Sampling Plan for the Brazilian TACO Project

The TACO project (Brazilian Table of Food Composition), sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Health and executed by NEPA-UNICAMP (Center for Studies and Research on Foods—State University of Campinas), is generating new data on the most consumed foods in Brazil, based on a national sampling plan and analyses carried out by laboratories with demonstrated laboratory capability in nutrient analysis. Key foods have been chosen according to a national multicentric survey of food consumption, starting with 200 food items. The sampling plan covers nine cities in the five official Brazilian geopolitical regions (North, Northeast, South, Southeast and Centralwest), corresponding to approximately 16.8 million inhabitants out of a total Brazilian population of about 170 million. Samples of principal brands (maximum of five for each food) are collected from supermarkets/hypermarkets where 84–85% of total food purchases are made by the Brazilian population. Two units of each principal brand of each product are taken at each sampling site. The total units for each food from all regions are mixed and packed in cans, and three final composites of 100–200 g for each food are sent for analyses in approved laboratories.