Being both delicious and visually appealing, cakes have become a celebration food as well as a favourite everyday dessert for many. Their popularity is marked by the vast selection available on the market. However, consumers need to be aware of the underlying health threats that come hand-in-hand with their beloved treat. The Consumer Council, in collaboration with the Centre for Food Safety (CFS), tested 100 samples of non-prepackaged cakes on the market and revealed that over 40% (41) samples were high-fat food, 25% (26) samples were high-sugar food, whereas close to 10% (8) samples were simultaneously high in fat and sugars. The results reflected that health risks underlie this everyday delicacy. The Council urges the public, especially those with a sweet tooth, to keep their cake consumption in check to avoid the “high-sugar” and “high-fat” pitfall. If not consumed in moderation, it might increase the risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Moreover, the test saw a generally low ratio of industrially produced trans fat to total fat content, but the industrially-produced trans fat levels among certain cake categories are still relatively high, implying room for improvement. The Council also urges food producers to improve their ingredients and optimise the production process, in an effort to lower the sugars and fat levels in the cakes, as well as using ingredients that do not contain partially hydrogenated oil. Food vendors should also consider offering smaller portions as a healthier option for consumers.
10 categories of non-prepackaged cakes were covered in the test, including swiss roll, muffin, black forest cake, mango mousse cake, fresh fruit cream cake, mille crêpe, chiffon cake, chestnut cake, butter cake, and Napoleon cake. Each group comprised 10 samples, accounting for a total of 100 samples of non-prepackaged cakes. Covered in the test were the total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, industrially-produced trans fat and sugars content.
The 10 cake categories were benchmarked against the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended ratio of industrially produced trans fats to total fat content of no more than 2%. Among the 100 samples, 96 had a ratio of industrially produced trans fats to total fat content lower than the suggested 2% standard by WHO, with a generally low average of 0.36%. Over half of the samples (55) were completely free of industrially-produced trans fat, whereas only a few samples were found to contain a higher industrially-produced trans fat content.
5 categories had an average total fat content that reached the “high-fat” food benchmark (i.e., over 20g total fat content per 100g sample), including butter cake, swiss roll, chiffon cake, mille crêpe and Napoleon cake. Above all, the butter cake category had the highest average total fat content, hitting 25g per 100g; swiss rolls and chiffon cakes tied as runners-up, with 23g of total fat per 100g.
When evaluated individually, 41 samples were classified as “high-fat” foods in terms of the total fat content, including all 10 samples of butter cake, 7 swiss roll samples, 7 chiffon cake samples, 7 mille crêpe samples and 3 samples of Napoleon cake. 1 Napoleon cake sample had the highest total fat content, with a staggering 48g of total fat per 100g. The said sample also contained the highest saturated fat content amongst all, with 23g saturated fat per 100g. This represents an approximate 18g of total fat intake and 9g of saturated fat intake upon consuming the whole portion of the cake sample (37g), accounting for 27% and 41% of the daily fat intake recommended by WHO.
Not only does trans fat naturally exist in the meat, fat, and products of ruminant animals, but this unhealthy trans fat could also be produced when food is processed and cooked at high temperatures, such as baking or frying. Industrially-produced trans fat is mainly produced during the industrially partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils. The test results revealed that butter cake was the category that had the highest content of average total trans fat. The total trans fat content of the 10 butter cake samples ranged from 0.1g to 1.1g per 100g sample, representing a tenfold difference. While all butter cake samples were also classified as “high-fat” foods, there is no proportional relationship between the total fat content and the industrially produced trans fat content. The Council reminds consumers that trans fats increase the concentration of “bad” cholesterols (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c)) in the human body, escalating the risk of coronary heart disease.
While it is inevitable for cakes to contain a certain level of fat content, it is possible to lower the percentage of the industrially-produced trans fat in total fat content by substituting partially hydrogenated oil with other types of oil. This calls for product reformulation from food producers. The Council prompts the food industry to take action towards WHO’s goal to globally eliminate industrially-produced trans fat from national food supplies by 2023, in an effort to reduce the risk of premature death as a result of non-communicable diseases.
In terms of the average sugars content amongst the 10 categories, 2 were found to reach the level of “high-sugar” foods (i.e., containing more than 15g of sugars per 100g). Muffins contained the highest average sugars content, with 19.2g sugars per 100g, while butter cake was placed second, containing 17g sugars per 100g.
Tests of the individual samples revealed that 26 samples reached “high-sugar” food levels, including 9 muffin samples and 5 butter cake samples. 2 butter cake samples and 1 muffin sample jointly topped the list of highest sugars content, with all 3 containing 29g sugars per 100g. Take one 114g muffin sample as an example – consumption of the whole serving intakes 33g of sugars, equivalent to 66% of WHO’s recommended daily sugars intake. Meanwhile, another butter cake sample weighing merely 9g incurs a seemingly harmless 2.6g sugars intake if consumed in whole. Nonetheless the accumulative sugars content may soar when consumers lower their guard due to its small portion and consume several pieces at a time.
The test results also revealed huge disparities in sugars content amongst samples of the same category, amongst which butter cake, black forest cake, mango mousse cake and mille crêpe were found to have a larger disparity, ranging from 7 to 13 times. Take the highest discrepancy category for example, the sugars content of the 10 butter cake samples ranged from 2.2g to 29g per 100g, a considerable difference of 12 times; even for lower disparity categories, such as chiffon cake, the 10 samples contained varied levels of sugars content ranging from 5.3g to 20g per 100g sample, representing a 2.7 time difference. This reflects the sugars content amongst samples vastly vary, implying much room for lowering the sugars content for those high-sugar samples.
On comparing the results of 10 identical samples of the same brand and product type in past tests and the current test, including 5 swiss rolls, 1 muffin, 2 mille crêpes and 2 butter cakes, it was found that 7 samples remained at “high-fat” food level; 3 samples recorded a significant spike in their total fat content; amongst the 10 tested samples, despite 7 having lowered their sugars content to below the “high-sugar” standard after product reformulation. The reduction of sugars content below the "high sugar" level shows that the industry has gradual improvement in reducing sugars. However, the other 3 samples remained as “high-sugar” foods, indicating that there is still much room for the food production industry to lower the sugars and fat content in cakes as much as possible.
Cakes are, generally speaking, high-fat foods with a relatively high in sugars content. When purchasing and consuming cakes, consumers can make reference to this test to look for the ones with lower fat and sugar contents, as well as noting the following suggestions:
- Maintain a balanced and diversified diet, cut down on consumption of cakes with high sugar and high fat content;
- Order tailored cakes made by ingredients with lower sugars and fat content;
- Consider purchasing smaller portions, or share when portions are large;
- Before buying prepackaged food, read the food labels carefully, paying particular attention to the trans fat, total fat and sugars content.
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