These startling facts in a Consumer Council report are certain to make you think twice before you dig in on a binge on your yummy Chinese New Year puddings and dumplings. The finding, assessed against the nutrient intake level of a person of a daily energy intake of 2,000 kcal, showed:
- 2 pieces of sweet pudding（年糕 of about 116 grams）contain 50 grams of sugar equivalent to 10 sugar cubes or the WHO recommended daily intake limit on free sugars.
- 18 pieces of sesame cookies（笑口棗 of about 95 grams）contain 45 grams of total fat equivalent to 3 tablespoons of cooking oil or 75% of the WHO recommended daily intake limit on total fat.
- 4 pieces of turnip cake（蘿蔔糕 of about 196 grams）contain 1 gram of sodium equivalent to ½ teaspoon of salt, or 50% of the WHO recommended daily intake limit on sodium.
- 7 pieces of crispy triangle（酥角 of about 100 grams）provide 465 kcal of energy equivalent to 2 bowls of rice (of 175 grams each) or 25% of daily energy intake on the basis of a 2,000 kcal diet.
In short, a lot of traditional CNY favourites are, unfortunately, high in the 3 nutrients detrimental to health if consumed excessively: sugar, salt and fat.
With the Lunar New Year just a few days away, this timely Consumer Council report was based on a market survey on nutrition labelling between January and February on 40 prepackaged CNY festive foods from 9 chain pastry stores - 14 sweet puddings, 15 turnip/taro cakes, and 11 sesame cookies and crispy triangles.
Understandably, some samples are lower in these nutrients, the advice is to shop around and compare their nutrition labels for sugar, salt (sodium), fat and energy contents, and be cautious in the volume to buy.
Sugar
On the basis of their nutrition labels, half of all sweet pudding samples were found to contain at least 25 g of sugar per 100 g serving. Assuming those are free sugars, the content will have exceeded 50% of the WHO recommended daily intake limit for free sugars. Only 2 sweet puddings labeled with low sugar claims have low sugar content.
Sesame cookie and crispy triangle samples are also in general excessively sweet. But not only were the samples high in sugar content, they were also found with high total fat.
Fat
In 100 g serving, 7 out of 11 samples surveyed were found to equal or exceed 50% of the WHO recommended daily intake limit on total fat. Furthermore, the majority of the crispy triangle and sesame cookie samples were considered high in saturated fat which is highly correlated to risk of cardiovascular disease.
3 sweet puddings are also high in saturated fat probably due to use of coconut milk.
Sodium
Consumers should be wary of sodium intake when it comes to turnip and taro cakes: 2 pieces of a turnip cake sample of 100 g were found to surpass 25% of the WHO recommended daily sodium intake limit.
Surprisingly high sodium content was found also in sweet sesame cookies. In fact, in 100 g serving, 2 sesame cookie samples had the highest sodium content among samples in all categories.
Food high in energy is often linked to overweight and obesity. Crispy triangle and sesame cookie samples were found to contain an average of 540 kcal of energy per 100 g, which is equivalent to 2.3 bowls of rice - rice of the normal size bowl (175 g) contains 230 kcal of energy.
So enjoy your Chinese New Year festive puddings and dumplings but practise moderation to avoid indulgence and excessive consumption of foods high in sugar, salt and fat; remember a well-balanced diet and regular exercise is essential to good health.
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