Just what the doctor ordered: Brazil's drive to ditch UPFs from hospital menus

"Every month a few dozen staff from some of Sao Paulo's leading hospitals take time out of their busy schedules to visit food fairs where stallholders from more than 50 local farms display their produce. The aim is to strike deals that will supply the hospitals with organic vegetables, homemade bread and other locally made foods. Started in October 2023, the fairs are part of a revolutionary scheme in Sao Paulo state to phase out ultra-processed foods (UPFs) from hospital menus in favour of healthier alternatives."

"It's not only cooks, nutritionists, meal planners and hospital management who attend the fairs but also nurses and doctors, says Weruska Davi Barrios, a specialist in hospital nutrition at the University of Sao Paulo, the institution that has initiated the project. These events represent an opportunity for hospitals to fill their order books for vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices, and also to sample artisanal delicacies made from lesser-known plant species unique to Brazil's remarkably diverse ecosystem."

"Many of them have been threatened by the degradation of rainforests and saved by the farmers. While Brazil's hospitals have always attempted to use fresh vegetables and natural foods where possible, UPFs have increasingly worked their way into hospital menus in recent decades, despite accumulating evidence that they actively worsen health. One 2019 study estimated that 57,000 premature deaths in Brazil every year were being caused by UPFs."

"In the eyes of Ana Duran, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Campinas, the availability of UPFs in hospitals is troubling. We're using our money from the national health system to buy ultra-processed foods, she says. It shouldn't be something that we accept. Yet it's also a complex problem to address. Transitioning"

Monthly hospital staff from leading hospitals visit food fairs where stallholders from more than 50 local farms offer organic vegetables, homemade bread, and other locally made foods. The fairs began in October 2023 as part of a scheme in São Paulo state to phase ultra-processed foods out of hospital menus. Cooks, nutritionists, meal planners, hospital management, nurses, and doctors attend to strike supply deals and to sample artisanal foods made from lesser-known Brazilian plant species. Hospitals use the fairs to fill orders for vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices while supporting farmers who preserve threatened species. Ultra-processed foods have increasingly appeared in hospital menus despite evidence of health harms, including an estimate of 57,000 premature deaths in Brazil each year linked to UPFs.

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