HONG KONG: The government is calling on food manufacturers to reduce harmful content in the products they sell.

The public is cautioned once more against high trans fatty acids (TFA) levels in margarine and puff pastry products.

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) examined 59 food items and classified them in six groups, including snacks, bakery products, milk and dairy products, oils and fats, non-alcoholic beverage, as well as fast food and dim sum.

The allowable daily intake of TFA is no more than 1 percent of daily energy intake and saturated fatty acids (SFA) should not exceed 10 per cent according to the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

Excessive intake of TFA raises the risk of coronary heart disease, which is the second leading cause of death in Hong Kong.

Despite an absence of legislation stipulating maximum TFA levels in foods, the Amended Regulations on Nutrition Labelling will come into effect in July of next year. The new regulations will require manufacturers to state the content of core nutrients as well as TFA on prepackaged foods.

Food with less than 0.3 grams TFA per 100 grams portion may be labelled as having zero TFA content under the new regulations.

About 30 percent of the sampled foods were found to have more than 0.3 grams TFA per 100 grams portion. The level has huge variations, ranging from 0 to 11 grams.

Puff pastry contains high TFA. A bowl of cream soup with puff pastry weighed 315 grams was tested with 1.6 grams of TFA, of which 1.1 grams came from the pastry.

An adult having one bowl will have absorbed 73 percent of the daily TFA intake limit.

"Some dining rooms are offering special discounts on soup with puff pastry now, such as getting a bowl for only HK$1. But what do consumers actually get for this dollar?" said Ho Yuk-yin, CFS's Consultant (Community Medicine) (Risk Assessment and Communication).

Violette Lin, CFS's Scientific Officer (Nutrition), explained the manufacture of pastry requires a lot of fat that results in high TFA level.

Ho also noted that some pastry samples had relatively low TFA content, with only 0.014 grams per 100 grams.

"New methods are available to reduce the TFA level in food. I believe the catering industry will be more stringent in controlling the TFA content as the labeling regulation will take effect next year," Ho said.

In addition, the CFS found that a hard margarine sample had 11 grams of TFA per 100 grams portion. One tablespoon of the vegetable oil will account for 68 percent of daily limit.

"The food trade is advised to state the TFA amounts in the nutrition labels of pre-packaged foods to enable consumers to make an informed choice," Ho said. "Consumers should also look at the SFA level on the label to eat healthily."

(HK Edition 07/09/2009 page1)