end of this chapter.

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Care in selection,
conservation, and
food handling

How to select
Food should be purchased from markets, retail shops, butchers, and
fishmongers that are clean, organised and in a good state, and that offer
good quality options.

Fruits and vegetables should not be chosen or eaten if they are spoiled,
mouldy, have strange colours, or altered texture.

Fresh fish should be refrigerated, with well-bonded scales with no cuts, and
have rosy gills and bright clear eyes. Frozen fish should be properly packed
and stored at appropriate temperatures. Avoid acquiring those that have
accumulated ice or water on the package, as they may have been frozen
and thawed again.

Meat should not be acquired if it has darkened or greenish colour, unpleasant

odour, or altered consistency. Fresh meat is bright red (or light coloured in
the case of pork and poultry), has firm texture, and well-adhered and light-
coloured fat.

Packaged foods must be within the validity period, packaging must be

sealed and free from dents, holes, or bulging areas, and contents should not
show changes in colour, smell, or consistency.

How to conserve
Long-lasting foods (rice, corn, beans, flours, oils, sugar, salt,
milk powder and some kinds of fruits and vegetables) should
be stored in a cool dry place at room temperature away from
sunlight. Foods that spoil more easily should be refrigerated
(meat, eggs, milk, cheese, butter, most fruits and vegetables) or

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frozen (raw meats and poultry). Pre-prepared or leftover dishes

and meals should be refrigerated.

How to handle
Care is needed when handling and preparing food. To reduce the
risks of contamination, wash hands before handling food and avoid
coughing or sneezing on them, avoid consuming raw meats and eggs,
wash fruits and vegetables under running water and for greater safety
disinfect them appropriately, and keep food protected in packaging
or containers.

Kitchens should be clean, airy, and organised. Refrigerators, the stove,

cabinets, the floor and the walls should be cleaned regularly, with food
cleared out of the way.

As well as safety considerations, kitchens that are clean, light and

organised are more efficient and also attractive places to be and to
socialise.

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chapter 4.
modes of eating

The previous chapter has shown how to combine foods to

make healthy, satisfying and enjoyable meals for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner, and also for small meals. This chapter is
about the context of eating. Three aspects are considered:
the time and attention devoted to eating, the environment
where it occurs, and the sharing of meals. Following the
recommendations of this chapter will result in several
benefits. These include improved digestion and use of
foods, more efficient control of what and how much food is
consumed, enhanced family and social life, and, in particular,
more pleasure in eating.

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Eating regularly and carefully

Always when possible, eat daily meals at similar times.

Avoid ‘snacking’ between meals. Eat slowly, with full
attention, and enjoy eating without engaging in another
activity.

Having meals every day at the same time and consuming

them with attention and without being in a hurry, favours the
digestion of food and also avoids overeating. The biological
mechanisms that regulate appetite are complex, and depend
on several stimuli that take some time to signal that enough
has been consumed. It follows that eating regularly, slowly,
and carefully is the natural way to control how much is eaten.

Often, the need to eat frequently, or to snack often or to ‘graze’,

is stronger in the presence of food, especially when such food is
presented as particularly attractive. This is particularly evident
when the source of stimulation is ultra- processed products
such as confectionery, sweet or salty packaged snacks or other
products whose ingredients and formulation give them very
intense flavour. It is better not to have these products at hand,
when at home, at work, or at school. Good choices of food to
have at hand are fresh or dried fruits and unsalted nuts.

Some simple steps can prevent eating quickly or irregularly.

The more time that is taken to chew food, the greater the
attention to the act of eating, and the longer it takes to eat
a meal. In doing so, all the pleasure afforded by the different
flavours and textures provided by natural or minimally
processed foods combined with culinary preparations as
meals, is enjoyed all the more.

Eating a salad or a soup or broth before the main course of a

meal is another way to give the body the time needed for food
to be absorbed, which also inhibits overeating.

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Eating in appropriate environments

Always prefer to eat in clean, comfortable, and quiet places,

and where there is no stimulus to consume unlimited
amounts of food.

The quality of the environment of eating influences what is

eaten and in what quantity, and how much it is enjoyed. Scents,
sounds, light, comfort, and cleanliness are all important.

Clean, quiet, and comfortable places encourage attention to

the act of eating mindfully and slowly, enable meals to be fully
appreciated, and decrease overeating.

Distractions such as using cell phones or watching television

while eating are unhelpful and unhealthy. So is eating while
working, standing, walking, or driving.

It is always best to avoid being faced with lots of food or by

large portions. At home or when eating out, it is also best to be
satisfied with one substantial helping of food. Good advice to
avoid overeating is to have one serving only, or at least wait a
while before taking a second serving, which is often more than
is needed. When eating out, prefer ‘per kilo’ buffet-style self-
service restaurants where payment is by weight, and avoid
places where unlimited food is offered for a set price. Avoid
‘fast food’ outlets. These are often noisy. They are organised
for quick turnover of customers, and they promote and serve
ultra-processed foods, often in super-sizes.

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Eating in company

Prefer eating together with family, friends, or colleagues.

At home, share in acquisition, preparation, cooking and
arrangements before and after eating.

Humans are social beings. Eating together is ingrained in human

history, as is the sharing and division of responsibility for finding,
acquiring, preparing, and cooking food. Eating together, with
everything that is involved with eating, is part of the evolution
and adaptation of humanity and the development of culture and
civilisation. Eating together is a natural, simple yet profound way
to create and develop relationships between people. Thus, eating
is a natural part of social life.

The sharing of meals at home is a precious and important time for

family members and others who may share their lives together,
to cultivate and strengthen their ties, to like one another more,
to catch up, to exchange views on shared issues, to celebrate
successes, to sympathise with difficulties, and to plan for the
future. For children and adolescents, they are vital opportunities
to acquire good habits and to learn to value the importance of
sharing, by means of regular meals in appropriate environments.
For adults of all ages, shared meals consolidate co-existence,
sympathy, and mutual support.

Eating in company when away from home, including at work

or school, helps colleagues and friends to get acquainted and
to exchange experiences. It encourages teamwork, enables
people to get to know the nature of others, increases the sense
of belonging, and enhances the performance of work or school
tasks.

Occasions such as weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations

marked by special meals, are memorable times for people who
like one other and want to be together.

Eating in company usually inhibits hurried eating. It also stimulates

people to eat in more pleasant and suitable environments,

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because dining tables and place settings are required. Making

the arrangements for a shared meal should be enjoyable, like the
pleasure of sharing and explaining a favourite recipe.

Thankfully it is still common to share meals in Brazil. Daily meals

are usually prepared for the whole family. Friends from work
or school prefer to eat in company. Special shared meals on
weekends and celebrations are valued because of the coexistence
they provide. This tradition is a precious part of national culture,
which needs to be protected and strengthened. All the more so,
because all over the world, food cultures based on shared meals
are being eroded by the increasing manufacture, promotion and
consumption of ultra-processed foods.

At home, aside from eating together, it is best of all for all family
members to share in some, most or all of the activities involved
before, during and after the shared meal itself. These include
planning what will be eaten, food acquisition and purchase,
the preparation and cooking of meals, clearing up afterwards,
discussing what went well and what not so well, learning lessons
from experience, and contributing to making the dining room an
especially pleasant place.

When all family members work as team members, understanding

and sympathy grow. Modern life is marked by increasing demands
and the chronic lack of time, which are, nowadays, common to
men and women. Therefore, sharing in responsibility is also fair,
when otherwise one or only some family members have been
taking the whole responsibility. The involvement of children and
adolescents in food shopping and preparing meals teaches them
about food, and lets them learn about new foods, new ways to
prepare foods and where they come from and how they are
produced. Learning good habits around table and when eating
with the family and sharing responsibilities, all help children and
adolescents to grow up well.

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Finally

The three recommendations, brought together at the end of this

chapter, are easier to follow when practiced together. Regularity
and adequate time for meals require an appropriate environment,
which is easier and more natural when people eat together.
Appropriate environments help increase concentration in the act
of eating. Eating in company prevents eating too quickly. These
recommendations help you to enjoy the foods you eat and the
pleasures provided by the diet.

Obstacles in the way of following the recommendations presented

here and in previous chapters are examined, and ways to overcome
them discussed, in the next chapter.

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Modes of eating

Eating regularly and carefully

Always when possible, eat daily meals
at similar times. Avoid ‘snacking’
between meals. Eat slowly, with full
attention, and enjoy eating without
engaging in another activity.

Eating in appropriate
environments
Always prefer to eat in clean,
comfortable, and quiet places, and
where there is no stimulus to consume
unlimited amounts of food.

Eating in company
Prefer eating with family, friends,
or colleagues. At home, share in
acquisition, preparation, cooking, and
arrangements before and after eating.

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102
Chapter 5.
Understanding
and overcoming
obstacles
Throughout these Guidelines, great importance is given to
being realistic and feasible. This rightly also involves being
flexible. Thus, instructions, especially of amounts of food, are
not used, and instead, terms such as ‘prefer’ and ‘most of the
time’ are used. There are practically endless combinations
and amounts of foods that make up healthy diets.

