Análise de processamento, quantidades de sódio e gordura saturada de produtos alimentares oferecidos ao público vegetariano

Abstract

People who follow a vegetarian diet usually have food of plant origin. However, to achieve greater diversity in diet, they often choose to consume industrialized plant-based products that are considered ultra-processed because they consist of several ingredients, such as soy or pea proteins and fats, flavorings and other additives. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the level of processing, amount of sodium and saturated fat and food products offered to the vegetarian public as a proposal to replace meat. This research is a cross- sectional, qualitative, quantitative and comparative study that consists of analyzing the level of processing, sodium and saturated fat of industrialized products offered to vegetarian consumers as meat substitutes. With the results, it was possible to identify that in spite of been known by its negatives characteristics, such as high level of sodium, saturated fat and additives, the presented study didn´t observed these characteristics in most of ultra processed vegetarian analyzed products. This suggests that these products can be occasionally included in vegetarians’ diet for complementing protein intake. However, it is important that individuals following vegetarian diets, who consume excessively processed foods, read labels to pay more attention to the nutritional composition of these products, which, if consumed in excess, can contribute to the development of various health complications.