Following the release of the test report last month on trans fats in foods, there has appeared some advertising suggesting that since fried fritters contain no cholesterol and a level of trans fats close to zero, they are healthy for consumption.
This is misleading. What the advertising failed to disclose is that the total fats content of fried fritters sampled was between 22g to 34g per piece.
According to WHO and FAO, the intake of total fats is recommended to be 15% to 30% of daily energy. For example, an individual with daily energy intake of 2000 Calories per day should have not more than 66.7g total fats a day.
Thus consuming one piece of fried fritter may have already taken up 30% to 50% of the recommended total fats daily intake.
Further, fried foods may contain a known carcinogen, acrylamide. As shown in the Council's test report on fried and baked snacks in October last year, a fried fritter contained 7.4 μg acrylamide on average.
Although the acrylamide level in fried fritter is not high, the advice of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is that exposure to acrylamide should be as low as reasonably achievable.
So, enjoy your fried fritter in moderation and never lose sight of a balanced diet, with low fat, low salt and low sugar, and high fibre.
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