Brazil

INFORMAS in Brazil is coordinated by Dr Ana Paula Bortoletto Martins (IDEC – Brazilian Institute for Consumers Defense). We are conducting six modules: food composition, food labelling, food promotion, food prices, private sector and public sector policies (food EPI). The first module is being conducted by Dr Ana Clara Duran, researcher from the Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition/University of São Paulo (Nupens/USP). The food labelling module was included in a research project coordinated by IDEC in collaboration with Nupens/USP. The food promotion module is coordinated by IDEC and is being conducted together with Dr Rafael Claro and Dr Paula Horta’s team from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Food prices module is being conducted by Dr Rafael Claro from UFMG. The private sector module is being conducted by Dr. Aline Mariath, who has just completed her PhD at the School of Public Health at USP (FSP/USP). And the food EPI module is being conducted by Dr Elisabetta Recine from the University of Brasília (UnB), Dr Andréa Sugai from the Federal University of Goiás (UFG), Dr Ana Carolina Feldenheimer from the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), and Dr Paulo Castro from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Food composition and food labelling data collection and data entry conducted together in supermarkets of São Paulo and Salvador are now completed. We published three scientific papers regarding trans fat, health and nutrition claims, and nutrient profile modules according to the INFORMAS classification system. A paper about the content of sodium in ultra-processed foods (UPP) and voluntary agreements is in press; a paper about whole grains, one regarding promotional strategies on labels, and two papers about sweeteners in UPP are under review; and a paper regarding the use of ingredients in UPP is being developed.

The first round of food promotion data collection ended in April 2018, based on the recording during eight days of the three most popular channels of the Brazilian open TV (432 hours of recording). Based on this dataset, we developed five papers: the description of all the food ads based on the INFORMAS classification system (published), food ads targeted at children (in press), persuasive strategies in food ads (published), nutrient profile of the foods and beverages advertised on Brazilian TV (published), and persuasive strategies in TV commercials and social media (under review). In April 2019, we ran the second round of the data collection of TV food and beverage advertisements considering free-to-air and pay-per-view channels, and the third round was in September 2019 for open TV only. In June 2020, the fourth round was carried out for free-to-air and pay-per-view channels. The data of the second and third rounds are being evaluated and of the final round is being entered. We plan to develop a longitudinal analysis of the four rounds of data collection and a content analysis of food advertising on Brazilian TV during the covid-19 pandemic.

The food prices data collection and data entry are finished. We published two scientific papers in 2019 and are redoing the modelling analysis for healthy and unhealthy food prices considering the covid-19 pandemic.

Research on the private sector module is being conducted by Aline Mariath. BIA Obesity was started in February 2017 and preliminary results on restaurants and supermarkets were presented in poster format in Guadalajara, Mexico, in November 2018 (SLAN). Due to lack of personnel and Aline’s research on corporate political activity for her PhD thesis, BIA Obesity had to be suspended. She has just completed her PhD and the resulting papers are expected to start being published in the near future. We also plan to resume data collection for BIA Obesity.

The food EPI module was being conducted by a researcher from the UK, who finished the first draft about food and nutrition security policies in 2016, and the other steps proposed in the protocol were not carried out. In 2018, the conduct of this module changed, and now the Brazilian researchers from UnB, UFG, UERJ and UFRJ are in charge. The project has funding from CNPq. The team finished the application of the questionnaire to compare national actions and best practices. The information from this data collection is being organized to start four online validation workshops, that will happen in May and June 2021.

Ana Paula Bortoletto Martins

Technical consultant, Program of Health and Sustainable Diets & Post-doc researcher

Brazilian Institute for Consumers Defense (IDEC) & Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition/University of São Paulo (Nupens/USP)

