Relationship between the level of critical nutrients and "light" nutritional claims in processed and ultra-processed products offered in a supermarket chain in Lima, Peru: an analytical cross-sectional study

Introduction: The increasing incidence of overweight and obesity is caused, among many other causes, by the growing consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods. Several studies have shown that some of these products have health and nutritional claims and contain high amounts of critical nutrients (saturated fats, sodium and sugar). The aim of this study was to identify the application of nutrition and health claims on processed and ultra-processed products from a supermarket chain in Lima, Peru, and analyze the relationship between the level of critical nutrients and the presence of "light" nutrition claims. Methodology: This was an analytical cross-sectional study in which products were collected from 3 supermarkets in Lima-Peru. Labels were observed and health and nutritional claims were identified. Critical nutrient information was obtained from the nutritional information declared on the label. Finally, Chi-square test was run to evaluate the relationship between the level of critical nutrients and "light" nutrition claims. In addition, the prevalence ratio was determined. Results: A total of 1,247 products were included, of which 422 had some nutritional claim, and out of these, 122 presented "light" nutrition claims (145 claims). In addition, 35 health claims were identified. A significant relationship was found between "light" nutrition claims and "non-high" levels of saturated fat (PR=3.32; CI95%: 1.64-6.73) and sugar (PR=8.71; CI95%: 3.73-20.33); however, the strength of association for sodium was not significant (PR=0.93; CI95%: 0.46-1.88). Conclusions: The presence of "light" nutrition claims was found to be more likely to be non-high in saturated fat and sugar in the products analyzed.