Evaluation of food supplement labels referred to the current Brazilian legislation

Abstract

According to Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency, a food supplement is a product used orally and available in various pharmaceutical compounds to complement the diet of the healthy population. In this context, nutritional labeling is essential to inform and ensure consumers’ quality of consumption of these products. This work aimed to evaluate the compliance labels regarding the national food supplements marketed online against the Brazilian legislation in which the Resolution 243 entered into force on July 26, 2018. Data collection was carried out through surveys in online stores of national food supplements sold in Campo Grande - in the Mato Grosso do Sul state (MS) from August 2020 to January 2021. Three questionnaires were applied in a checklist to identify and analyze the food supplement labels, which were divided into 6 categories: carbohydrates; proteins; isolated amino acids; creatine; caffeine; and vitamins and minerals. A total of 130 labels were evaluated, being distributed in the categories, obtaining 16.2% of carbohydrates, 23.8% of proteins, 21.5% of isolated amino acids, 10.8% of creatine, 11.5% of caffeine and 16.2% of vitamins and minerals. It was found that 61.5% of food supplements did not have the designation “Food Supplement”, in addition to its pharmaceutical form. Most of the labels evaluated were inadequate in terms of designation and mandatory warnings required by current legislation, and further studies on the subject were recommended.

Keywords:
Food legislation; Labeling; Supplementation; RDC 243/2018; Conformity; Non-compliance