PO 309. CONTRIBUTION OF A CONVENIENCE LOCAL FOOD (PASTE) TO CALORIE AND SODIUM INTAKE IN A POPULATION OF MEXICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Background and objective. Paste (from the word pastry) is a food of English origin, adopted in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico over one hundred years ago. It is frequently consumed as a convenience food and it is a very popular meal for university students. The objective of this paper was to determine the contribution of pastes consumption to calorie and sodium intake in the diet of university students.

Methods. The proximate composition and sodium content of 15 samples of different varieties of pastes was analyzed through official techniques and ICP, respectively. The calories of the samples were calculated from the fat, protein and carbohydrates content. A survey was applied to 500 students from the largest public university from Hidalgo State (Mexico) to determine their past consumption habits.

Results. The pastes presented variability in their content of fat (11.98 - 25.68g/100g), protein (2.29 -12.57g/100g) and carbohydrates (23.54 - 52.72g/100g) due to the nature of their ingredients. Caloric content was from 355.4 to 544.7 kcal/paste. Samples with salty filling presented higher sodium contents (171.04 – 692.99 mg Na/100g) compared to the ones with sweet filling (54.85 - 74.12 mg Na/100g). 96.2% of the participants consume pastes, the majority (49.68%) consume 1 to 2 pieces per week while 32.01% consume 3 to 4.

Conclusions. The participants consider that pastes are quick, convenient and cheap and they mentioned flavour and practicality as the main reasons for their consumption. In general, pastes represent an important source of calories and sodium intake in the diet of university students. It would be recommendable to label this kind of food to provide nutritional information to avoid excessive consumption.