A special feature of these Guidelines is that their

recommendations are based on the actual diets of a
substantial proportion of Brazilian families, whose diets are
based on natural or minimally processed foods and dishes
and meals made with these foods. So the recommendations
are not just theoretical. They are indeed realistic.

Nevertheless, following all the recommendations will not

always be easy or straightforward.

This chapter identifies six general obstacles to following

the recommendations on the choice of food (chapter 2),
the combination of foods in the form of dishes and meals
(chapter 3), and modes of eating (chapter 4). These
obstacles are of information, supply, cost, skills, time, and
advertising.

The chapter continues by giving information, ideas and

advice on how these obstacles can be overcome. Some
people may some of the obstacles easy to overcome.
Other people will have problems with some or even most
of the obstacles. Overcoming all of them is likely to involve

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considerable commitment, patience and persistence, one reason

being that some cannot be overcome personally. Sometimes what is
needed is for people to accept and act on the fact that food, diet and
nutrition is vital for their own health, and also that of the other people
in their lives. This implies finding more time and giving more attention
to food and eating. This often implies changes in habits. At other
times what is needed, are public policies and regulatory actions that
make Brazil nationally, municipally and locally an environment that
in effect supports these Guidelines. Here it is of great value that
the Brazilian constitution specifies that it is the duty of the State
to guarantee the human right to food, and with it, sovereignty and
food and nutrition security.

This chapter addresses people personally, and also and vitally, as

citizens. This is essential for the adoption of enlightened public
policies and effective regulatory actions that will benefit all
Brazilians. People can act as citizens themselves, and as members
of neighbourhood, community, work and school groups, as users
of public services, and also within political parties or civil society
organisations. All such commitment and advocacy supports Brazil as
a participatory democracy with a civil society committed to securing
and strengthening regulations and other public initiatives that protect
public health and the common good.

The Brazilian government, working with civil society, has already

agreed policies and undertakings of great social importance that have
contributed to remove obstacles in the way of the recommendations
of these Guidelines. These include increasing the income of the poor,
ensuring universal access to basic education and health services, the
support and protection of breastfeeding, technical assistance and
financial support to family agriculture, the creation of public facilities
that offer affordable meals and foods, and healthier meals in schools.
But there is a long way to go before all Brazilians can adopt all the
recommendations in these Guidelines.

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Information

There is a lot of information on diet and health, but there are

few reliable sources

There is more and more information and recommendations about

food, diet, nutrition and health on television and radio, in newspapers
and magazines, and on the Internet and social media. However,
most of their usefulness is questionable. With valuable exceptions,
they tend to emphasise specific foods propagated as ‘super foods’
and to ignore the importance of varying and combining foods from
different food groups. As such, they induce fads and depreciate
traditional and healthy foods and dietary practices. Most advice
confuses healthy eating with weight loss dieting regimes. Sometimes
informative notices are actually a veiled form of advertising for
ultra-processed foods.

What you can do

First, use these Guidelines as a reliable source of information and
advice about diet and health and well-being. Their content is based
on solid knowledge coming from a variety of scientific studies on
food and nutrition, including from studies undertaken in Brazil that are
representative of the Brazilian population, and also on the valuable
knowledge contained in traditional dietary patterns that have been
developed, perfected, and transmitted across generations.

Personally, or as a parent, friend and colleague, you can do more.

After reading these Guidelines, discuss the information and
recommendations they contain with the people in your life, including
the health professionals you consult. If you yourself are a healthcare
professional, a community worker, a social worker, an educator or a
human resource trainer, please incorporate these Guidelines and the
information and recommendations they contain in your own work and
the advice you give to all those you work with.

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As a citizen, you can do still more. For example, as a parent, at the

parents and teachers association at your child’s school, you can
propose that food and health themes should be given a high priority
in the school curriculum so that the pupils learn about food, nutrition
and health, and learn where healthy food comes from. As a parent,
worker or health professional you can make sure that information
from these Guidelines including its Ten Steps to a Healthy Diet is
put on notice boards. Be an advocate, on behalf of your family,
friends, colleagues and community. In any community group or civil
society organisation that you belong to or can join, propose that the
information, recommendations and implications of these Guidelines
be part of the organisation’s work and advocacy, in partnership with
other relevant national, municipal and local organisations.

Supply

Ultra-processed foods are on sale everywhere, promoted by

advertisements and discounts on all media. By contrast, natural or
minimally processed foods get little publicity and some are not even
available close to people’s homes.

Until recently, most people’s diets were made up from food purchased from
specialist shops like grocers, greengrocers and butchers, and from municipal,
small and street markets and vendors, or from meals at local restaurants and
bars. Some was purchased or acquired direct from producers, and people
in the countryside produced some of their own food. Only a few items
purchased were ultra-processed foods.

Now the environment in which food is sold, bought and consumed is

transformed. Literally thousands of branded ultra-processed foods are
available in many types of outlet, ranging from hypermarkets, supermarkets,
shopping malls, mini-markets, convenience stores, and other places where
a great amount of people pass by, such as subway stations and bus stations
and food chain outlets, and places where food was once not much sold,
such as pharmacies, gas stations, news-stands, cinemas, and schools and
hospitals. Street vendors also sell ultra-processed products. In all locations,
these products are advertised and promoted with fashionable design and

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posters of models, pop stars, athletes, and other celebrities, with discounts,
gifts, and all types of promotions.

For natural or minimally processed foods, the environment has also become
transformed. Many small food retailers are no longer in business. Natural or
minimally processed foods are sold in well-stocked supermarkets that quite
often are a distance from where people live and work. Many of the most
prominent items in supermarkets in the centre aisles and at the end of aisles
and checkouts are ultra-processed products. Ultra-processed products
marketed to children are placed at their eye level. Less profitable items like
rice and beans, especially when sold in economical bulk, are placed inside or
back aisles. Smaller supermarkets and convenience stores often have limited
or poor stocks of vegetables and fruits. Supermarkets that are at a distance
from home or work demand shopping expeditions by car once or twice a
week, which discourages purchases of perishable foods such as vegetables,
fruits, and fresh meat and fish.

What you can do

As with the mindful eating recommended in the previous chapter,
the first advice is to be mindful when shopping for food and eating
food away from home.

For a start, avoid shopping for food in places where only or mostly
ultra-processed products are marketed, and avoid eating at fast
food outlets. Plan your shopping at supermarkets: make a shopping
list, and buy only what is on the list unless there are additional
natural and minimally processed foods for sale which are really
good choices, like fruits in season.

Support and find bargains at speciality shops, municipal and

farmers’ markets, street vendors, and other places selling fresh or
minimally processed foods, including those produced by organic
and agro-ecological methods. In some cities vendors roam the
streets in trucks, selling vegetables and fruits which they buy from
producers and supply centres. Join collective purchasing groups
with neighbours or colleagues to get good prices for fresh foods.

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By supporting producers and traders who sell natural or minimally

processed foods, including those that are produced organically and
agro-ecologically, you contribute to the survival and expansion of
this vital sector of the farming economy.

Wherever you live, you can grow some of your own food, in your
garden or back yard, on balconies, shelves outside where you live,
and in pots inside. Becoming your own gardener and producer of
vegetables, fruits or even just of some aromatic herbs, increases
the sense of value of food. Discover how delicious food can be
grown economically and organically, without the use of chemicals.
Share information and ideas with neighbours. Involve children.

Good choices when eating out are the ‘per kilo’ restaurants found
everywhere in Brazil which serve freshly prepared dishes buffet-
style, where you make your own choice and the price depends
on the weight of the food. Many cities also have public facilities
called ‘popular restaurants’ and ‘community kitchens’, that serve

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affordable, varied and healthy meals. Another good habit is to take

home-made dishes to work or to school.

As a citizen, you can do more. You can encourage the neighbourhood

association in your community to get the municipal authorities
to create ‘popular restaurants’ and ‘community kitchens’. At
work, you and colleagues can press for canteens serving freshly
prepared meals and for space in which people can prepare and
store fresh food. You can participate in municipal councils that
oversee the conduct of the National School Feeding Programme
and its integration with family agriculture. As a member of a group
or organisation, you can press for natural and minimally processed
foods and freshly prepared meals, and not ultra-processed foods,
to be available, sold, made and served in schools, hospitals and
other institutions.

As a citizen, you can also support the movement to create and

develop community gardens to produce organic foods. These
gardens, created in city squares, streets and other locations, and
within schools, community centres, and health units and other
public spaces, encourage interaction, strengthen the community,
and produce healthy food. You can go further and as a member of
an organisation press the municipal authorities to support urban
and peri-urban agriculture projects that encourage organic food
production in unused areas in and around cities, including for
example planting fruit trees in public spaces.

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Cost

Although some natural and minimally processed foods are not

cheap, the total cost of diets based on natural or minimally
processed foods is still lower in Brazil than the cost of diets
based on ultra-processed foods.

People often think that it costs a lot to eat healthily and that
natural or minimally processed foods are much more expensive
than ultra-processed products. Such an impression is reinforced
by ‘premium’ high prices of various ultra-processed products
‘fortified’ with vitamins and other nutrients or marketed as good
for weight loss or which indicate other health claims. However,
these products are not healthy.

