Recently it was approved by Ministerio de Educación the Regulation of Healthy Schools Stores and Cafeterias (Agreement 15-0733), which objective is to regulate and control the commercialization of foods with high fat, sodium and sugar content, and all those foods that does not contribute to a healthy alimentation inside the stores and scholar cafeterias in public and private centers in El Salvador.
In the normative, the following articles stand out:
Nutritional Criteria (Art. 8)
Specifications with sugar, sodium, oils and sweetener that should comply with the commercialize food in educational centers, as:
- Processes and ultra-processes foods should contain less than the 10% of the total amount of energy that comes from free sugars;
- Processes and ultra-processes foods should contain less than 1 milligram of sodium for each kilo-calorie;
- Processes and ultra-processes foods should contain less than the 30% of the total energy that comes from the total fat;
- The saturated fat in processes and ultra-processes foods should be less than 10% of the total amount of energy of the food;
- The trans-fat fat in processes and ultra-processes foods should be less than the 1% of the total amount of energy;
- Would not be able to commercialize with not caloric natural or artificial sweetener or caloric sweetener that contain a sanitary warning.
Prohibition of Commercial Promotion under any title of the Following Products (Art. 9)
- Prepackage products that contain in the nutritional label as a primary ingredients sugar, syrup, corn syrup or any other similar, or fat, oil, vegetable or pork shortening.
- Processes and ultra-processes foods like inlay, carbonated beverages, including light or dietary, energetic beverages, rehydrating, packaged drinks, candies, instantaneous soups, breaded chicken slices “like nuggets”, among others.
- Food prepared with butter, partially hydrogenated oils or margarine that its label does not indicate that are Trans fatty acids free.
- Processes and ultra-processes foods that does not contain nutritional labels or without sanitary registry.
Minimally or less processed foods guidelines (Art. 10)
- Prioritize the fruits and vegetables retail
- Promote the water and fruit beverages consumption
- The oil or deep fried prepared food, like fried yucca, dough or plantain desserts, pies, enchiladas, etc. can be sell as maximum twice a week.
- It would be prioritize the grilled, baked or boiled foods preparation.
- The prepared foods with mayonnaise or cream should not contain more than one table spoon for each served portion.
Also, there are established requirements for the operation of stores and scholar cafeterias.
Likewise, there is a 6 months period establishment once it enters into force for its put into practice.
Fermina Bolaños, Associate of García & Bodán El Salvador, said that “It is important that the owners of stores and public or private scholar cafeterias know the normative and the components that should contain the commercialized products in order to avoid possible consequences”.