Objectives.

To estimate the number of processed and ultra-processed beverages and foods that provide nutritional information on their packaging, and to describe the characteristics of this information, as well as to determine the presence of nutritional information on products with octagons.

Materials and methods.

Photographs were taken of the labels of 4404 processed and ultra-processed beverages and foods marketed in supermarkets in Metropolitan Lima. The information on the label was collected and registered in the mobile and web version of the Food Label Information Program (FLIP). We analyzed variables related to the nutritional information, the way in which such information is declared and the information in beverages and foods with octagons.

Results.

Only 71.4% of the products had some type of nutritional information. Of these, 13.8% provided the nutritional information as a text and not in a table, and only 56.3% declared it per 100 grams or milliliters. Of the total number of foods with the octagon “Contains trans fats”, only 19.2% declared their content.

Conclusions.

More than a quarter of the beverages and packaged foods in the Peruvian market did not provide nutritional information of any kind, and of those that did, only one did so in different formats and units. In addition, we found that a proportion of beverages and foods for each type of octagon did not declare information of the nutrient that is mentioned in the octagon.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español | Inglés     · Español ( pdf ) | Inglés ( pdf )