It is true that perishable foods like some vegetables, fruits, and

also fish, have relatively high prices. But these foods are and
should be consumed with other natural or minimally processed
foods that have lower prices, such as rice, beans, potatoes,
cassava, and other staple foods that are part of Brazil’s culinary
traditions. Also, many vegetables are not expensive, and seasonal
vegetables and fruits are best purchased when they are most
abundant, have lowest prices, and have most flavour. It is also
possible to buy vegetables and fruits in bulk, from producers and
wholesale shops.

In general and as a whole, the impression that healthy diets

necessarily cost more than unhealthy diets is mistaken.
Calculations based on Brazilian household budget surveys show
that diets based on fresh and minimally processed foods, and
dishes and meals made with these foods and culinary ingredients,
are cheaper than diets made of ultra-processed foods, as well as
being healthier.

It is true that in other countries, where ultra-processed foods

already dominate food supplies, these have become increasingly
cheaper than natural or minimally processed foods. This could
happen in Brazil, in which case what is now mostly only an
apparent obstacle would become real.

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What you can do

To save money when buying vegetables and fruits, you should
prefer varieties that are in season, because these always have the
lowest price. Buying these foods in places where there are fewer
intermediaries between the farmer and the final consumer, such
as ‘sacolões’ (public markets specialising in fruits and vegetables),
can also reduce costs. Better yet is to buy directly from producers,
either at farmers’ markets, or through collective purchasing groups.
In this way, organic varieties can become quite affordable.

The expansion of the production of natural or minimally processed

food, particularly those originating from agro-ecological agriculture,
depends on increased demand. With the increased demand for
these foods, there will be a corresponding increase in the number
of producers and traders, and consequently, price reductions.

Economical options for fresh prepared meals away from home are
the per kilo restaurants where customers make their own choice of
dishes on offer. At work or school or when travelling, inexpensive
options are to bring fresh food and dishes from home.

As a citizen, acting collectively, much can be done. You can press

municipal authorities to install public facilities that sell natural or
minimally processed foods and freshly made meals at affordable
prices. As a member of a community group or civil society
organisation you can also advocate and campaign for fiscal and
other statutory public policies that protect local farmers and the
prices of their produce so that these remain absolutely and relatively
cheap, and that make ultra-processed foods relatively expensive.

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Cooking skills

Cooking and other culinary skills are no longer being shared

between generations. This favours consumption of ultra-
processed foods.

Natural or minimally processed foods, when not eaten by

themselves, are selected, prepared, seasoned, cooked,
combined with other foods and ingredients, and made into
dishes and meals. These culinary skills have been devised,
developed and perfected in all societies, and adjusted and
improved from generation to generation. They make natural or
minimally processed foods into attractive, delicious, satisfying
and sometimes memorable meals.

In contrast, ultra-processed foods are characteristically made

ready-to-consume, or sometimes require nothing more than
heating. This is a reason why in Brazil and many other countries,
knowledge and practice of culinary skills is often not being
passed from older to younger generations. Young people are
increasingly not able or willing to prepare meals. The acts of
preparing, combining, and cooking food and making meals as

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a cultural and social practice are often becoming devalued.

Two more reasons are the multiplication of daily tasks, and
the incorporation of women into formal employment. Another
reason is the constantly increasing availability and incessant
advertising of ultra-processed foods. Manufacturers suggest
that the processes used to make their products are effectively
the same as those used at home, which is not the case. They
also suggest that making meals at home is a waste of time
better used more productively, which, given the central value
of meals personally and within families and communities, as
well as their health benefits, is also not factual.

Societies in which few people know how to cook, are for this
reason alone bound to be ones in which most foods consumed
are ready to eat or drink ultra-processed foods. This process
is accelerated by formulation and marketing of these products
as ‘irresistible’. Food science and technology is constantly
developing new products that have hyper-attractive
appearance, smell, taste and texture. This is a major obstacle
to following the recommendations of these Guidelines

What you can do

If you know how to cook, and to prepare and present meals,
develop your knowledge and share it with everybody you live with,
especially children and young people – boys and girls.

If you do not have culinary skills, learn them. Spend time assisting
family members and friends as they prepare food and cook meals.
Go shopping with them, try making some dishes, get recipes from
family, friends, and colleagues, read books, check the Internet, and
eventually take courses. Start cooking!

Culinary skills, like all other, improve when practiced. You may well
be impressed by the progress you make, and other family members
will be impressed too. Whenever you can, cook in company with
others to make the occasion social. Shared pleasure is redoubled.

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If you are really pressed for time, or live in a place where cooking
is difficult, or at first feel inhibited, make clear that you appreciate
and value the art of cooking, and encourage people around you
to cook, especially young people. If you are involved with health
promotion, include cooking themes in professional meetings and
presentations and discussions with the public.

There is a great deal also that you can do as a citizen. In parent-

teacher meetings, press for cooking and all culinary skills to be
included in the formal school curriculum. Valorise the culinary
heritage and the gastronomic traditions of Brazil and your region.
Engage with civil society organisations dedicated to taking pride in
Brazilian traditions, history and heritage.

Time

The recommendations in these Guidelines are likely to take

additional time

Consumption of dishes and meals based on natural or minimally

processed foods combined with culinary ingredients, which is the
central recommendation of these Guidelines, presupposes the

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selection and acquisition of food, its preparation, seasoning, and

cooking, the presentation of the meal, and clearing up afterwards.
Obviously this all takes time.

These Guidelines also recommend that daily meals be regular, in

agreeable surroundings, and that they be consumed mindfully,
without doing something else at the same time apart from enjoying
being in company. All this takes time too.

Modern life is demanding. More and more people have to work

long hours. Most women are now formally employed. Travel to
and from work can take a long time and be stressful. So lack of
time is liable to be an obstacle to following the recommendations
in these Guidelines.

What you can do

Bear in mind that the lack of culinary skills makes the preparation of
meals based on natural or minimally processed foods much more
time consuming. By improving your cooking techniques, you can
greatly reduce the time spent on food preparation. For example, the
time to prepare a delicious pasta dish with tomato sauce and natural
seasonings is only five minutes longer than the time spent heating
water to dissolve one package of ‘instant noodles’ loaded with fat, salt,
and additives. The recommendation to acquire or improve culinary
skills and share them with whom you live is also relevant here.

Culinary skills are not just about cooking. They also involve planning,
shopping, organisation of kitchen stores, preparing ingredients,
and planning what will be eaten in the days ahead.

Some foods, such as beans, that require longer time to prepare,

can be cooked in larger amounts on one occasion, frozen, and used
throughout the week. Certain dishes such as soups, omelettes, and
rice with sautéed vegetables take little time for preparation and may
be preferable on specially busy days. Vegetables can be cleaned and
dried in advance for use throughout the week.

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The time consumed in the preparation of meals based on natural or

minimally processed foods is decreased with the development of
culinary skills. But time is still needed, and this may be too much for
one person, considering all the activities from buying and selection
of food to cleaning and cooking. Hence the recommendation
above, that family and household members share responsibility for
all household activities related to food acquisition and preparation
of meals.

More time is also needed to follow the recommendations for the

act of eating itself, to eat meals regularly, leisurely, to enjoy the
pleasure of the sight, aroma, texture, and taste of food as prepared,
and to share this pleasure with family, friends, or colleagues.

Sometimes, as already mentioned, the removal of obstacles in the

way of recommendations involves reflecting on the value of food
and giving it more importance.

Giving a greater value to food, diet and nutrition makes it easier to

follow all the recommendations in these Guidelines, and is especially
helpful with the act of eating. Here, guiding thoughts are ‘Eating
and all that is involved in eating is not a burden, it is a privileged
time of pleasure’, and ‘Assess all the ways that time is used and
decide what can make way for food and eating’.

This does not mean though, that everybody can find enough more
time just by making personal choices. As with overcoming other
obstacles, what works best is a combination of actions personally,
as a family member, and as a citizen. Spending less time in the
house being entertained, is a family as well as personal decision.
Finding ways to cut time taken to and from work, which should
include more investment in public transport, is a personal decision
which can involve employers, and is a civil action.

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Advertising

The advertising of ultra-processed products dominates

commercial advertising of food; it often conveys incorrect
or incomplete information about diet and health and mainly
affects children and youngsters

Ultra-processed foods are promoted and advertised incessantly,

on television and radio, newspapers and magazines, the internet,
social media, at point of sale, and on packaging, and with discounts
and give-aways. Much of this propaganda is aimed at children and
young people.

More than two-thirds of commercials aired on Brazilian television

are for food products sold in fast food chains, ‘snack packs’,
cookies, cakes, breakfast cereals, candies and other sweets, soft
drinks, sweetened juices, and powdered drinks, which are all ultra-
processed products. Most of these commercials are targeted
directly at children and adolescents. The stimulus for daily
consumption in large quantities is incessant.

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On the basis of what they see in commercials, children, adolescents,

and the general population are led to believe that ultra-processed
products collectively are superior to other foods or that they
will make people happier, attractive, strong, ‘super-healthy’ and
socially acceptable, or even that the ‘energy’ (calories) in them is
needed for growing, active life, or sports.

Commercials, advertisements, offers, promotions, and packaging

are compelling and seductive for adults. They are even more so
for children. Children are in the process of developing, and by
themselves, cannot understand many of the elements of the adult
world. Increasingly, children are the target audience for ultra-
processed product advertising. This is because they influence
family purchasing choices and also because they are forming
habits that could be lifelong.

