Background & aims: The present study evaluated the lipid profile of enteral nutrition formulas with added fish oil used in a public hospital, with an emphasis on the fatty acid (FA) composition.
Methods: FA composition was determined using gas chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Nine enteral nutrition formulas were evaluated and the results obtained were compared with those reported on the formulas labels.
Results: The sample with the highest percentage of added fish oil according to the label information had the lowest total amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (EPA + DHA) (p < 0.05). In the evaluation of the total amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids (ΣPUFA/ΣSFA) ratio, five samples were not within the values recommended by Brazilan and international health regulatory agencies. Regarding the n-6/n-3 fatty acids ratio, five samples showed values higher than the recommended ratio. It was observed that EPA + DHA content was positively correlated with the cost of the diet. Importantly, we also found that there was a significant difference between the results of our analysis and the descriptions found on the labels for fatty acids n-6, n-3, EPA, DHA, SFA, PUFA and MUFA.
Conclusions: We conclude that the discrepancies for fatty acids between the values obtained in the analyses and the values reported on the labels highlight the need for more rigorous inspection when public hospitals purchase enteral nutrition formulas with added fish oil, since the administration of formulas with inadequate levels of FA in hospitalized patients can compromise clinical results during the hospitalization period.
Keywords: Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Food composition; Formulated foods; Nutritional therapy; Quality control.
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