Supply and nutritional composition of salads in the food courts of shopping centers of Metropolitan Lima, 2014

Objectives. To assess supply and nutritional composition of the salads offered as an entrée main course in the food courts of the shopping centers in Lima, Peru. Materials and methods. The menus of all food franchises present in the food courts of the eleven shopping centers of Lima were reviewed. The nutritional composition of salads offered as an entrée were calculated for calories, protein content, carbohydrates, fats, cholesterol, fiber and sodium, and the adequacy of intake for a dinner (30% of a diet of 2000 kcal). Results. Salads as entrées accounted for 4.7% of the supply, and only 7 out of 17 franchises offered at least one salad. The average cost of the salads was higher than the other dishes ($5.3 vs $4.7; p<0.001). The average calorie content was 329 kcal and 2.7 g fiber; in relation to a dinner, we found a high percentage of adequacy for protein (172.9%), cholesterol (121.0%), and low adequacy for calories (54.8%), carbohydrates (23.1%) and fiber (36.4%). Conclusions. The salads that are offered in food courts in the shopping centers of Lima are scarce and more expensive, have little fiber content and are high in cholesterol. Strategies should be reviewed to improve the accessibility of quality salads offered in areas where only fast food is offered.