Lisbon, Oct. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal stands out among the European countries with the lowest average salt content in bakery products, pre-prepared meals and cheeses, and sugar content in soft drinks, cakes and biscuits, according to a report by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

The data comes from the 2024 Annual Report of the DGS's National Programme for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS), released on World Food Day, which highlights the progress made in improving the food supply and the greater response capacity of Primary Health Care in the area of nutrition.

According to the document, Portugal is among the European countries with the lowest average salt content in the categories of bakery products, processed potato products, pre-prepared tinned meals, pre-prepared fresh meals and cheese, and the lowest average sugar content in the categories of soft drinks and sweet cakes and biscuits.

"This data is the result of an effort by the European Union to have a system for monitoring the food supply in all EU countries," which tracks the evolution of food composition in different countries and realises the impact of the different measures being implemented, PNPAS director Maria João Gregório told Lusa.

According to her, Portugal has been defining "a strong strategy in the area of food reformulation", in collaboration with the industry and distribution sector, which is contributing to these results.

The document also analyses the impact of excise duty on sugary drinks, showing a 39% decrease in the proportion of drinks with 8 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres between 2017 and 2024.

Maria João Gregório emphasised that this tax is "one of the factors that contributed to this result".

"This effect, maintained over time, demonstrates the decisive role of tax policies in promoting healthier eating environments," the report adds.

The DGS noted that, across categories such as breakfast cereals, yoghurts and delicatessen products, the average salt and sugar content remains above the European average, underscoring the need to continue investing in food product reformulation in Portugal.

The results also suggest that “regulatory measures are more effective than voluntary agreements, since the reduction in sugar was significantly higher in soft drinks subject to taxation (-25.7%) than in categories only covered by voluntary commitments (-14.8%)”.

For the first time, this report includes data on primary health care (PHC) nutrition responses, revealing that almost 137,000 consultations were conducted in 2024, 30% more than in 2022.

In 2024, the average time from referral to a nutrition consultation was 94 days, the document says, adding that the majority of consultations were for women aged 45 to 59.

Maria João Gregório pointed to the increase in the number of consultations as positive, but believes that the response capacity in the CSP is "still not adequate": "We still have a waiting time between the consultation period and the actual consultation, which is still not desirable".

He emphasised the "fundamental role" of PHC in promoting a healthy diet and in the prevention and management of a very wide range of chronic diseases that represent the majority of the disease burden in Portugal.

"The response in this area from nutrition is, in fact, fundamental," she said.

The data on the registration of overweight and obesity in PHC continues to evolve positively, which, according to the DGS, "could represent an improvement in the performance of the NHS in identifying people with pre-obesity and obesity, as well as their registration as a clinical diagnosis".

In 2024, 36.7% of hospitalised patients underwent nutritional screening, totalling 206,339 patients, of whom 25.7% were at nutritional risk.

"Over the last few years, we have been progressively improving the response capacity of hospital care to identify nutritional risk in hospitalised and relatively hospitalised patients," she stressed.

She pointed out that the percentage of patients at nutritional risk is similar to other countries and different published studies: "We are talking about nutritional risk in a very specific population, which is patients who are hospitalised," she commented.

HN/ADB // ADB.

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