Costa Rica

INFORMAS in Costa Rica is run by MPH.c Tatiana Gamboa and MSc. Adriana Blanco-Metzler.

Background: Since the 1980s, Costa Rica has been carrying out research, monitoring and supporting national food labeling regulation. They have also been generating data, verifying the compliance with national legislation, and participating in the food composition networks COSTA RICAFODS / LATINFOODS / INFOODS of FAO/WHO. More recently, Costa Rica is implementing the national program on salt reduction and participating in the Technical Advisory Group of Salt Reduction of the PAHO/WHO Initiative.

INFORMAS Modules: Costa Rica is leading the Project IDRC #108167 “Scaling-up and evaluating salt reduction policies and programs in Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Paraguay)”. This project includes two of the INFORMAS modules: Food Labeling and Food Composition.

A partnership was built with the School of Public Health, Universidad de Costa Rica and the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), Guatemala, to analyze data on food labeling of processed food targeted to children, generated in 2015 by the Costa Rican team, and also Television Food and Beverage Marketing to children and Food Promotion around Costa Rican Schools .  

MPH. Tatiana Gamboa

Professor and researcher in School of Public Health, Universidad de Costa Rica

Coordinator of Costa Rican INFORMAS network

Phone: (506) 2511-8488

Email: Tatiana Gamboa

 

 

MSc. Adriana Blanco-Metzler

Researcher in Food Science and Nutrition.

Project Leader- Scaling-up and evaluating salt reduction policies and programs in Latin American Countries.

Unit of Health and Nutrition of the Costa Rican Institute of Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (INCIENSA), Tres Ríos, Costa Rica, Centroamérica

Phone: (506) 2279-9911 Ext. 170

Email: ablanco@inciensa.sa.cr

                                                                                                                           

Module

 Status (as of April 2021) Outputs
Food Labelling
  • Data analysis and dissemination
  • Data collection in process (pilot study)
 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,12, 13, 14, 16, 18,19,20
Food Composition
  • Data analysis and dissemination
  • Proficiency test and selection of foods for direct analysis in process.
 4,5, 7, 10, 11,15, 17
Food EPI
  • Data collection
  
Food Prices
  •  Planning
  
Food Promotion    
Private Sector    
Food Retail

 

  
Food Provision    
Food Trade & Investment    

Publications and conference presentations (with INFORMAS protocols)

  1. Gamboa-Gamboa T, Blanco-Metzler A, Vandevijvere S, Ramirez-Zea M, Kroker-Lobos MF. Nutritional Content According to the Presence of Front of Package Marketing Strategies: The Case of Ultra-Processed Snack Food Products Purchased in Costa Rica. Nutrients. 2019 Nov 12;11(11):2738. doi: 10.3390/nu11112738. PMID: 31726678; PMCID: PMC6893602.
  2. Zamora-Corrales, I., Jensen, M., Vandevijvere, S., Ramírez-Zea, M., & Kroker-Lobos, M. (2019). Television food and beverage marketing to children in Costa Rica: Current state and policy implications. Public Health Nutrition, 22(13), 2509-2520. doi:10.1017/S1368980019000776
  3. Bridget, K et al. (2019). Global benchmarking of children’s exposure to television advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages across 22 countries. Obesity Reviews; 1-13. doi. 10.1111/obr.12840
  4. Gamboa T, Blanco-Metzler A, Vandevijvere S, Ramirez-Zea, Kroker-Lobos MF. Claims and promotional strategies declared on front-of-pack processed and ultra-processed products related with children and adolescents’ obesity in Costa Rica. Poster presentation American Society of Nutrition, Experimental Biology, Chicago, April 2017.
  5. Gamboa T, Blanco-Metzler A, Vandevijvere S, Ramirez-Zea, Kroker-Lobos MF. Claims and promotional strategies declared on front-of-pack processed and ultra-processed products related with children and adolescents’ obesity in Costa Rica. Manuscript in preparation.

Publications and conference presentations (without INFORMAS protocols)

6. Tiscornia MV, Heredia-Blonval K, Allemandi L, Blanco-Metzler A, Ponce M, Montero-Campos MA, Castronuvo L, Schoj V. Sugar Content in Non-Alcoholic Beverages Marketed in Argentina and Costa Rica. Revista Argent Salud Pública, 2017; 8 (30): 20-25.

7. Blanco A; Montero MA; Heredia K; Cubillo N; Benavides K; Alfaro V; Núñez, H; Legetic, B; L’Abbe, M. Experiences in Costa Rica implementing a comprehensive program for salt reduction. In: II World Nutrition Conference. Cape Town, South Africa. August 30-September 2, 2016.

