In each society,feeding is constructed from a symbolic process that charactenzes foods like edible, inserís them in a system of preferences and establishes theforms ofpreparation and consumption. The description, explanation and prediction of the alimentary behavior present an increasing complexity on the basis of the appearance of new manifestations about well-known factors and new phenomena to know. This article will show the influence ofthe identity, the relation between supply and consumption, the conditioners ofthe intake, the subject, the Ufe style, the sensorial dimensions of foods and body discourses for discussing its methodological treatment.

En cada sociedad, la alimentación se construye a partir de un proceso de simbolización que caracteriza a los alimentos como comestibles, los inserta en un sistema de preferencias y les establece las formas de preparación y ocasión de consumo. La descripción, explicación y predicción del comportamiento alimentario presenta una complejidad creciente en base a la aparición de nuevas manifestaciones de factores ya conocidos y de nuevos fenómenos por conocer. En este artículo se tratan la influencia de la identidad, la relación entre oferta y consumo, las condicionantes de la ingesta, el sujeto, el estilo de vida, la dimensión sensoria de los alimentos y discursos sobre el cuerpo discutiendo su tratamiento metodológico.

The present study aimed at assessing the effects of methionine and arginine on the immune response of broiler chickens submitted to immunological stimuli. Three methionine concentrations (0.31, 0.51, and 0.66% from 1 to 21 days of age; 0.29, 0.49, and 0.64% from 22 to 42 days of age) and 2 arginine concentrations (1.33 and 1.83%; 1.14 and 1.64% for the same life periods) were tested. Birds were divided into two groups for immunological stimuli (3x2x2 arrangement). Vaccines against Marek's disease, fowl pox, infectious bronchitis, Freund's Complete Adjuvant, Sheep red blood cells (SRBC), and avian tuberculin were administered to one group as immunological stimuli; the other group did not receive any stimulus. The experiment was carried out with 432 one-day-old male Ross broilers, distributed into 12 treatments with 6 replicates of 6 birds each. Performance data were weekly collected. Anti-SRBC antibodies were collected by hemagglutination test and cell immune response (CIR) was measured by tubercularization reaction in one wattle 24 hours after administration of the second tuberculin injection at 42 days of age. The weight difference between the two wattles of each bird (one injected with tuberculin and the other not) was the measure of CIR. Arginine levels did not influence either bird performance or immune response. Methionine concentrations higher or lower than usually adopted in broiler production (0.51 and 0.49%) equally failed to influence the birds' immune humoral response, but the best CIR was observed at the intermediate methionine level. Vaccines administered on the first day of age impaired bird performance up to the 21st day of age.