Optimized menu formulation to enhance nutritional goals: design of a mixed integer programming model for the workers' food program in Brazil.

Background: In Brazil, institutional foodservices are required to meet the recommendations of the Workers? Food Program (WFP), a national public policy used to plan collective menus. The current study aimed to propose a mathematical model to generate a one-month menu that meets the nutritional recommendations of the WFP, with low cost and good quality.

Methods: We considered aspects related to the eating habits of the Brazilian population, spacing of repetitions between the dishes, texture combination, and monotonicity of colors of the dishes served.