Phone: +55 11 3874-2163

Email: Ana Paula Bortletto Martins

Laís Amaral Mais

Coordinator of the Healthy and Sustainable Diets Program

Brazilian Institute for Consumers Defense – Idec

Phone: +55 11 3874-2165

Email: Laís Amaral Mais

Teresa Donato Liporace

Manager of Policies and Programs

Brazilian Institute for Consumers Defense – Idec

Phone: +55 21 98620-0120

Email: Teresa Donato Liporace

Professor Carlos Augusto Monteiro

Professor, School of Public Health

São Paulo University

carlosam@usp.br

Email: Prof Carlos Augusto Monteiro

Ana Carolina Feldenheimer da Silva

Professor, Department of Social Nutrition

State University of Rio de Janeiro – UERJ

Phone: +55 21 982778379

E-mail: Ana Carolina Feldenheimer da Silva

Aline Marath

Nutritionist and PhD student

Brazilian Chamber of Deputies and University of São Paulo – USP

E-mail: Aline Mariath

Ana Clara da Fonseca Leitão Duran

Research Associate Professor, School of Medical Sciences,

University of Campinas – UNICAMP

Email: Ana Clara da Fonseca Leitão Duran

Andrea Sugai

Professor, Faculty of Nutrition

Federal University of Goiás – UFG

Phone: +55 61 98366.6900

Email: Andrea Sugai

Elisabetta Recine

Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences

University of Brasília – UnB

Phone: +55 61 3107-0090

Email: Elisabetta Recine

Rafael Moreira Claro

Professor, School of Nursing, Department of Nutrition

Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG

Email: Rafael Moreira Ciaro

Patricia Chaves Gentil

Consultant in food and nutrition

Brazilian Institute for Consumers Defence -Idec

Email: Patricia Chaves Gentil

Paula Martins Horta

Professor School of Nursing, Department of Nutrition

Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG

Email: Paula Martins Horta

Paulo Cesar Castro Junior

Professor, Department of Social Nutrition

State University of Rio de Janeiro

Email: Paulo Cesar Castro Junior

Gabriela L. da Cruz

PhD Candidate at the School of Public Health of the University of São Paulo and PhD visiting scholar at the University of Auckland. Current research: Environmental impact, cost, and nutritional quality of the traditional Brazilian diet and the evaluation of the household food acquisition trends in New Zealand, according to the NOVA system.

Email: Gabriela L. da Cruz

Carolina Kikuta, Graduate Program in Nutrition and Public Health, School of Public Health, São Paulo University

Email: carolina.kikuta@usp.br

Maria Laura Louzada, Professor, School of Public Health, São Paulo University

Email: maria.laura.louzada@usp.br

Thais Marquezine Caldeira, Graduate Program in Public Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais

Email: thaismarquezinec@gmail.com

Module	Status (as of April 2021)
Food Composition	Data collection, data entry and data analysis completed Development of three scientific papers ongoing Three papers published, one in press, four under review, and one being developed
Food Labelling	Data collection, data entry and data analysis completed Development of three scientific papers ongoing Three papers published, one in press, four under review, and one being developed
Food Promotion	Data collection, data entry and data analysis completed (first round – April 2018). Three scientific papers published, one in press, and one under review Data collection and data entry completed, data analysis ongoing (second and third rounds – April and September 2019) Data collection complete, data entry ongoing (fourth round – June 2020)
Food Prices	Data collection, data entry and data analysis completed. Two scientific papers published and one paper being developed.
Private Sector	Adaptation of the instruments for the pilot study and data collection and analysis on restaurants and supermarkets completed. Research on corporate political activity in the Brazilian Legislature carried out and papers resulting from it are expected to be published
Food EPI	Application of the questionnaire completed. Data organization ongoing.
Food Retail
Food Provision
Food Trade & Investment

Outputs

2024

Scientific paper “Assessment of ultra-processed foods consumption in Senegal: validation of the Nova-UPF screener” published in Arch Public Health in January 2024.
Scientific paper “Exposure and power of TV food advertising during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: a content analysis” published in BMC Public Health in February 2024.

2023

Scientific paper “Guía para la adaptación, validación, aplicación y análisis de datos en Ecuador del ‘Rastreador NOVA 27 categorías de UPF’” published in Bitácora Académica in July 2023.
Scientific paper “Promotion of ultra-processed foods in Brazil: combined use of claims and labelling promotional features” published in Revista de Saúde Pública in August 2023.
Scientific paper “Nova diet quality scores and risk of weight gain in the NutriNet-Brasil cohort study” published in Public Health Nutrition in November 2023.
Scientific paper “Revolutionizing food advertising monitoring: A machine learning-based method for automated classification of food videos” published in Public Health Nutrition in December 2023.
Scientific paper “The INFORMAS healthy food environment policy index in Brazil: Benchmarking, current policies, and determining priorities for the future” published in Obesity Review in December 2023.

