Why should you eat less foods that contain trans fatty acids?

Brioche bread, chips, chips, sandwich biscuits...... While these snacks are delicious, some may contain trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are recognized as "bad fats", and long-term, excessive intake is not beneficial to health. A survey by the Food and Drug Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law found that some food labels are currently missing or mislabeling trans fatty acids. At the same time, because there are many "aliases" of trans fatty acids, it also increases the difficulty of consumers to identify. How should consumers pay attention to the intake of trans fatty acids?

Some consumers lack a good understanding of trans fatty acids

Trans fatty acids are a type of unsaturated fatty acids and are a general term for unsaturated fatty acids that contain at least one trans-configuration double bond.

Wang Qingbin, director of the Food and Drug Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview with a reporter from China Consumer Daily that trans fatty acids can be divided into two categories: natural and generated during processing, according to the source. Natural trans fatty acids are mainly derived from beef and mutton, fat, milk and dairy products, and processed trans fatty acids are mainly produced in the partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids (vegetable oils) and long-term high-temperature processing of liquid oils and fats (such as the refining and deodorization of vegetable oils). In addition, when frying food, if the oil temperature is too high and the time is too long, a small amount of trans fatty acids will be produced.

The so-called hydrogenation of vegetable oil refers to the artificial catalysis of liquid unsaturated fatty acids through the moderate introduction of hydrogen molecules, thereby turning vegetable oil into a semi-solid or solid substance like butter. Vegetable oil is widely used in the food industry because of its stable chemical properties, long shelf life, good taste and lower cost than animal oil after hydrogenation. If vegetable oil is completely hydrogenated, it is saturated fat, but if it is not completely hydrogenated due to process and other factors, part of the remaining unsaturated fatty acids will undergo a "configuration transition" and become trans fatty acids.

Studies have found that trans fatty acids are associated with the incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and obesity, and trans fatty acid intake of 2% of total calories may increase the risk of coronary heart disease, and the intake of trans fats in infants and young children may also affect growth and development.

However, most consumers' perception of trans fatty acids is still scratching the surface. A survey with a valid sample of 10,331 by the Food and Drug Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law found that although 89.47% of the respondents said they had heard of trans fatty acids, more than 40% of them said they were not sure whether the meaning of trans fatty acids was correct, and 18.22% of the respondents clearly said that they did not know the specific meaning of trans fatty acids.

At the same time, the majority of respondents are uncertain about whether trans fatty acids affect their health. The survey results show that 35.21% of the respondents believe that there are enough trans fatty acids in food to have an impact on health, 16.84% of the respondents believe that there is no impact, and 46.07% of the respondents are not sure whether their health is affected by trans fatty acids.

At the same time, the survey selected 9 kinds of foods that are common in daily life and are easily confused in consumers' cognition, and asked the respondents to judge the level of trans fatty acids in them. The results showed that the respondents had a low rate of correct judgment on the trans fatty acid content of these nine food items, and many respondents even identified certain foods with high trans fatty acid content as low levels.

Missing or mislabeling trans fatty acids is common

The improvement of the labeling system is a necessary prerequisite to protect consumers' right to know and consumer safety.

The above-mentioned survey by the Food and Drug Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law also statistically studied the labeling of trans fatty acids in 600 kinds of foods. Surveys have shown that some food labels have missing or mislabeling trans fatty acids.

According to the General Principles for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods in National Food Safety Standards, the content of trans fatty acids should be marked in the nutrition ingredient list when hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils and fats are contained in food ingredients or used in the production process. However, the survey found that some food ingredient lists showed the use of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils, while trans fatty acids were not declared in the nutrition facts list. Among the 600 commodities surveyed, 117 products containing hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil as the main raw material were indicated in the label ingredient list, of which 74 were labeled with trans fatty acid content, with a labeling rate of only 64.1%.

On the other hand, trans fatty acids are listed in the nutrition facts list, but no ingredients using hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils are found in the ingredient list. For example, the trans fatty acid content of Crown Danish Cookies and Danish Cookies Christmas Fun Pack is 0.7g/100g, but neither of them contains ingredients with hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil as the main raw material.

In addition, the survey also found that there are cases where the same ingredient list of the same product has different labeling of trans fatty acids.

The Dietary Nutrition Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022 Edition) recommends that adults consume no more than 2 grams of trans fatty acids per day. However, the survey found that the trans fatty acid-related terms in the ingredient list are mixed and the "aliases" are diverse, making it impossible for consumers to judge whether trans fatty acids are present in a certain food or whether the trans fatty acids ingested meet the daily reference value. Among them, some food manufacturers use uncommon ingredients containing trans fatty acids, which may lead to misjudgment by consumers, and it is not excluded that some companies mislead consumers through vague terms or expressions, making it difficult for consumers to accurately judge the content of trans fatty acids in food.

According to the survey, the above-mentioned problems in food labels make it difficult for consumers to accurately understand the specific content and hazards of trans fatty acids in food, and also reduce consumers' trust in food labels.

Controlling your intake with a daily diet can reduce your risk

Over the years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has continued to advocate and promote the elimination of trans fatty acids from processed sources, with its identified "best practice policies" including a mandatory limit of 2 grams of industrially produced trans fats per 100 grams of total fat in all foods, and a mandatory ban on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils (the main source of trans fats) in food. For more than 20 years, Continental has taken a series of measures to reduce the health risks of trans fatty acid intake.

According to the data, the per capita daily intake of trans fatty acids in mainland China is about 0.39 grams, which is equivalent to an energy supply ratio of 0.16%, which is far lower than the recommended value of the World Health Organization (less than 1%), and the overall health risk is very low. However, according to a number of authoritative surveys in China, with the increasing intake of consumers, especially teenagers, for foods prone to trans fatty acids such as Western-style fast food, cakes, brioche bread, potato chips, etc., some groups of people are affected by trans fatty acids.

It is almost impossible to completely eliminate trans fatty acids from the diet. At the same time, the health hazards of trans fats are the result of long-term accumulation, and as long as you don't eat much, the health risks are controllable.

Wang Qingbin reminded consumers that in their daily lives, the first thing to do is to control the amount of cooking vegetable oil. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022 Edition) recommends that the daily intake of vegetable oil should be controlled at 25 grams to 30 grams. At the same time, cooking or frying foods with oil that has been reheated repeatedly should be avoided to reduce excessive intake of trans fatty acids.

Second, adhere to a diversified diet and do a good job of eating a balanced diet. In particular, it is important not to use pastry snacks as breakfast or staple food, such as wafers, brioche bread, pies, sandwich biscuits, etc. Generally speaking, although these foods are convenient and quick to eat, they may be relatively high in trans fatty acids and should not be consumed excessively.

Finally, when buying pre-packaged foods, pay attention to the ingredient list and nutrition facts list. According to the General Principles for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods in China, when the trans fatty acid content ≤ 0.3 grams, the content is marked as "0". That is, zero trans fatty acids ≠ no trans fatty acids. Therefore, even if the trans fatty acids in the nutrition facts list show 0 grams, the ingredients list shows shortening, hydrogenated oil, vegetable shortening, cocoa butter substitute, margarine, margarine, etc., which may still contain trans fatty acids.

Source: China Consumer Daily