Abstract
Street foods can contribute largely for dietary sodium intake of populations in developing countries. We aimed to assess the variability in sodium and potassium composition of the most commonly available homemade street foods in Maputo city, capital of Mozambique. In a cross-sectional evaluation, researchers canvassed areas with 500-m diameter centered around 20 randomly selected public transport stops, identified all street food vending sites and, in randomly selected sites, purchased 56 samples of the most frequently available homemade foods. Samples were analyzed for sodium and potassium concentrations, using flame photometry. The 56 samples represented main dishes (45 samples of 12 types of food item), sandwiches (8 samples of 5 types of food item) and fried snacks (3 samples of 2 types of food item). Median contents (range), in mg/serving, were 921 (198 to 2525) of sodium and 385 (24 to 1140) of potassium. Median (range) of sodium to potassium molar ratio was 4.1 (1.3 to 41.5). One serving of main dishes was estimated to contribute from 32.1% to 99.9% of the recommended maximum daily sodium intake. The present study shows a large variability and potential for improvement in sodium and potassium contents of homemade foods frequently available in the streets of Maputo city.
Highlights
Non-communicable diseases (NCD), the leading causes of mortality worldwide, present greater and increasing importance in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) [1]
The level of Na per serving was very high in most of the analysed food samples, with some food items contributing to a large proportion of the maximum daily recommendation of this nutrient
K attenuates the negative effects of Na [28,29], with even greater benefits for those with high Na intake [30], and the Na:K ratio is considered a stronger marker of the relation of Na to blood pressure and a better predictor of the outcomes of blood pressure [31–34]
Summary
Non-communicable diseases (NCD), the leading causes of mortality worldwide, present greater and increasing importance in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) [1]. Among NCD, Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent the first cause of deaths [1], remaining the leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the world [2]. In the majority of the studied populations around the world, Na intakes were found to be well above the WHO recommendations [11], including in most of the sub-Saharan Africa countries [12], and K intakes are usually unsatisfactory [13]. Street foods, which are usually cheap, culturally adapted and broadly distributed, may vary in Na and K content and may represent an important source of Na in the diet of urban populations of countries under rapid urbanization and nutritional transition, such as Mozambique [19,20]. We aimed to assess the variability in the Na and K composition of homemade street foods most commonly available in urban Maputo, Mozambique
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