RESUMO
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Many trace elements are nutrients essential to humans, acting in the metabolism as constituents or as enzymatic co-factors. The iron, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium contents of hospital diets (regular, blend and soft) and of oral food complement (OFC) were determined, evaluating the adequacy of each element in relation to the nutritional recommendations (DRIs) and the percent contribution alone and with OFC. METHODS: Duplicate samples were taken of six daily meals and of the OFC on two non-consecutive days from a hospital in Belo Horizonte (MG, Brazil) in May and September of 2010 and January of 2011. The elements were determined by ICP OES. RESULTS: Of the diets, the soft diet showed the highest elements content. Offering the OFC was insufficient to provide adequate levels of the trace elements. CONCLUSION: The oral hospital diets were inadequate in relation to the RDAs for the trace elements studied and the use of the OFCs was insufficient to compensate the values.