Original research articleTechniques to evaluate changes in the nutritional profile of food products

- Comparison of the nutritional profile of food products (2003-2013).
- Percentage change to identify individual changes.
- Multivariate and univariate statistical analysis to access absolute changes.
- Identification of changes in macronutrient, dietary fiber and energy content.
- Importance of periodic monitoring of the nutritional profile of foods.

Food products are continuously reformulated by manufacturers; however, the monitoring of chemical compositional changes is rare. The objective of this study was perform a comparative evaluation of the nutritional profile of specific Brazilian food groups from 2003 and 2013 using various methods of analysis. Amounts of carbohydrate, lipid, protein, dietary fiber (DF) and energy were evaluated in 259 products distributed in four food groups. Products from each group were evaluated by percentage change, separated by principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Separation was more clearly observed through the use of HCA than PCA. In the majority of the clusters, a significant difference was observed in at least one component. For instance, a large number of products (53%) in the milk group showed a reduction in the amount of lipids, and products in the cereals and meat groups showed increased amounts of DF (55%) and lipids (40%), respectively. Therefore, the joint techniques applied allowed nutrient content differences to be assessed both in a general manner (percentage change) as well as through the identification of the nutrients in foods that had changed significantly. The results emphasized the need for the periodic monitoring of the nutritional profile of foods.