INTRODUCTION:

Menus are tools to promote food education, essential to meet nutritional needs. Popular Restaurants, in turn, are mechanisms for promoting the Human Right to Adequate Food, mainly, for socially vulnerable populations.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the menu composition of 2 (two) popular restaurants in a city in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil, using the Qualitative Assessment of Menu Preparations method.

METHODOLOGY:

The Qualitative Assessment of Menu Preparations method was used to evaluate the 24-day menu between the end of August and September 2022. The aspects evaluated were color monotony (three or more foods of the same color), presence of leafy vegetables (one or more raw leafy vegetables) and fruits (one or more), types of meat (fatty meat), sulfur content (two or more foods), presence of fried foods, candies and simultaneous association of fried foods with candies. The relative frequency of each Qualitative Assessment of Menu Preparations method criterion was calculated, classifying the “negative aspects” (equal colors, preparations rich in sulfur, fatty meats, candies, fried foods and the combination of candies and fried foods) as “great” (<25.0% ), “good” (11.0 to 25.0%), “regular” (26.0 to 50.0%), “poor” (51.0 to 75.0%) or “terrible” (>75.0%) and the “positive aspects” (offering fruits and leafy vegetables) as “excellent” (≥90.0%), “good” (75.0 to 89.0%), “regular” (50.0 to 74.0%), “poor” (25.0 to 49.0%) or “terrible” (<25.0%). RESULTS: There was a 70.0% occurrence of color monotony on the menu. Leafy and fruit offerings occurred on 66.0% and 58.0% of the days, respectively. The presence of fatty meats occurred on 16.0% of the days, as well as preparations rich in sulfur. The presence of candies was verified in 41.7% of the days. The menu did not show the occurrence of fried foods and, consequently, there was no association of fried foods with candies (0.0%).

CONCLUSIONS:

The menu needs adjustments, mainly in the monotony of colors, but it has a great potential for offering nutrients, considering the occurrence of fruits and leafy vegetables and the absence of fried foods and associated fried foods and candies.

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