Beware of the trans fats in your doughnut, wife cake and cream
wafer - CHOICE # 379 (May 14, 2008)
PDF version
A doughnut sample was found to
contain as much as 2.2 grams trans fats, according to the latest
test on 85 food products.
So, consuming just one piece of the
doughnut in question will boost your trans fats intake to its very
daily limit - the WHO/FAO's recommended daily intake of trans fats
is less than 2.2g (for an individual with a daily energy intake of
2,000 kilocalories).
Consuming one more of that tasty
doughnut will rapidly double the daily intake of trans fats which,
sadly, are present in many other food products, too.
This was revealed in a joint test of
the Consumer Council and the Centre for Food Safety - the second
test in 7 months to monitor trans fats levels in food.
There is growing evidence indicating
that trans fats intake is linked to an increased risk of coronary
heart disease. Trans fats are now considered to be more harmful to
health than saturated fats.
The latest finding was less
than encouraging compared with the previous test in October, when a
cream-filled bread with shredded coconut（
）was
found to contain the highest level of trans fats, with 1.8g per
100g.
The doughnut sample concerned was
found to contain the highest trans fats level (4.7g per100g). The 2
other doughnut samples in the test fared considerably less in trans
fats level with only 0.25g and 0.46g per 100g respectively.
Also relatively high in trans
fats level was a traditional wife cake（
）with 1.7g per 100g
or 1.3g per piece, which is about 60%of the recommended daily
intake. Again, the other sample of the same pastry had considerably
less trans fats of only 0.025g per 100g.
Following closely was a cream wafer
sample with 1.3g per 100g trans fats. Though the trans fats content
in a piece of wafer is not high (only 0.11g per piece), consuming
in large amount or for a long period of time may result in
excessive intake of trans fats.
Notwithstanding the common presence
of trans fats in food products, no trans fats were found in 4 of
the samples, namely, a rice cracker, 2 prepackaged soups, and a
non-dairy creamer.
The concern over trans fats will be
addressed in the proposed mandatory nutrition labelling scheme.
Under the proposed regulation, prepackaged foods are required to be
labelled with energy value and the content of 7 nutrients including
trans fats.
A food product could only label its
trans fats content as "0g" if it contains not more than 0.3g per
100g trans fats.
However, if the food product makes a
claim of "trans fats free" or the like such as "zero or no trans
fats" on the label or in any advertisements, it should also satisfy
the following requirements:
- contains not more than 1.5g of saturated fats and trans fats
combined per 100g of food; or not more than 0.75g of these fats
combined per 100ml of food; and
- the sum of saturated fats and trans fats contributes to not
more than 10% energy.
But as the test clearly shows, the
levels of trans fats varied quite considerably in samples within
the same food category, hence it is practically possible to avoid
or reduce trans fats in the production of food.
Food manufacturers are therefore
urged to avoid using hydrogenated vegetable oils to produce their
products; develop methods to reduce their trans fats content; and
label ingredients properly on prepackaged food.
Consumers are advised to refer to the
test results in this (May) issue of CHOICE on the content of trans
fats in 85 food samples (and 5 individually packed instant noodle
seasonings) including bakery products, ready-to-eat savouries,
instant noodles, soups, milk products, mayonnaises, chocolate
spreads, peanut butters and chocolate.
Choose food with less trans fats as
well as less saturated fats and cholesterol; maintain a balanced
diet (of low salt, low sugar, low fats, and high fibre); use less
hydrogenated vegetable oil or animal fat (butter or lard) in
cooking and use steaming and boiling instead of frying.
In the test, the saturated fats
and cholesterol contents of the samples also came under evaluation.
Results showed that creamer and instant noodle were relatively high
in saturated fats, while French toast（ 
）relatively high in
cholesterol.
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