One fifth of whey protein products sold in Brazil are mislabelled, according to one small survey, as the Latin American trade association ALANUR calls on authorities to act against brands that inappropriately advertise the nutritional attributes of their products.

Sports nutrition products in Brazil are governed by Resolution RDC number 18 from April 2010, which established the classification, designation, composition and labelling requirements of food for athletes. According to Article 8 of this regulation, ready-to-eat protein supplements for athletes must contain at least 10 g of protein per serving and at least 50% of the total energy value must come from proteins. Products may be fortified with vitamins and minerals but are not permitted to contain dietary fibres.

However, using product data collected from 20 whey protein products sold in a food supplement retailer in Fortaleza, Brazilian nutrition researchers found that one fifth of products sold were in breach of the regulation while 80% were compliant.

Around 10% of the products sampled contained misleading images and claims while around 20% contained unauthorised expressions such as “muscle hypertrophy”, “anabolic” , and “fat burning”.

Regulation RDC no 18 also stipulates the labelling requirements that manufacturers must respect, notably relating to the expiry date, ingredient list, nutritional information, and health claims. Information must be presented in a way that is legible, accurate, and easily understandable to all social classes.

Describing their findings in a study published in the Brazilian Journal of Health Review in 2023, the researchers write that “continuous and effective” monitoring the sector is necessary to protect consumers because the popularity of food supplements has grown in recent years – fuelled by the influence of social media and advertisements – amid a “lack of adequate guidance” and an over-consumption of supplements can lead to health problems, they write.

ALANUR: ‘Mislabelling is not commonplace’

The researchers noted that the labelling breaches were not due to the absence of laws, rather the lack of “efficient supervision” of supplements to ensure the laws are enforced.

Elizabeth Díaz, executive director of the Latin American Alliance for Responsible Nutrition (ALANUR), the trade association that represents the interests of the Latin American food supplement industry, told this publication: “Mislabelling of nutrition products is not a commonplace in Brazil and other markets, at least is not a common practice in legal companies.”

She added: “...there are bad competitors that inappropriately advertise nutritional product attributes, and in those cases the authorities most act [...] against them.”

“Consumers should check that labels visibly contain the name of the product, its ingredients, nutritional information, manufacturer and distributor data, net content, recommended use and daily dose or intake, and should be wary of claims that promise to cure or prevent diseases.

“A product that promises miraculous properties and attributes that cannot be demonstrated should not be ingested.”

Consumers can consult reliable information on the official websites of the manufacturers in question or their local authorities, and can also seek advice from nutritionists,” Díaz added.

Protein intake guidelines

Guidelines established by the Brazilian Society of Sports Medicine state that an individual’s protein requirements should be determined according to parameters such as gender, age, anthropometric profile, and health status. For athletes, protein has an important role to play in supplying the “raw material” required for tissue synthesis, but this requirement can be met by having balanced meals “unless there is a special situation”, read the guidelines.

“Studies recommend that the use of protein supplements, such as milk serum protein or egg-white albumin, should be in accordance with total intake of protein. Additional intake of such protein supplements over the daily needs (1.8 g/kg/day) does not determine [a] gain in muscular mass nor promotes performance enhancement,” state the guidelines.