POPULAR RESTAURANT PROGRAM: GUARANTEE OF SAFE MEALS?

• Published in: Annals of nutrition and metabolism 2017-10, Vol.71 (Suppl. 2), p.1296
• Main Authors: Seabra, Larissa Mont’alverne Jucá, Souza, Camila Valdejane Silva, Lima, Luciana Batista
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adequacy; Data collection; Food; Food production; Food safety; Food security; Food supply; Furniture; Hygiene; Kitchen utensils; Meals; Pests; Restaurants; Utensils; Vectors
• ISSN: 0250-6807; 1421-9697
• DOI: 10.1159/000480486

Background and objectives: The main objective of 'Popular Restaurant Program' is to provide adequate nutritional meals at low cost, to people in risk of food insecurity in Brazil. This work aimed evaluate hygienic-sanitary conditions in Popular Restaurants of Rio Grande do Norte (RN) state. Methods: RN has 24 Popular Restaurants units, and 10 different cities were selected by random sample system. For data collection, a checklist was applied based on Brazilian federal law (RDC 216/2004), containing 183 verification items grouped in 12 evaluation blocks, which allowed the evaluation of the hygienic-sanitary conditions of the establishments. A single visit to the restaurants was carried out to fill out the checklist. To obtain the final diagnosis of each unit, the average of the items in the list was calculated. The restaurants were classified in: "Very bad": 0 to 19% of adequacy of the requirements; "Bad": 20 to 49%; "Regular": 50 to 69%; "Good": 70 to 90% and "Very good": 91 to 100%. Results: The overall adequacy of the 10 Popular Restaurants was 69%, classifying the units as "Regular". The block "building, facilities, equipment, furniture and utensils" was the one that presented the highest percentage of inadequacies. The managers of the visited units reported that the buildings were adapted, and because they were planned for another purposes and not for food production, they did not allow an ordered flow of the food, as well as favored the shelter of vectors and urban pests. Conclusions: The study showed that the establishments presented inadequate conditions for food production and there is no guarantee of safe food to consumers.