Advertising directed at children using what most attracts them,

such as heroes, celebrities, music, toys, games, and collectibles,
surround them at home, in the street, in shops, at school, in
public spaces, parks, and restaurants, and make intensive use
of television, the internet and social media, to which they are
most attracted.

What you can do

The biggest concern here is advertising focused on children.
Parents and educators must explain that the function of
advertising is essentially to increase the sale of products, and
not to inform or educate people. Limiting the amount of time
children spend watching television and using computers is a way
to reduce their exposure to advertisements, and at the same
time, make them more active. Actions speak louder than words.
Adults should also follow the guidance they give to children.

Acting as a citizen, you can do more. You can insist that the
school you attend or work at, as well as your children’s school
remain free of advertisements of any kind. You can also ask

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that schools offer discussions about the role of advertising so

that students become empowered to understand how these
work and to resist them. As a member of civil society, you
can propose the engagement of civil society organisations in
campaigns for food advertising regulation and legislations to
protect children and adolescent rights. As a voter, you can talk
to your representative in the Congress about the need for bills
that protect the population, especially children and adolescents,
from food advertising exposure.

To be effective as a citizen, you should know that Brazilian

legislation protects consumers from excesses of advertisements.
According to the Consumer Protection Code, it is illegal to mislead
through advertisements by either conveying false information,
or omitting information about characteristics and properties of
products and services. Moreover, all advertisements that take
advantage of the deficient judgment and lack of experience
of a child are considered abusive. (Regulations that describe
characteristics of abusive advertising are included in these
Guidelines in the section “Further reading’).Various official
public bodies, such as Procon, the Public Prosecutor, the Public
Defender’s Office, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of
Education, can be pressed and encouraged to take legal action
whenever instances of non-compliance with the law are noted.

Finally

There certainly are obstacles in the way of following the

recommendations of these Guidelines by Brazilian population.
This chapter has given six examples: scarcity of reliable
information, problems of supply of healthy foods, the relatively
high cost of some perishable foods, the loss of culinary skills,
lack of time, and incessant advertising and promotion of ultra-
processed foods, especially to children and young people.

Overcoming these obstacles is often not easy. In many cases,

public policies and regulatory actions are necessary to make

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the environment more conducive to the adoption of the

recommendations. However, overcoming obstacles often
demands that people reassess the importance that food has
or may have in their lives. Thus, the recommendations in this
chapter are aimed at people as individuals, members of families,
and citizens, and as members of communities and civil society
organizations that work for the common good.

The obstacles to the adoption of the recommendations in these

Guidelines are assembled at the end of this chapter, along with
some suggestions to overcome them.

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Understanding
and overcoming obstacles

Information

There is a lot of information on diet and health, but there are few reliable
sources

Read, use, publicise, and discuss the findings and recommendations of

these Guidelines with your family, friends and colleagues, and engage with
community groups or civil society organisations that can promote healthy
eating. Be an advocate. Make sure that the Guidelines and their Ten Steps to
Healthy Eating are promoted in all places to which you have access.

Supply

Ultra-processed foods are on sale everywhere, promoted by

advertisements and discounts on all media. By contrast, natural
or minimally processed foods get little publicity, and some are not
even available in locations close to people’s homes

Shop mindfully. Avoid places that sell or serve mainly or only ultra-
processed products. In supermarkets take and use a shopping list.
Support farmers’ markets, municipal markets, specialist retailers, and
other places that sell varieties of natural and minimally processed
foods, and prefer food produced by ecological methods. When you
can, grow some of your own food, even if only herbs. Join groups to
buy healthy food in bulk. As a citizen join organisations that press for
healthy food production and sale in cities and rural areas.

COST

Although some natural and minimally processed foods are not

cheap, the total cost of diets based on natural or minimally
processed foods is still lower in Brazil than the cost of diets based
on ultra-processed foods.

Be aware that many staple minimally processed foods are cheap. These
can be bought in bulk. Prefer vegetables and fruits that are in season

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and are locally produced. When eating out, choose self-service per
kilo restaurants that charge by weight. Press municipal authorities to
install public facilities that sell natural or minimally processed foods at
affordable prices. Campaign for policies that support local food farmers
and growers and that protect the prices of their produce.

Cooking skills
Cooking and other culinary skills are no longer being shared between
generations. This favours consumption of ultra-processed foods.

Develop, practice, and share your culinary skills and value the art of preparing
and cooking food. Press for the inclusion of cooking and other culinary skills
as part of formal school curriculum. Engage with civil society associations
committed to promotion of the Brazilian cultural heritage, gastronomy,
and regional and local cuisines.

TIME

The recommendations in these Guidelines are likely to take

additional time.

To optimise your time, plan in advance what you need to buy, organize the
pantry, set in advance the menu for the week, develop your cooking skills and
make all your family members share the responsibility for domestic activities
related to food. Work should be shared among the family. Find out what
tasks family members most enjoy. Simple everyday meals do not take much
time. Appreciate that exchanging time taken for home entertainment like
watching television, for time together before and after meals and at table,
brings deeper satisfaction and improves family life, especially for children.

Advertising

The advertising of ultra-processed products dominates commercial

advertising of food; it often conveys incorrect or incomplete information
about diet and health and mainly affects children and youngsters.

Explain to children and young people that the essential purpose of

advertising is to increase product sale, and not to inform or educate
people. Study the Brazilian legislation, which protects consumer rights,
and denounce those who do not follow it.

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TEN STEPS TO
HEALTHY DIETS

1
Make natural
or minimally processed
foods the basis of your diet

Natural or minimally processed foods, in great variety,

and mainly of plant origin, are the basis for diets that are
nutritionally balanced, delicious, culturally appropriate,
and supportive of socially and environmentally
sustainable food systems. Variety means foods of all
types — cereals, legumes, roots, tubers, vegetables,
fruits, nuts, milk, eggs, meat — and diversity within each
type — such as beans and lentils, rice and corn, potato
and cassava, tomatoes and squash, orange and banana,
chicken and fish.

2
Use oils, fats, salt, and sugar in small
amounts when seasoning and cooking
natural or minimally processed foods
and to create culinary preparations

As long as they are used in moderation in dishes and meals

based on natural or minimally processed foods, oils, fats,
salt, and sugar contribute to diverse and delicious diets
without making them nutritionally unbalanced

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3
Limit consumption
of processed foods

The ingredients and methods used in the manufacture of processed

foods — such as vegetables in brine, fruits in syrup, cheeses and
breads — unfavourably alter the nutritional composition of the
foods from which they are derived. In small amounts, processed
foods can be used as ingredients in dishes and meals based on
natural or minimally processed foods.

4
Avoid consumption
of ultra-processed foods

Because of their ingredients, ultra-processed foods such as salty

fatty packaged snacks, soft drinks, sweetened breakfast cereals,
and instant noodles, are nutritionally unbalanced. As a result of
their formulation and presentation, they tend to be consumed in
excess, and displace natural or minimally processed foods. Their
means of production, distribution, marketing, and consumption
damage culture, social life, and the environment.

5 Eat regularly and carefully

in appropriate environments and,
whenever possible, in company

Make your daily meals at regular times. Avoid snacking between

meals. Eat slowly and enjoy what you are eating, without engaging
in another activity. Eat in clean, comfortable and quiet places,
where there is no pressure to consume unlimited amounts of
food. Whenever possible, eat in company, with family, friends, or
colleagues: this increases the enjoyment of food and encourages

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eating regularly, attentively, and in appropriate environments.

Share household activities that precede or succeed the
consumption of meals.

6
Shop in places
that offer a variety of natural
or minimally processed foods

Shop in supermarkets and municipal and farmers markets, or buy

directly from producers or other places, that sell varieties of natural
or minimally processed foods. Prefer vegetables and fruits that are
locally grown in season. Whenever possible, buy organic and agro-
ecological based foods, preferably directly from the producers.

7
Develop, exercise
and share cooking skills

If you have cooking skills, develop them and share them, especially
with boys and girls. If you do not have these skills — men as well as
women —acquire them. Learn from and talk with people who know
how to cook. Ask family, friends, and colleagues for recipes, read
books, check the internet, and eventually take courses. Start cooking!

8 Plan your time to make food

and eating important in your life

Plan the food shopping, organise your domestic stores, and

decide on meals in advance. Share with family members the

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responsibility for all activities related to meals. Make the

preparation and eating of meals privileged times of conviviality
and pleasure. Assess how you live so as to give proper time for
food and eating.

9
Out of home,
prefer places that serve
freshly made meals

Eat in places that serve fresh meals at good prices. Self-service

restaurants and canteens that serve food buffet-style charged by
weight are good choices. Avoid fast food chains

10
Be wary of food
advertising and marketing

The purpose of advertising is to increase product sales, and not to

inform or educate people. Be critical and teach children to be critical
of all forms of food advertising and marketing.

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How to know more

This section includes suggestions for further reading to develop

the contents of these Guidelines, chapter by chapter.

Chapter 1 – Principles

SCRINIS, G. Nutritionism: the Science and Politics of Dietary Advice. New York:
Columbia University Press, 2013.

