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Improper levels or excess of iodine may present a greater risk to health, for this reason, this paper aims to assess the iodine content present in salt and estimate the iodine concentration in school meals in a Brazilian northeast region.

Six samples of different salt brands sold in the city of Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil were gathered for analyzing iodate concentration. The amounts of salt added to meals of four schools in the city and the weight of the provided meals were recorded during two consecutive days of gathering, thus obtaining data to estimate the iodine content of these meals. The rest of the meals and the nutritional composition of school meals were analyzed. A questionnaire for participants on the perception of salt was applied. For data analysis, α = 5% was used.

The iodine concentration in all salt samples followed legislation (15 to 45 mg of iodine/kg of salt), with the average of iodine ranged between 26.5 ± 1.29 and 33.9 ± 2.49 mg/kg (p < 0.001). The estimated iodine content in consumed school meals was 0.025 mg (25 µg), in meals of schools A and C, it was 0.03 ± 0.02 mg, and to schools B and D, it was 0.02 ± 0.01 mg (p < 0.001). Percentages of rest of the meals greater than 10% were found and the assessed food preparation showed low caloric and nutritional values.

The iodine content is in accordance with the salt iodization policy in Brazil, and that the average iodine estimate in school meals was considered adequate for this population.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.