Take out trans fats, says Which?
07 October 2004
Dangerous trans fat is present in shocking levels in many processed foods and must be removed from products, says Which? today.
Trans fat occurs naturally in small amounts in dairy products and meat. It is also formed artificially when manufacturers hydrogenate fat or oil. One reason for this is to extend food shelf life. It has no nutritional value and may cause more damage to the heart than saturated fat1. Just one gram eaten daily can significantly increase the risk of heart disease, according to some experts.
One gram of hidden trans fat is all too easy to come by. Which? tested 30 popular foods which contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat or oil and found some alarming results (given in full overleaf).
A KFC meal contains an artery lickin' 4.4g of trans fat2; a Burger King Whopper and fries contains a whopping 2.3 g; if you want 3g of trans fat, you'll love a McDonald's McNugget meal.
It's not just fast food that contains this dangerous substance. Some products you might choose for health reasons can also contain hefty doses of trans fat. Three Tesco's wheat and gluten free toffee fudge shortbread contain 2.5g of trans fat.
In fact, it's extremely difficult to avoid trans fat in convenience food. A Sainsbury's puff pastry minced beef and onion pie contains 1.8g; a 180g portion of Lidl Le Chef cheese, onion and chive quiche, 1.3g; a Cadbury's Boost bar, 1.2g.
Food manufacturers are aware of the problems with trans fat, and some have cut levels, but they're not doing nearly enough.
Malcolm Coles, editor, Which?, says: "It's irresponsible of food manufacturers to include an artificial ingredient in processed food that can only do you harm. If the government really is committed to improving the health of the nation, it urgently needs to take action on this disgusting stealth fat and give food manufacturers an ultimatum to stop peddling it.
"By the end of this year, we want targets set for manufacturers to eliminate artificial trans fat from their products. We also want information on trans fat to be included on nutrition labels.
"At the moment it's impossible to know how much trans fat we're consuming as it doesn't have to be labelled. As some experts believe the only safe level of artery clogging trans fat is zero, this has got to change."
Notes to Editor
For further information or the full article, from Which? October 2004, please contact Martin Chapman on 020 7770 7373.
Malcolm Coles is available for interview.