This book develops a thesis in line with the comprehensive approach

to the relationship between food, diet, nutrition and health used in these
Guidelines, in particular, not identifying foods according to the nutrients
contained in them.

CONTRERAS, J.; GRACIA, M. Alimentação, Sociedade e Cultura. Rio de

Janeiro: Editora Fiocruz, 2011.

FISCHLER, C. Commensality, society and culture. Social Science Information,

[S.l.], v. 50, p. 528-548, 2011. Disponível em: <http://ssi.sagepub.com/
content/50/3-4/528.full.pdf+html>.

The social and cultural dimensions of diets and their influence on people’s
health and well-being are depicted with great conviction in these two
publications.

LANG, T.; BARLING, D; CARAHER, M. Food Policy: Integrating Health, Environment

and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Chapter 6 of this book examines the relationship between production and

consumption of foods and the physical environment, with evidence supporting
the recommendations in these Guidelines concerning the impact of food choices
on ecology and biodiversity. Chapters 7 and 8 examine the relationship between
social and cultural dimensions of food and health, and well-being.

PETRINI, C. A centralidade do alimento. Published by the Slow Food movement.

Available on: <www.slowfoodbrasil.com/documents/the-central-the-food-
carlo-petrini.pdf>.

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An integrated approach to the environmental, social, and cultural dimensions

of diets and their relationship to health and well-being, by the Slow Food
founder Carlo Petrini.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS. Sustainable

diets and biodiversity: directions and solutions for policy, research and action. Rome,
2010. Disponível em: <www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3004e/i3004e.pdf>.

Shows, with examples and figures, that the dominant industrial food system and
the eating patterns associated with it are not sustainable, despite all the techno-
scientific advances of the modern agriculture and food industry. Its important
message is: nutritionally balanced eating patterns help to reduce the ecological
impact of food production and consumption, and promote biodiversity.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION; FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION

OF THE UNITED NATIONS. Preparation and use of food-based dietary guidelines:
Report of a joint FAO/WHO consultation Nicosia, Cyprus. Geneva, 1996. Disponível
em: <www.fao.org/docrep/X0243E/X0243E00.htm>.

Chapter 2 of this report outlines the scientific evidence relevant to the

construction of food guides, including knowledge generated by health,
nutrition, and food researchers, and also by the social, behavioural, and
environmental sciences.

COMISSÃO NACIONAL SOBRE DETERMINANTES SOCIAIS DA SAÚDE (Brasil).

As causas sociais das iniquidades em saúde no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Editora
Fiocruz, 2008. Disponível em: <http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/
causas_sociais_iniquidades.pdf>.

BRASIL. Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Fome. Secretaria

Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional. Marco de referência de
educação alimentar e nutricional para as políticas públicas. Brasília, 2012.
Disponível em: <www.fasi.edu.br/files/biblioteca/nut/Marco_referencia_
Textocompleto_educaoalimentar.pdf>.

BRASIL. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Atenção à Saúde. Departamento de

Atenção Básica. Política Nacional de Alimentação e Nutrição. Brasília, 2012.
Disponível em: <http://189.28.128.100/nutricao/docs/geral/pnan2011.pdf>.

The first report is an overview of the Brazilian population’s health status,

emphasising health inequities generated by social determinants. The
second report states the need for food and nutrition education, together
with public policies that ensure safe and sustainable food supplies in
adequate quantity and quality for all. The third is a detailed account of the
implementation of these policies in Brazil.

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BRASIL. Decreto nº 7.794, de 20 de agosto de 2012. Institui a Política

Nacional de Agroecologia e Produção Orgânica. Diário Oficial [da] República
Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, DF, v. 149, n. 162, 21 ago. 2012. p. 4.

The National Plan on Agroecology and Organic Production (Planapo) is a

public policy of the Federal Government that aims to expand and carry out
actions to guide the sustainable rural development.

BRASIL. Decreto nº 11.346, de 15 de setembro de 2006. Cria o Sistema Nacional

de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional – Sisan com vistas em assegurar o direito
humano à alimentação adequada, e dá outras providências. Diário Oficial [da]
República Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, DF, v. 143, n. 179, 18 set. 2006. p. 1.

BRASIL. Decreto nº 7.272, de 25 de agosto de 2010. Regulamenta a Lei nº

11.346, de 15 de setembro de 2006, que cria o Sistema Nacional de Segurança
Alimentar e Nutricional – Sisan com vistas a assegurar o direito humano à
alimentação adequada, institui a Política Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e
Nutricional – PNSAN, estabelece os parâmetros para a elaboração do Plano
Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional, e dá outras providências. Diário
Oficial [da] República Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, DF, v. 147, n. 164, 26 ago.
2010. p. 6.

The first publication refers to the Organic Law on Food Security and
Nutrition which institutionalized the responsibility of the government in
promoting the right of all people to regular and permanent access to food,
in quality and quantity. The second report is the decree which regulated
this law and established the National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security.

Chapter 2 – The choice of food

MOZZAFFARIAN, D.; LUDWIG, D. Dietary Guidelines in 21st Century: a time for

food. JAMA, [S.l.], v. 304, p. 681-682, 2010.

WILLETT, W. C.; SKERRET, P. J. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard

Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating. New York: Free Press, 2005.

The first publication is a paper by two Harvard University researchers. They

describe the limitations of seeing the relationship of food with health solely
in terms of the nutritional composition of foods, particularly when the main
diet-related conditions and diseases are obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases. They also state that the
protective effects of food come from food as a whole and not from specific
nutrients in foods, or from supplementation with nutrients. They advocate
dietary guidelines that favour natural and or minimally processed foods and
discourage consumption of highly processed products. This is the approach

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taken in these Guidelines, and also in the book (also from Harvard) that
includes guidelines for the US population.

LUDWIG, D. Technology, diet, and the burden of chronic disease. JAMA, [S.l.],
v. 305, p. 1352-1353, 2011. Disponível em: <http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.
aspx?articleid=896031>.

The author of this paper also advocates food guides that focus on natural or
minimally processed foods. He refers to ultra-processed products and outlines
the mechanisms linking them with obesity and other chronic diseases.

MOODIE, R. et al. Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of

tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. The Lancet,
[S.l.], v., 381, n. 9867, p. 670-679, Feb. 2013. Disponível em: <www.thelancet.
com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2962089-3/fulltext>.

A paper by an international group of researchers in this leading medical journal.

It connects ultra-processed products, alcoholic drinks, and tobacco, and states
that their increase in production and consumption is the main cause of the
current global epidemic of chronic diseases.

MOSS, M. Salt Sugar Fat: how the Food Giants Hooked Us. New York: Random
House, 2013.

This book explains in detail why ultra-processed food products contain

excessive salt, sugar, and fats.

MONTEIRO, C. A. et al. Ultra-processed products are becoming dominant in the

global food system. Obesity Reviews, [S.l.], v. 14, Suppl. 2, p. 21-28, Nov. 2013.
Disponível em: <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.12107/pdf>.

This paper examines the levels and trends in marketing of ultra-processed

food products in 79 countries, including Brazil. It shows that these products
already dominate the food supplies of high-income countries and that, in
middle-income countries such as Brazil, the sales growth is rapid and liable
to lead to dominance in the near future.

MARTINS, A. P. B. et al. Participação crescente de produtos ultraprocessados

na dieta brasileira (1987-2009). Revista de Saúde Pública, São Paulo, v. 47, p.
656-665, 2013.

This paper examines the evolution of household consumption of natural and

minimally processed foods, culinary ingredients, and processed and ultra-
processed products in Brazil. The results document that the presence of ultra-
processed products in the Brazilian diet has been growing in metropolitan
areas since the 1980s. In five years, this percentage increased five points (from
20.8% in 2002–2003 to 25.4% in 2008–2009) with a corresponding reduction

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in perishable and minimally processed foods and culinary ingredients. The

increase in ultra-processed products was common to all social groups.

SCHLOSSER, E. Fast Food Nation: what the All-American Meal is Doing to the
World. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

PETRINI, C. Slow Food: princípios da nova gastronomia. São Paulo: Senac, 2009.

The first book addresses the ill effects of a food system based on ultra-
processed products, including the weakening of food culture, the
deterioration of the physical environment, and the depletion of natural
resources such as energy and water. The second book advocates integration
of the production, preparation, and consumption of food. It sees consumers
as “co-producers” who can steer food system towards a more equitable
and sustainable future. The consumer-producer identified in the book
appreciates the symbolic value of foods and culinary ingredients and is a
champion of the sharing of meals, conviviality and commensality.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS. World

Livestock 2011: Livestock in food security. Rome, 2011. Disponível em: <www.fao.org/
docrep/014/i2373e/i2373e.pdf>.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS.

Livestock’s long shadow: environmental issues and options. Rome, 2006.
Disponível em: <www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM>.

Two reports that analyse the impact of livestock on the environment

worldwide, contrasting different production systems. They show the
urgency of reducing these impacts, in the context of projections showing
greatly increased production and consumption of animal food up to 2050.
They recommend only moderate amounts of meat in diets

CARNEIRO, F. F. et al. Dossiê ABRASCO: um alerta sobre os impactos dos

agrotóxicos na saúde. Rio de Janeiro: ABRASCO, 2012. Parte 1.

