The regulation of whole foods – 06/13/2023 – Maria Inês Dolci

Finally, the consumer will know whether he is buying a real or fake whole food.

The new rules of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) came into effect for breads, cookies and flours that must have at least 30% of whole ingredients. The resolution was published in September last year, but Anvisa gave a deadline of April 22, 2023 for manufacturers to adjust to the standard.

For pasta with wholemeal flour, the adaptation period will end in 2024.

Why are food rules so important? Because they are measures that go towards a healthier diet, fundamental for people to have more health and quality of life. So I come back to the topic I touched on recently.

Consultations, exams, medicines and procedures treat diseases. The best thing, however, is to avoid them, which presupposes a balanced diet, physical exercises, good hours of sleep, not smoking and not exaggerating the consumption of alcoholic beverages, salt, sugar and fat.

It is encouraging that these whole food rules take effect less than a year after the entry into force of new nutrition labeling standards, which have improved food product labels and made them more readable, even for people with limited vision.

Will this be enough for Brazilian men and women to start eating better? No, because there are other essential factors, such as family income and consumer education.

Let’s look at the case of smoking: from the 1950s, studies began to be published in England, France and the United States linking cigarettes to lung cancer.

However, it was only in 1996 that a law was passed restricting cigarette advertising in Brazil and prohibiting smoking in public spaces. Messages with warnings about the harm caused by smoking began to be stamped on cigarette packs, among other places.

Several new regulations targeted smoking. Today, it is estimated that the percentage of smokers reaches 12% of the population, which is still worrying, but in the 1960s, more than 60% of those over 15 years old smoked in the country. Increases in pack prices also contributed greatly to this significant drop in consumption.

So, to improve the diet of Brazilians, in addition to economic and wage growth, it will be necessary to combine regulations and laws with awareness and education campaigns in schools from the first years of study, always accompanied by scientific research that proves the benefits of taking care of health also at meals.

This long journey is just beginning. There will be a lot of work ahead, but it is a fight whose prize will be to live longer and better.

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