2022

Scientific paper “Replacing ultra-processed foods with fresh foods to meet the dietary recommendations: a matter of cost?” published in Cadernos de Saúde Pública in January 2022.
Scientific paper “Adesão aos acordos voluntários de redução de sódio no Brasil” published in Ciência & Saúde Coletiva in February 2022.
Scientific paper “Abusive advertising of ultra-processed food and drink products on Brazilian television” published in Health Promotion International in April 2022.

2021

Scientific paper “Use of persuasive marketing strategies in food advertising on television and on social media in Brazil” published in Preventive Medicine Reports in January 2021.
Scientific paper “Nova score for the consumption of ultra-processed foods: description and performance evaluation in Brazil” published in Revista de Saúde Pública in April 2021.
Scientific paper “Sugary drinks taxation: industry’s lobbying strategies, practices, and arguments in the Brazilian legislature” published in Public Health Nutrition in April 2021.
Scientific paper “Abusive advertising of ultra-processed food and drink products on Brazilian television” accepted for publication in Health Promotion International in February 2021.
Scientific paper “Promotion of ultra-processed foods in Brazil: combined use of claims and labelling promotional features” submitted to Preventive Medicine in March 2021.

2020

Scientific paper “Ultra-processed food and beverage advertising on Brazilian television by INFORMAS benchmark” published in Public Health Nutrition in May 2020.
Scientific paper “Analysing persuasive marketing of ultra-processed foods on Brazilian television” published in the International Journal of Public Health in September 2020.
Scientific paper “Use of persuasive marketing strategies in food advertising on television and on social media in Brazil” in Preventive Medicine Reports in January 2021.
Scientific paper “Consumer perceptions of non-caloric sweeteners and the content of caloric and non-caloric sweeteners in ultra-processed products in Brazil” submitted to Ciência & Saúde Coletiva in August 2020.
Scientific paper “Low calorie sweeteners in the Brazilian packaged food supply: are they visible to consumers?” submitted to the Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in September 2020.
Scientific paper “Ultra-processed food industry regulation for tackling obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases in the Brazilian legislature: many proposals, no enactment” published in Public Health Nutrition in August 2020.
Scientific paper “Nutritional profile and the use of ‘whole grains’ claims in packaged food in Brazil” submitted to BMC Public Health in December 2020.
Scientific paper “Sugary drinks taxation: industry’s lobbying strategies, practices, and arguments in the Brazilian legislature” published in Public Health Nutrition in April 2021.
Scientific paper “Association between the price of ultra-processed foods and obesity in Brazil” published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases in December 2019.
Scientific paper “What to expect from the price of healthy and unhealthy foods over time? The case from Brazil” published in Public Health Nutrition in January 2020.
Scientific paper “Nutritional quality of foods and non-alcoholic beverages advertised on Brazilian television” published in BMC Public Health in March 2020.

2019

Scientific paper “Trans fat labelling information on Brazilian packaged foods” published in Nutrients in September 2019.
Scientific paper “Conflicting messages on food and beverage packages: front-of-package nutritional labeling, health and nutrition claims in Brazil” published in Nutrients in December 2019.
Scientific paper “Association between the price of ultra-processed foods and obesity in Brazil” published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases in December 2019.

2018

Poster “Comparison of nutrient profiling systems for implementing new front-of-package nutrition labeling in Brazil” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Food-related advertisements on Brazilian television” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Ultra-processed food products and fast food restaurant advertisements on Brazilian television” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Commitments and disclosure practices of supermarkets in Brazil: results from INFORMAS’ BIA-Obesity Tool” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Commitments and disclosure practices of quick service restaurants in Brazil: results from INFORMAS’ BIA-Obesity Tool” presented at SLAN 2018.