This dossier published by the Brazilian Association of Public Health (ABRASCO)

registers the concerns with the upward climb of pesticide use in Brazil and the
contamination of the environment and people, with severe impacts on public
health.

AGÊNCIA NACIONAL DE VIGILÂNCIA SANITÁRIA (Brasil); UNIVERSIDADE

DE BRASÍLIA. Rotulagem nutricional obrigatória: manual de orientação aos
consumidores. Brasília, 2005. Disponível em: <www.anvisa.gov.br/alimentos/
rotulos/manual_consumidor.pdf>.

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This publication presents the Brazilian legislation on food labelling and discusses
how already existing mandatory information on packaged foods labels, as the list of
ingredients, may contribute to product choice.

Chapter 3 – From foods to meals

IBGE. Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares 2008–2009: avaliação nutricional

da disponibilidade domiciliar de alimentos no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2010.
Disponível em: <www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/condicaodevida/
pof/2008_2009_aval_nutricional/pof20082009_avaliacao.pdf>.

This report by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics describes

changes in purchase habits in Brazilian households between 1974 and 2009.
It shows that natural or minimally processed foods are being displaced by
ultra-processed food products.

IBGE. Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares 2008–2009: análise do consumo

alimentar pessoal no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2011. Disponível em: <www.
ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/condicaodevida/pof/2008_2009_
analise_consumo/pofanalise_2008_2009.pdf>.

This second IBGE report shows the results of the first national survey
on individual food consumption conducted in Brazil in 2008–2009. Its
database was extensively used in the analyses done for these Guidelines
that describe the main characteristics of Brazilian diets and, in particular,
identify those based on meals freshly made natural or minimally
processed foods.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of

chronic diseases: report of a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation. Geneva,
2003. (Technical Report, 916) Disponível em: <http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/
who_trs_916.pdf>.

This UN report gives global recommendations for intake including of

fats, various types of fat, carbohydrate, free sugars, protein, sodium,
dietary fibre, and also fruits and vegetables. These recommendations
guided analysis of the food intake of Brazilians conducted on the basis
of the 2008–2009 survey.

WORLD CANCER RESEARCH FUND; AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER

RESEARCH. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer:
a Global Perspective. Washington DC: AICR, 2007. Disponível em: <www.
dietandcancerreport.org/cancer_resource_center/downloads/Second_Expert_
Report_full.pdf>.

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This comprehensive report includes recommendations on energy density

and red meat consumption adopted by these Guidelines.

SAWKA, M. N.; CHEUVRONT, S. N.; CARTER, R. Human Water Needs. Nutrition

Reviews, [S.l.], v. 63, Supplement 1, p. S30-S39, 2005. Disponível em: <www.nap.
edu/books/0309091691/html>.

The first publication summarises the findings and recommendations of the

2004 US Institute of Medicine report for the intake of water and electrolytes
by healthy people throughout their life cycle, taking physical activity and
heat exposure into account. The findings are a basis for the advice in these
Guidelines.

AGÊNCIA NACIONAL DE VIGILÂNCIA SANITÁRIA (Brasil). Guia de alimentos

e vigilância sanitária. Brasília, [200?]. Disponível em: <www.anvisa.gov.br/
alimentos/guia_alimentos_vigilancia_sanitaria.pdf>.

AGÊNCIA NACIONAL DE VIGILÂNCIA SANITÁRIA (Brasil). Orientações aos

Consumidores. Disponível em: <http://anvisa.gov.br/alimentos/consumidor/
index.asp>.

Two reports of the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA)

that provide information and guidance on food safety including on selecting,
handling, and storing food.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION; FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS. Preparation and use of food-
based dietary guidelines: report of a joint FAO/WHO consultation, Nicosia,
Cyprus. Geneva, 1996. Disponível em: <www.fao.org/docrep/X0243E/
X0243E00.htm>.

This UN report recommends that dietary guidelines should always take

into account the social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors that
affect food availability and eating patterns. It recommends that food guides
should be based on actual current dietary patterns rather than numerical
targets related to isolated nutrients, with recommendations on the major
population health problems. It also states that a variety of dietary patterns
protect health and well-being.

CASCUDO, L. C. História da alimentação no Brasil. São Paulo: Editora Global, 2004.

FERNANDES, C. Viagem gastronômica através do Brasil. 2. ed. São Paulo: Editora

Senac São Paulo; Editora Estúdio Sonia Robatto, 2001.

These two books are histories and celebrations of Brazilian cuisine. Luís da
Câmera Cascudo’s book, first published in 1967, is an outstanding account

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of the history of Brazilian cuisines, their indigenous African and Portuguese

origins, and the influence of more recent migrations from Europe and other
parts of the world. He gives meticulous details of typical Brazilian dishes
with their flavours, colours, and aromas. The book also addresses the social
and cultural aspects of the culinary arts, including the symbolism of food,
the characteristics of meals, commensality, and table manners. Caloca
Fernandes’ book is a delicious gastronomic journey through all the regions
of Brazil. (Specific books with recipes on day-to-day cooking are included
below, in the suggested readings for Chapter 5).

BRASIL. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Atenção à Saúde. Departamento de

Atenção Básica. Alimentos regionais brasileiros. 2. ed. Brasília, 2014.

An extensive list of many types of Brazilian fruits, vegetables, legumes,

tubers, cereals, and herbs from all Brazil’s regions, with recipes for dishes
and meals. Highlights the rich diversity of Brazilian food.

Chapter 4 – Modes of eating

GARCIA, R. W. D. Reflexos da globalização na cultura alimentar: considerações

sobre as mudanças na alimentação urbana. Revista de Nutrição, Campinas, v.
16, n. 4, p. 483-492, 2003.

A paper on current food culture highlighting how industrial food supplies

have changed urban dietary patterns, in the context of globalization.

STROEBELE, N.; DE CASTRO, J. M. Effect of ambience on food intake and

food choice. Nutrition, [S.l.], v. 20, p. 821-838, 2004. Disponível em: <www.
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900704001510#>.

WANSINK, B. Mindless Eating: why we eat more than we think. New York: Bantam, 2006.

COHEN, D. A; FARLEY, T. A. Eating as an automatic behavior. Preventing

Chronic Disease, Atlanta, v. 5, p. 1-7, 2008. Disponível em: <www.cdc.gov/pcd/
issues/2008/jan/07_0046.htm>.

These three publications provide a solid scientific basis supporting the

recommendations in these Guidelines on eating regularly and attentively
and how to avoid environments that encourage excessive consumption of
dietary energy.

BRILLAT-SAVARIN, J-A. A fisiologia do gosto. São Paulo: Companhia das

Letras, 1995.

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POLLAN, M. Cozinhar: uma história natural da transformação. São Paulo:

Instrínseca, 2014.

The first book is the classic by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, first published
in French in 1825. The second, published almost 200 years later, is by
the celebrated US author Michael Pollan. Both celebrate the essential
pleasure in all human actions related to food, the choice of food, and the
preparation of dishes, from enjoying food to socialising with family, friends
and colleagues.

Chapter 5 – Understanding and overcoming obstacles

Understanding obstacles

STUCKLER, D. et al. Manufacturing epidemics: the role of global

producers in increased consumption of unhealthy commodities
including processed foods, alcohol, and tobacco. PLoS Med, [S.l.], v.
9, n. 6, p. e1001235, 2012. Disponível em: <www.plosmedicine.org/
article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.
pmed.1001235&representation=PDF>.

MONTEIRO, C. A.; CANNON, G. The impact of transnational “Big

Food” companies on the South: a view from Brazil. PLoS Med, [S.l.],
v. 9, n. 7, p. e1001252. Disponível em: <www.plosmedicine.org/
article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.
pmed.1001252&representation=PDF>.

The obstacles to the adoption of healthy eating represented by aggressive

advertising of ultra-processed food products are described in detail in these
two papers, the first from a global perspective, and the second with an
emphasis on Brazil.

ORGANIZAÇÃO PAN-AMERICANA DA SAÚDE. Recomendações da

consulta de especialistas da Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde
sobre a promoção e a publicidade de alimentos e bebidas não
alcoólicas para crianças nas Américas. Washington, DC, 2012. Disponível
em: <www2.paho.org/bra/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_
view&Itemid=423&gid=997&orderby=dmdate_published&ascdesc=DESC)>.

CAIRNS, G. et al. Systematic reviews of the evidence on the nature, extent and
effects of food marketing to children: a retrospective summary. Appetite, [S.l.],
v. 62, p. 209-215, 2013.

These two publications are about food advertising and marketing aimed
at children. The first describes the vulnerability of children to advertising,

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highlighting the predominance of ultra-processed food products in

advertisements and the systematic use of all media. It recommends that
countries in the Americas should enact policies that reduce exposure
of children to the promotion of unhealthy food products. The second
publication, a review article, confirms the predominance of ultra-processed
food products in advertising aimed at children, highlighting its harmful
effects on food preferences, purchasing habits, consumption patterns, and
various health disorders related to food.

MOUBARAC, J-C. et al. International differences in cost and consumption of

ready-to-consume food and drink products: United Kingdom and Brazil, 2008-
2009. Global Public Health, [S.l.], v. 8, p. 845-856, 2013.

