Avaliação da rotulagem de pães integrais de acordo com as normas RDC n° 712/22, RDC n° 727/22, e IN n° 75/20

Abstract

Food labeling is the main source used for communication between manufacturer and consumer. It is made to catch the eye and lure the maximum number of people. It not only needs to bring clear and effective communication, but also an honest one. After many years without an established guideline, a legislation has recently been published to regulate the composition and labelling of whole grain products. The research aimed to analyze 48 labels of bread denominated whole grains of 24 different brands marketed in Fortaleza, Maracanaú and Pacatuba in the state of Ceará. The analysis was carried out from a checklist which was prepared based on RDC No. 712/22, RDC No. 727/22, and IN No. 75/2020 of the Ministry of Health. Items such as trade description, use of whole ingredients, declaration of the percentage of whole ingredients, presence of misleading information and nutritional labeling regarding fiber content were evaluated. Except for the requirements that have terms that can mislead the consumer regarding medicinal and therapeutic properties with the intention of associating consumption to improve or prevent diseases, all other requirements resulted in non-conformities between the analyzed samples. 75.0% of the labels did not present the alleged percentage of whole ingredients in the trade description and/or highlighted in the main panel. The mandatory requirement on the so-called "whole food" product to contain a minimum of 30.0 % of whole ingredients amounted to 71.0 % of non-conformity, only 4.0 % of the labels did not meet the requirement that determines which cereals and pseudocereals need to be present in the formulation, so that the product can be considered whole, and 69.0 % did not comply with the legislation regarding the presence of information indicating that the product is whole without meeting the established requirements. Therefore, it is possible to perceive that there is a major flaw in the process of adequacy of the labeling and/or composition of these products.