A healthful diet must be safe and sustainable. As processed foods have become part of the daily diet of the population, it is essential to identify high-quality options. This research aimed to develop and validate an instrument for evaluating the safety, healthfulness and sustainability of processed foods.
The instrument was developed based on a literature review and the research team’s prior experiences. The Delphi method was used for content validation, in which 34 experts participated. Items were rated on a five-point Likert scale, and those with a content validity coefficient (CVC) of = 0.7 were considered acceptable. Semantic validation was performed with a sample of five managers from family-run agroindustries. The applicability of the instrument was tested on 16 processed foods from four family-run agroindustries.
An assessment instrument was developed and validated to identify safe, healthful and sustainable processed foods produced by family-run agroindustry. The first version of the instrument contained 21 items, with an overall CVC of 0.84. After two rounds of semantic evaluation, all items were deemed comprehensible. Following revisions, the final version of the instrument contained 20 items. The instrument’s applicability was confirmed by the applicability test.
This study presents a strategy for identifying, valuing and promoting high-quality processed foods, contributing to more healthful, safer and more sustainable food choices.