This paper is about the influence of prices on the purchasing of foods in Brazil
and in the UK. It shows that, in the UK, preparing meals at home costs more
than purchasing ultra-processed ready-made food products, whereas in Brazil,
home-prepared food costs less. The relatively lower prices of ultra-processed
food products in the UK is an explanation of why these products dominate the
national UK diet, but as yet not that of Brazil.

SHAPIRO, L. Something from the oven. New York: Penguin, 2004.

This book covers US post-war history. It challenges the common notion that
the displacement of foods and culinary preparations used in home cooking of
meals by ready-to-consume ultra-processed food products was because of
the increased paid employment of women out of the home, who have no time
to cook. Laura Shapiro shows that the change was largely driven on industry
marketing strategies which convinced people that ready-made products
meant that there was no longer any need to cook and that the time could be
used for more interesting activities. The relationships between the value of
food, the time and care needed to prepare meals, and the many benefits that
centre on cooking, are also addressed by Michael Pollan in his book Cooked,
listed above.

Overcoming obstacles

Publication of the General Coordination on Food and Nutrition, Ministry of Health.

Available in:<http://dab.saude.gov.br/>.

The link is to all relevant publications of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

These include information and guidance on breastfeeding, the nutrition of
children until 2 years of age, healthy eating for older people, and regional
foods.

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BRASIL. Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social. Segurança Alimentar. Rede

equipamentos. Disponível em: <www.mds.gov.br/segurancaalimentar/
equipamentos>.

This link is to information on public polices to reduce national rates of

food insecurity and to promote access to adequate and These include
information and guidance on popular restaurants, community kitchens,
support of family farming, food banks, and popular markets.

SANTOS, M. V. et al. Os restaurantes por peso no contexto de alimentação saudável

fora de casa. Revista de Nutrição, Campinas, v. 24, p. 641-649, 2011. Disponível em:
www.scielo.br/pdf/rn/v24n4/v24n4a12.pdf52732011000400012>.

This paper describes Brazil’s system of ‘per kilo’ restaurants, which serve
freshly made dishes buffet-style, charged by weight at fair prices.

HARTMANN, C.; DOHLE, S.; SIEGRIST, M. Importance of cooking skills for balanced
food choices. Appetite, [S.l.], v. 65, p. 125-131, 2013.

CASTRO, I. R. R. et al. A culinária na promoção da alimentação saudável:

delineamento e experimentação de método educativo dirigido a adolescentes
e a profissionais das redes de saúde e de educação. Revista de Nutrição,
Campinas, v. 20; p. 571-588, 2007. Disponível em: <www.scielo.br/pdf/rn/v20n6/
a01v20n6.pdf>.

These papers are on the relationship between culinary skills and eating
healthily. The first paper contains evidence that ability to cook leads to
eating more vegetables including greens, and less ultra-processed food
products. The second describes the benefits of education in the range of
culinary skills on promotion of healthy eating.

BRASIL. Resolução nº 163, de 13 de março de 2014. Dispõe sobre a abusividade do

direcionamento de publicidade e de comunicação mercadológica à criança e ao
adolescente. Diário Oficial [da República Federativa do Brasil], Brasília, DF, 4 abr.
2014. Seção I, p. 4.

This 2014 Decree from the Brazilian National Council for Children and
Adolescents identifies targeting all advertisements including for food
products, to children and adolescents, as abusive. It characterises
advertisements aimed at children and lists the places where this practice is
considered illegal under the Consumer Protection Code.

POLLAN, M. Regras da comida: um manual da sabedoria alimentar. São Paulo:

Editora Intrínseca, 2010.

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WATERS, A. A arte da comida simples: lições e receitas de uma deliciosa

revolução. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Agir, 2011.

LOBO, R. Panelinha: receitas que funcionam. 5. ed. São Paulo: Editora Senac, 2012.

These three books, by Michael Pollan, Alice Waters and Rita Lobo, a small selection from
many others, include practical suggestions that will assist readers to incorporate the
recommendation and advice of these Guidelines in their daily lives.

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annex a
Process of elaboration of the new
edition of the “Dietary Guidelines for
the Brazilian Population”

This new edition has been developed by the Ministry of Health (MS) in partnership
with the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health of the
University of São Paulo (NUPENS/USP) with the support of the Brazilian Pan
American Health Organization Office (PAHO/Brazil). In order to promote the
collective construction and to promote broad participation and discussion of
the contents of this document, the General Coordination of Food and Nutrition
(CGAN) has organized this elaboration process in six major steps that contributed
to the final version of new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian
Population:

Step 1 – Listening Workshop

The first step of the process included a workshop, held in November 2011, at the
School of Public Health of the University of São Paulo, with participants from all
over Brazil. The participants included professionals from health, education, social
welfare and agriculture sectors, university professors, leaders of professional
councils and professional associations and members of public policy social
control councils and consumer protection organizations.

Working groups discussed the following questions: what should a guide or

a reference material contain in order to effectively contribute to better food
choices by the population? Have you ever used the 2006 Dietary Guidelines for
the Brazilian population? How? Do you consider the language and the proposed
structure appropriate? The group discussions were reported in a final plenary
bringing up the different views and observations resulting from the group
debates. The results of this workshop guided the elaboration of the first draft of
the new Guidelines

Step 2 – Formulation of the first draft

The first draft of the new Guidelines was elaborated by a team of representatives of
CGAN, PAHO and NUPENS, between November 2011 and July 2013.

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Step 3 – Evaluation Workshop

The draft was evaluated in a second workshop, held in August 2013, at the School
of Public Health of the University of São Paulo, with the participation of health
managers, health professionals, civil society representatives and researchers.

The group was divided in four working groups to answer the following questions
about each chapter of the draft:

Did the chapter omit any important content? Is there any irrelevant content or
any content that should be removed? Should something be said differently? What
would you highlight as strengths and weaknesses of this chapter? What is your
overall assessment of the new version of the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian
population?

The group discussions were reported and discussed in a final plenary. The results of
this workshop guided the development of a second version of the document.

Step 4 – Formulation of the second draft

The second draft was elaborated, between September and December 2013, by
the same team that wrote the first draft. This new draft, after evaluation and
approval by the Ministry of Health, was submitted to a public consultation that
started on February 10th, 2014.

Step 5 – Public Consultation

The second version of the food guide was published in an official public
consultation website platform of the Ministry of Health and became available to
receive contributions from February 10th to May 7th, 2014.

During this period, several meetings were held throughout Brazil, aiming to
foster the discussion of the content of the food guide draft, to welcome different
perceptions, to stimulate the disclosure of the consultation and to encourage
contributions and suggestions through the public consultation platform.

Among these meetings:

• State workshops promoted by the Ministry of Health with the support

of State Health Secretariats (SES) Coordination/Technical references of Food
and Nutrition, which were responsible for organizing the event and inviting
the participants. 27 workshops (in 26 states and in the Federal District) were
performed with the participation of about 30 people per workshop, including

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healthcare professionals of SUS, educational and social assistance professionals

and representatives of civil society organizations. During the workshops, the
participants were asked to previously read the document and the meeting
was divided into three phases: 1º) presentation of the second draft; 2º) group
discussion, chapter by chapter; 3º) presentation of the summary discussions
of each group and plenary discussion. The final product was a consolidated
report about all issues discussed, which subsequently was inserted at the public
consultation platform by the State Food and Nutrition Coordinators/References,
in order to formalize the workshop considerations.

• Meetings with regional nutritionist professional councils and local

universities: the regional and state councils organised meetings and invited
nutritionists and local public and private universities representatives for
discussing the second draft of the food guide.

• Other meetings: the Ministry of Health also discussed the second draft
in other spaces and with other social actors such as: the Food and Nutrition for
Public Health Taskforce from the Brazilian Public Health Association (GT ANSC/
ABRASCO), the National Health Council, the Directive Board of the National Food
and Nutritional Security Council (Consea), Federal and Regional Nutritionist
Professional Councils (CFN/CRN) and RedeNutri (social network for food and
nutrition policy professionals) through online discussions.

• During the three months of consultation, 3,125 contributions from 436

individuals/institutions had been received as described below:

NUMBER OF NUMBER OF
PROFILE OF USERS
USERS CONTRIBUTIONS
Educational Institutions 201 278
Individuals 102 1227
Secretariats, departments and coordinators at federal,
58 350
state and municipality level
Food and Nutrition and Food and Nutrition Security
53 1027
councils and organizations and nonprofit institutions.
Industry, associations and food syndicates. 17 230
Others 5 13
Total 436 3125

The fifth step was concluded on May 2014 by CGAN/MS, through de compilation of all
contributions from the public consultation. Based on this compilation, the elaboration of the
final draft was started.

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Step 6 – Final version of the new Dietary Guidelines

The final version of the new edition of the Guidelines was developed, based on
compiled contributions of public consultation from June to July 2014 by the
technicians and researchers from CGAN/MS, PAHO and NUPENS/USP.

The participatory work adopted throughout the preparation of this new version
the Guidelines was a key element to receive the suggestions of a number of
people and institutions, and to address various actors and sectors of society
interested in health promotion and the promotion of adequate and healthy
eating for the Brazilian population.

