According to Text 2, salt is used in non-salty food and in most food sold in supermarkets to
Text 2
Your Meal Has Six Times More Salt Than You Think
How much salt was in your lunch? Whatever your guess, chances are you’re off. By a lot.
In a new study, published in the journal Appetite, researchers stood outside fast-food restaurants and asked people to guess
how much sodium they just ate. Their answers were almost always six times too low.
That's because people don't tend to use a lot of salt to season meals cooked at home, but restaurants use much more of it to
enhance the flavor of their meals. It’s also used in food additives and as a preservative to extend shelf life, so even foods that
don’t taste salty, like pastries, donuts and bread, can have a lot of it.
As a result, 89% of Americans eat too much salt. People should get no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day — about
one teaspoon, public health groups recommend — but the average American eats about 3,600 mg every day. Eating too much
salt makes the body retain more water, which raises blood pressure and can affect the heart, blood vessels, brain and kidneys.
Overconsuming sodium can lead to hypertension, heart attack and stroke, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health.
To test the sodium knowledge of real-world eaters, researchers stationed themselves at several fast-food restaurants —
McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Wendy’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin’ Donuts — and polled adolescents and adults
on their sodium consumption. When people approached the entrance, the researchers asked them to save their receipts; on
their way out, they estimated how much sodium they ate.
Adults ate about 1,300 mg of sodium in a single fast-food sitting, which is more than half of the upper recommended limit for the
day. Yet the average guess was just 200 mg, says study author Alyssa Moran, a registered dietitian and doctoral student at the
Harvard School of Public Health. They were off by about 650%.
That's when they ventured a guess at all. “25% of the people we approached had absolutely no idea about the amount of
sodium in their meal and couldn’t even provide an estimate,” Moran says.
Sodium information isn't visibly published in chain restaurants. But in 2015, New York became the first city in the country to
require chains to post warning labels on menu items with more than 2,300 mg of sodium. "Right now it's only in New York City,
but we have a feeling that other local governments will probably follow suit," Moran says. "We saw that that happened when
New York City started posting calories on menu boards."
Doing so may finally help people learn how much sodium is in their food, and it may even encourage companies to reformulate
the worst offenders.
Disponível em:< http://time.com/4746932/sodium-salt-fast-food/.> Texto adaptado.
Text 2
Your Meal Has Six Times More Salt Than You Think
How much salt was in your lunch? Whatever your guess, chances are you’re off. By a lot.
In a new study, published in the journal Appetite, researchers stood outside fast-food restaurants and asked people to guess
how much sodium they just ate. Their answers were almost always six times too low.
That's because people don't tend to use a lot of salt to season meals cooked at home, but restaurants use much more of it to
enhance the flavor of their meals. It’s also used in food additives and as a preservative to extend shelf life, so even foods that
don’t taste salty, like pastries, donuts and bread, can have a lot of it.
As a result, 89% of Americans eat too much salt. People should get no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day — about
one teaspoon, public health groups recommend — but the average American eats about 3,600 mg every day. Eating too much
salt makes the body retain more water, which raises blood pressure and can affect the heart, blood vessels, brain and kidneys.
Overconsuming sodium can lead to hypertension, heart attack and stroke, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health.
To test the sodium knowledge of real-world eaters, researchers stationed themselves at several fast-food restaurants —
McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Wendy’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin’ Donuts — and polled adolescents and adults
on their sodium consumption. When people approached the entrance, the researchers asked them to save their receipts; on
their way out, they estimated how much sodium they ate.
Adults ate about 1,300 mg of sodium in a single fast-food sitting, which is more than half of the upper recommended limit for the
day. Yet the average guess was just 200 mg, says study author Alyssa Moran, a registered dietitian and doctoral student at the
Harvard School of Public Health. They were off by about 650%.
That's when they ventured a guess at all. “25% of the people we approached had absolutely no idea about the amount of
sodium in their meal and couldn’t even provide an estimate,” Moran says.
Sodium information isn't visibly published in chain restaurants. But in 2015, New York became the first city in the country to
require chains to post warning labels on menu items with more than 2,300 mg of sodium. "Right now it's only in New York City,
but we have a feeling that other local governments will probably follow suit," Moran says. "We saw that that happened when
New York City started posting calories on menu boards."
Doing so may finally help people learn how much sodium is in their food, and it may even encourage companies to reformulate
the worst offenders.
Gabarito comentado
Comentário Gabaritado – Interpretação de Texto – Vestibular
Tema central: A função principal do sal (sodium/sódio) em alimentos industrializados, incluindo aqueles que não possuem sabor salgado perceptível.
Explicação do Tema e Estratégia de Resolução:
A questão exige interpretação literal do texto (“Reading Comprehension”). O texto destaca que o sal está presente mesmo em alimentos que não parecem salgados (“even foods that don’t taste salty, like pastries, donuts and bread, can have a lot of it”) devido ao seu uso como realçador de sabor (enhance the flavor) e conservante (as a preservative to extend shelf life). Isso aponta duas funções fundamentais: aumentar a durabilidade dos alimentos e melhorar o sabor.
Procedimento para encontrar a alternativa correta: Busque no texto palavras-chave (preservative, flavor) e faça associação direta com as opções apresentadas. Ignore distrações que não aparecem no texto.
Justificativa da alternativa correta:
A alternativa B) make it last longer and/or taste better traduz fielmente a função descrita no texto: conservar (last longer) e realçar o sabor (taste better). Palavras do texto como “enhance the flavor” e “as a preservative to extend shelf life” confirmam.
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
A) “balance the amount of sodium in the food” – ERRADA. O sal não é usado para “balancear” mas sim para conservar e dar sabor.
C) “make sure people eat the right amount of salt recommended” – ERRADA. O texto afirma o contrário, que, por excesso de sal, se excede a recomendação.
D) “reduce the final price of the product to the consumer” – ERRADA. Não há informação sobre preço.
E) “avoid that people add extra salt...” – ERRADA. O texto não faz essa relação.
Estratégia para provas futuras: Foque sempre nas funções destacadas no texto, evite se distrair com alternativas que pareçam plausíveis mas não estejam comprovadas pelo texto-lido. Procure também palavras cognatas como preservative (conservante) e flavor (sabor), frequentes em provas.
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