8. Blanco-Metzler A, Montero-Campos MA; Heredia-Blonval K; Legetic B; Grajeada R; L’Abbe M. Progresses and plans of the Program to Reduce Salt/ Sodium Intake in the Population of Costa Rica. In: II World Nutrition Conference. Cape Town, South Africa. August 30-September 2, 2016.

9. Blanco-Metzler A, Heredia-Blonval K, Dunford E, Montero-Campos MA. Adaptation of smartphone technology to collect and examine the nutritional composition of processed foods in Costa Rica. 10th International Food Data Conference, Granada, Spain. September 2013.

10. Montero Campos MA, Blanco-Metzler A, Chan Chan V, Heredia-Blonval K. Verification of sodium content in breads and snacks in Costa Rica. 10th International Food Data Conference, Granada, Spain. September 2013.

11. Heredia-Blonval K, Blanco-Metzler A, Dunford E, Montero-Campos MA. Salt content in products of the most popular fast-food chains visited by families in Costa Rica. 10th International Food Data Conference, Granada, Spain. September 2013.

12. Report presented to Ministry of Health and Advisers of Costa Rica on “Analysis of the situation of the supply and acquisition of non-alcoholic sweetened beverages in households in Costa Rica”. Tres Ríos, Costa Rica. February 15, 2015. (Adriana Blanco Katrina Heredia, and María de los Ángeles Montero).

13. Montero- Campos M, Blanco-Metzler A, Chan-Chan V. 2015 Sodium in breads and snacks of high consumption in Costa Rica. Basal content and verification of nutritional labeling. Rev Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición (ALAN) 65(1): 36-43.

14. Blanco-Metzler A, de Pablo S, Samman N, Salazar de Ariza J, Masson L, de Núñez L y Wenzel de Menezes, E. LATINFOODS activities and challenges during the period of 2009-2012. Revista Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición Volumen 64, No 3, 2014.

15. Report presented to Ministry of Health and Advisers of Costa Rica on “Situation of nutrition labeling in Costa Rica”. Tres Ríos, Costa Rica. November 12, 2014. (Adriana Blanco, Katrina Heredia, Adrián Fatjó and MA Montero).

16. Heredia-Blonval K, Blanco-Metzler A, Montero-Campos M, Dunford E. The salt content of products from popular fast-food chains in Costa Rica. Appetite 83: 173-177, 2014.

17. Blanco-Metzler A by The Food Monitoring Group. 2013. Progress with a global branded food composition database. Food Chemistry, 140 (3): 451–457.

18. Jiménez J., Gómez G., Pérez A. and Blanco-Metzler A. 2012. Estimation of glycemic index of peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) cooked fruits and chips, and pitahaya (Hylocereus spp.) pulp. ALAN, 62 (3):242-248. http://www.alanrevista.org/ediciones/2012/3/?i=art6

19. Blanco-Metzler A, Montero-Campos MA, Núñez-Rivas H, Gamboa-Cerda C, Sánchez G. Avances en la reducción del consumo de sal y sodio en Costa Rica. Rev Panam Salud Publica [online]. 2012, 32 (4): 316-320.http://www.scielosp.org/pdf/rpsp/v32n4/11.pdf.

20. Blanco-Metzler A by FAO/INFOODS. 2012. FAO/INFOODS Guidelines for Checking Food Composition Data prior to the Publication of a User Table/Database-Version 1.0. FAO, Rome Available on line: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/food_composition/documents/Guidelines_data_checking_02.pdf

21. Blanco-Metzler A by The Food Monitoring Group. 2012. International collaborative project to compare and track the nutritional composition of fast foods. BMC Public Health, 12:559. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/559

22. Dunford E, Webster J, Blanco A, Wolmarans P, L’Abbe M, Ni Mhurchu C, Yan L, Czernichow S, MacGregor G, Van Rossum C, Westenbrink S, Snowdon S, de Núñez L, Shoj V, Hassell T, Wenzel de Menezes E, Ortiz J, Salazar de Ariza J, Barquera S, Reyes Garcia M, Neal B. Protocol for an international collaborative project to compare and monitor the nutritional composition of processed foods. Europ. J. of Cardiov. Prevention & Rehabilitation. Publicado en línea 4-10-2011, doi: 10.1177/17418267114257771.

23. Blanco-Metzler A, Roselló-Araya M, Núñez-Rivas HP. 2011. Situación basal de la información nutricional declarada en las etiquetas de los alimentos comercializados en Costa Rica. Revista Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición, 61 (1): 87-95.

 

Additional Publications

  • International Development Research Centre, Canada
  • School of Public Health, Universidad de Costa Rica