Street Food in Maputo, Mozambique: The Coexistence of Minimally Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods in a Country under Nutrition Transition.

The aim was to characterise the extent of processing and nutritional composition of the street foods offered in Maputo, Mozambique. A cross-sectional study was conducted in October-November 2014 in the urban district of KaMpfumu. Twenty public transport stops were randomly selected, around which 500 meters buffers were drawn. All streets within these buffers were canvassed to identify all street food vending sites. Street food offer was assessed through interviews. Nutritional composition was estimated using standardised recipes (for homemade foods), food labels (for industrial products) and food composition tables (for in natura foods). The processing extent was classified using the "NOVA" food classification. A total of 810 vending sites were assessed. Unprocessed/minimally processed foods were available at 70.5% of vending sites (mainly fruit, water, and tea) and ultra-processed foods at 59.0% (mostly cakes, cookies, confectionery, and soft drinks). Energy content per 100 g of unprocessed or minimally processed foods was significantly lower than in all other food groups. In all food groups, contribution to total energy value was highest for carbohydrates (range: 33.1-51.2%), followed by fats (range: 29.3-36.0%) and protein (range: 6.8-18.6%). Public health policies targeting the improvement of this urban food environment should consider not only the nutritional composition but also the processing extent of the foods and beverages available.

Street food in Maputo, Mozambique: Availability and nutritional value of homemade foods.

BACKGROUND:: A nutrition transition is occurring in the urban areas of developing countries, where street food makes an important contribution to daily food intake. AIM:: We aimed to characterise street food offer in Maputo, Mozambique, and to evaluate the nutritional composition of the most common homemade foods. METHODS:: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014. Streets in the surroundings (500 m buffer) of randomly selected public transport stops in KaMpfumu district, Maputo, were canvassed to identify all street food vending sites ( n = 968). Information regarding vending site characteristics and the food offered was gathered through interview and observation. Samples ( n = 80) of the most common homemade foods were collected for laboratorial analysis. RESULTS:: Most street food vending sites identified were stationary (77.4%) and sold exclusively industrial food (51.9%). Frequency of fruit, beverages and food other than fruit was 24.5%, 32.5% and 73.9%, respectively. Fried cakes were the most energy-dense (430 kcal/100 g), and richest in fats (21.0g/100 g) and carbohydrates (53.4 g/100 g). The richest sources of protein were the stewed meat/fish/liver dishes (10.7-11.6 g/100 g). Fried cakes showed the lowest sodium and potassium content (90 mg/100 g and 81 mg/100 g, respectively) whereas hamburgers exhibited the highest content of those micronutrients (455 mg/100 g and 183 mg/100 g, respectively). Stewed liver dishes presented the highest sodium/potassium ratio (11.95). Fried snacks presented the highest trans-fatty acid content (0.20 g/100 g). CONCLUSIONS:: Street food in Maputo is abundant and scattered throughout the urban district, exhibiting high variability in the nutritional composition of homemade foods. Public health policies should be targeted to improve the street food offer, promoting nutrient-dense foods and the reduction of added salt.

Street Food Environment in Maputo (STOOD Map): a Cross-Sectional Study in Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Street food represents a cultural, social, and economic phenomenon that is typical of urbanized areas, directly linked with a more sedentary lifestyle and providing a very accessible and inexpensive source of nutrition. Food advertising may contribute to shaping consumers' preferences and has the potential to drive the supply of specific foods. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to characterize the street food offerings available to the urban population of Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, and the billboard food advertising in the same setting. METHODS: People selling ready-to-eat foods, beverages, or snacks from venues such as carts, trucks, stands, and a variety of improvised informal setups (eg, shopping carts, trunks of cars, sides of vans, blankets on the sidewalk, etc) will be identified in the district of KaMpfumu. We will gather information about the actual food being sold through direct observation and interviews to vendors, and from the billboard advertising in the same areas. A second phase of the research entails collecting food samples to be analyzed in a specialized laboratory. The street food environment will be characterized, overall and according to socioeconomic and physical characteristics of the neighborhood, using descriptive statistics and spatial analysis. The study protocol was approved by the National Committee for Bioethics for Health in Mozambique. RESULTS: Data collection, including the identification of street food vending sites and billboard advertising, started on October 20, 2014, and lasted for 1 month. The collection of food samples took place in December 2014, and the bromatological analyses are expected to be concluded in August 2015. CONCLUSIONS: The district of KaMpfumu is the wealthiest and most urbanized in Maputo, and it is the area with the highest concentration and variety of street food vendors. The expected results may yield important information to assess the nutritional environment and the characteristics of the foods to which a great majority of the urban population living or working in Maputo are exposed. Furthermore, this study protocol provides a framework for a stepwise standardized characterization of the street food environment, comprising 3 steps with increasing complexity and demand for human and technical resources: Step 1 consists of the evaluation of food advertising in the streets; Step 2 includes the identification of street food vendors and the characterization of the products available; and Step 3 requires the collection of food samples for bromatological analyses. This structured approach to the assessment of the street food environment may enable within-country and international comparisons as well as monitoring of temporal trends.