Silvia Martins, 43, was certain that the cassava flour biscuit was "harmless" for her young daughters. However, the last time she went to the supermarket, she found a black label on the product with the warning: "High in saturated fat and sodium."
The new nutritional labeling for processed and ultra-processed foods, which warns about high levels of added sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, became mandatory last October, after nine years of debate between Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), manufacturers, and civil society organizations.
The label features a magnifying glass with the indication "high in" on the front of the products, which also include a nutrient table per 100 ml or 100 g.
According to a survey by consulting firm Bain & Company, exclusively obtained by Folha, 56% of consumers noticed the new labeling. Of these, 46% decided not to buy or intend to reduce consumption. Another 34% reconsidered consumption but still bought. For 20% of those who noticed the labels, nothing changed.