Considering the diversity of Brazilian regional realities and different population

groups to whom this guide is intended, the Ministry of Health will also develop
other communication strategies to disseminate its contents, including the
preparation of other materials such as manuals, brochures and videos.

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PARTICIPANTS
César Nunes Nascimento - Integral
LISTENING WORKSHOP Health Institute (ISI/DF, Brazil)
Aline Cristino Figueiredo – Brazilian Clara Freire de Araújo - Ministry of
Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) Health (Brazil)
Ana Carolina Feldenheimer da Silva – Daniela Silva Canella - Center for
Ministry of Health (Brazil) Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
and Health, University of São Paulo
Ana Claudia Marquim Firmo de Araújo (NUPENS/USP)
- Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency
(ANVISA) Deurides Ribeiro Navega Cruz –
Ministry of Health (Brazil)
Ana Maria Cervato-Mancuso –
University of São Paulo (USP) Diogo Thimoteo da Cunha - Federal
University of São Paulo (UNIFESP)
Ana Maria Dianezi Gambardella –
University of São Paulo (USP) Elisabetta Gioconda Iole Giovanna
Recine – University of Brasilia (UNB)
Ana Paula Bortoletto Martins - Center
for Epidemiological Research in Elke Stedefeldt – Federal University of
Nutrition and Health, University of São São Paulo (UNIFESP)
Paulo (NUPENS/USP) Fabio da Silva Gomes - National
Anayde Lima - Slow Food São Paulo Cancer Institute of Brazil (INCA Brazil)
Anelise Rizzolo de Oliveira Pinheiro – Geisa Firmino Torres de Medeiros –
University of Brasília (UNB) PETROBRAS (Brazil)
Antônio Fagundes – Ministry of Health Geoffrey John Cannon - World Cancer
(Brazil) Research Fund (RJ, Brazil)
Beatriz Aparecida Edméa Tenuta Janaína Calu Costa - Center for
Martins - Federal Board of Nutritionist Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
(CFN) and Health, University of São Paulo
(NUPENS/USP)
Carla Susana Rodrigues - Ministry
of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Janine Giuberti Coutinho - Pan
Supply (MAPA, Brazil) American Health Organization (PAHO,
Brazil)
Carlos Augusto Monteiro - Center for
Epidemiological Research in Nutrition Jean-Claude Moubarac - Center for
and Health, University of São Paulo Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
(NUPENS/USP) and Health, University of São Paulo
(NUPENS/USP)
Carmem Cemires Cavalcante Costa -
State Secretariat of Health of Ceará Larissa Galastri Baraldi - Center for
(SES/CE) Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
and Health, University of São Paulo
Carolina Belomo de Souza – Ministry (NUPENS/USP)
of Health (Brazil)

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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Lorena Gonçalves Chaves – Ministry of Mariana Martins Pereira - State

Education (Brazil) Secretariat of Health of Distrito
Federal (SES-DF)
Luana Caroline dos Santos – Federal
University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Marina Vianna Ferreira – University of
São Carlos (UFSCAR)
Luciana Ferreira Campos Vasconcelos
– PETROBRAS (Brazil) Milene Gonçalves Massaro Raimundo
- Secretary of Agriculture and Food
Luísa Maria Oliveira Pinto - State
Supply for the State of São Paulo
Secretariat of Health of Ceará (SES/
(SAA-SP, Brazil)
CE)
Nildes de Oliveira Andrade - National
Luiza Lima Torquato – University of
Health Council (CNS, Brazil)
Brasília (UNB)
Péricles Macedo Fernandes - Ministry
Macarena Urrestarazu Devincenzi
of Agriculture, Livestock and Food
– Federal University of São Paulo
Supply (MAPA, Brazil)
(UNIFESP)
Rafael Moreira Claro - Center for
Maluh Barciotte - Center for
Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
and Health, University of São Paulo
and Health, University of São Paulo
(NUPENS/USP)
(NUPENS/USP)
Regina Fonseca - The eight Millennium
Manuela de Sá Pereira Colaço Dias 
Development Goals (São Paulo, Brazil)
- Consumer Protection Association
(PROTESTE, Brazil) Renata Bertazzi Levy - Center for
Epidemiological Research in Nutrition
Marcia Samia Pinheiro Fidelix –
and Health, University of São Paulo
Brazilian Association of Nutrition
(NUPENS/USP)
(ASBRAN)
Silvia Vignola - Brazilian Institute for
Maria Antonieta de Barros Leite
Consumer Protection (IDEC, Brazil)
Carvalhaes - Paulista State University
(UNESP) Suely Feldman Bassi - Municipal
Secretariat of Health of São Paulo
Maria Fabiana Ferro Guerra - Social
(SMS-SP)
Service of Commerce (SESC/SP,
Brazil) Susana Moreira Padrão – State
University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
Mariana Carvalho Pinheiro – Ministry
of Health (Brazil) Tatiane Nunes Pereira – University of
São Paulo (USP)
Mariana de Araujo Ferraz - Brazilian
Institute for Consumer Protection Teresa Cristina Guimarães Magalhães
(IDEC, Brazil) - State Secretariat of Health of Bahia
(SES/BA)
Mariana Helcias Côrtes Gonzaga
Sagastume - Ministry of Social Thalita Antony de Souza Lima -
Development and Fight against Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency
Hunger (MDS, Brazil) (ANVISA)

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Theresa Cristina de Albuquerque Greice Bordignon – Social Service of

Siqueira – Ministry of Health (Brazil) Industry (SESI)
Vanessa Fernandes Davies - Brazilian Isa Maria de Gouveia Jorge – Federal
Social Services for Industry (SESI/SC) Board of Nutritionist (CFN)
Viviane Laudelino Vieira – University Janine Giuberti Coutinho – Ministry of
of de São Paulo (USP) Social Development (MDS, Brazil)
Karla Lisboa Ramos – Pan-American
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS Health Organization (PAHO, Brazil)
ASSESSMENT OF THE PROPOSED
Lorena Gonçalves Chaves – Fund for
NEW GUIDELINES
Educational Development (FNDE,
Brazil)
Adriana Bouças Ribeiro – State
Secretariat of Health of São Paulo Luciana Azevedo Maldonado – State
(SES/SP) University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
Aline Cristine Souza Lopes - Federal Luisa Maria Oliveira Pinto – State
University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Secretariat of Health of Ceará (SES/
CE)
Aline Cristino Figueiredo – Brazilian
Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) Maísa Beltrame Pedroso – Municipal
Secretariat of Health of Rio Grande do
Amélia Augusta de Lima Friche -
Sul (SES/RS)
Federal University of Minas Gerais
(UFMG) Márcia Samia Pinheiro Fidelix –
Brazilian Nutrition Association
Ana Maria Cervato Mancuso –
(ASBRAN)
University of São Paulo (USP)
Maria Janaína Cavalcante Nunes –
Ana Maria Dianezi Gambardella –
Municipal Secretariat of Health of
University of São Paulo (USP)
Goiás (SES/GO)
Elizabeth Maria Bismarck-NasrIII –
Patrícia Azevedo Feitosa – Municipal
Municipal Secretariat of Health of São
Secretariat of Health of Acre (SES/
José dos Campos (SMS/SP)
AC)
Christiane Gasparini Araujo Costa –
Pedro Cruz - Federal University of
Institute of Studies, Formation and
Paraíba (UFPB)
Assistance in Social Policies (POLIS/SP)
Regicely Aline Brandão Ferreira –
Elaine Leandro Machado – Ministry of
Municipal Secretariat of Health of
Health (Brazil)
Mauá (SMS MAUA)
Elisabetta Gioconda Iole Giovanna
Regina Barros Goulart Nogueira -
Recine – University of Brasília (UNB)
Brazilian National Council on Food
Estelamaris Tronco Monego – Federal and Nutrition Security (CONSEA)
University of Goiás (UFG)
Regina Maria Ferreira Lang - Federal
Georges Schnyder - Slow Food Brazil University of Paraná (UFPR)

149
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH of Brazil

Renata de Araújo Ferreira – Brazilian Gisele Ane Bortolini – Ministry of

Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) Health (Brazil)
Silvia do Amaral Rigon – Brazilian Kelly Poliany de Souza Alves –
National Council on Food and Ministry of Health (Brazil)
Nutrition Security (CONSEA)
Kimielle Cristina Silva – Ministry of
Health (Brazil)
PARTICIPANTS OF THE WORKING
Lorena Toledo de Araújo Melo –
GROUP FOR CONSIDERATION OF
Ministry of Health (Brazil)
SUGGESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
CONSULTATION Mara Lucia dos Santos Costa –
Ministry of Health (Brazil)
Bruna Pitasi Arguelhes – Ministry of
Renata Guimarães Mendonça de
Health (Brazil)
Santana – Ministry of Health (Brazil)
Fernanda Rauber – Ministry of Health
Sara Araújo da Silva – Ministry of
(Brazil)
Health (Brazil)

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 ISBN 978-85-334-2242-1

9 788533 422421

Virtual Health Library of the Ministry of Health

www.saude.gov.br/bvs

B R A Z I L I A N G O V E R N M E N T

Ministry of
Health