INTRODUCTION:

During childhood, reducing salt and increasing potassium consumption is health beneficial. Reducing the salt content in foods can decrease consumer acceptability, implying an increase in food waste. Minimizing food waste should be one of the main priorities for schools, alongside the improvement of the nutritional profile of the food supply.

OBJECTIVES:

To analyse the sodium and potassium content in soup before and after reducing the amount of salt added to the soup and to evaluate its relationship with food waste at a school.

METHODOLOGY:

In the study, all soups served in the school canteen to children aged between 3 and 10 years old were included. At Phase I it was quantified the sodium and potassium content in soup and the plate waste of soup was evaluated for five days. At Phase II, the salt added to the soup was reduced by 49% and all parameters were again evaluated. Sodium and potassium content were determined using atomic emission spectrophotometry method and food waste was assessed using the aggregate weighing method.

RESULTS:

The median sodium content at Phase I was 154 ± 37 mg/100 g and it decreased at Phase II to 96 ± 17 mg/100 g. The median plate waste at Phase I was 8.6 ± 1.8% and it decreased to 5.3 ± 0.8% at Phase II. It was found a moderate positive association between sodium content and food waste (r=0.669, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

The amount of salt added to soup at Phase I was greater than the recommendations. The reduction of sodium content in soup should be a priority at schools and it’s not expectable for plate waste to increase.

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