Under review

Scientific paper “Food price trends during COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil” under review in PLOS ONE.
Scientific paper “Differences in the cost and environmental impact between the current diet in Brazil and healthy sustainable diets: a modeling study” under review in Nutrition Journal.
Scientific paper “Decade of Action on Nutrition and sugary drinks taxation in Brazil: where are we?” accepted for publication in Cadernos de Saúde Pública (in press).

Conference presentations

Poster “Comparison of nutrient profiling systems for implementing new front-of-package nutrition labeling in Brazil” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Food-related advertisements on Brazilian television” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Commitments and disclosure practices of supermarkets in Brazil: results from INFORMAS’ BIA-Obesity Tool” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Ultra-processed food products and fast food restaurant advertisements on Brazilian television” presented at SLAN 2018.
Poster “Commitments and disclosure practices of quick service restaurants in Brazil: results from INFORMAS’ BIA-Obesity Tool” presented at SLAN 2018.
Oral presentation “Abusividade da publicidade de alimentos na televisão aberta brasileira” at CONAN 2019 (awarded as one of the best oral presentations).
Oral presentation “Estratégias de marketing da publicidade de alimentos na televisão aberta brasileira” at CONAN 2019.
Oral presentation “Qualidade nutricional de alimentos e bebidas não alcoólicas publicizados nos três principais canais da televisão brasileira” at CONAN 2019.
Oral presentation “Persuasive and abusive strategies directed to children on food and beverage advertising” at WPHNC 2020 (March/April).
Poster “Marketing of food products high in sodium on Brazilian free-to-air television” at WPHNC 2020 (March/April).
Oral presentation “Big Food/Soda’s role in promoting unhealthy food advertising on Brazilian television” at WPHNC 2020 (March/April).
Abstract “A à Z: Análise de conteúdo das publicidades de suplementos alimentares na televisão brasileira”. Presented at V Congresso Nacional de Alimentos e Nutrição, 2021, Ouro Preto. Anais do V Congresso Nacional de Alimentos e Nutrição, 2021.
Abstract “Publicidade de alimentos direcionada às crianças e adolescentes na televisão brasileira: uma análise da inadequação aos dispositivos legais” Presented at V Congresso Nacional de Alimentos e Nutrição, 2021, Ouro Preto. Anais do V Congresso Nacional de Alimentos e Nutrição, 2021.
Abstract “MARKETING DE BEBIDAS ALCOÓLICAS NA TELEVISÃO BRASILEIRA”. Presented at 11o Congresso Brasileiro de Epidemiologia, 2021, Online. Anais do 11o Congresso Brasileiro de Epidemiologia, 2021.
Abstract “MARKETING DE ALIMENTOS DIRIGIDO AO PÚBLICO INFANTIL NA TELEVISÃO BRASILEIRA” Presented at 11o Congresso Brasileiro de Epidemiologia, 2021, Online. Anais do 11o Congresso Brasileiro de Epidemiologia, 2021.
Poster “Food price trends during COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil”. Presented at 17th World Congress on Public Health (WCPH, May/ 2023).
Oral presentation: “ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FOOD PRICES AND BODY WEIGHT IN BRAZILIAN ADULTS, 2007 TO 2018” presented at SLAN 2023.
Poster “FOOD PRICE-BASED POLICY COULD OPTIMIZE BENEFITS FOR FOOD CONSUMPTION IN BRAZIL” presented at SLAN 2023.
Symposium presentation “Cost and environmental impact of healthy and sustainable diets in Latin America” at SLAN 2023.

Events

Webinar to present the results and recommendations for the Brazilian public in 2023.
Event: Nova-UPF Screener: A new tool to monitor and benchmark population diet quality at Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy Week in 2023.
Launch of “Quest Nova platform” at Conbran 2024.

Additional Publications

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is the funder for Food Labelling and Food Promotion modules. Bloomberg Philanthropies is also a funder for the Food Labelling module and Food Composition modules.
The National Council of Scientific and Technological Development. (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq) is the funder for the food EPI module.
The Food prices and Private Sector Module have no Funder.