RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Brazil’s fast-food chains have six months to start giving consumers calorie counts and nutritional information about their burgers, fries and milkshakes.
The new data are required under the terms of an agreement reached between the federal government and 60 chains.
New data from the government’s IBGE statistics bureau show the Brazilian diet is changing rapidly. Brazilians are eating less rice and beans _ the traditional meal _ and more high-calorie processed foods and sugary sodas.
Outgoing Minister of Health Jose Gomes Temporao warned President-elect Dilma Rousseff that Brazil could reach U.S.-levels of obesity by 2022.
The agreement was announced Tuesday.
American legislators approved a similar measure as part of a national health-care reform this year, giving U.S. chains a year to comply.
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