Many snacks are hiding trans fatty acids and we probably eat them every day

What exactly are the dangers of trans fatty acids to the human body? Where are they hidden? How can we avoid excessive intake in our daily lives?Trans fatty acids harmful to health? Synthetic ones are harmfulRecently, the World Health Organization released a report saying that more than 5 billion of the world’s 8 billion people have industrially produced harmful trans fats in their food and to strive to eliminate these unhealthy ingredients from certain foods by the end of 2023. In fact, starting in 2018, the World Health Organisation has called for the complete elimination of industrially produced trans fats worldwide by 2023.

Ge Junbo said, for example, in life, people usually like to eat some fried food, processed food and other foods with high trans fat content, these foods are indeed convenient and save time, but we should specify the time of use and the number of times to use the oil used, for example, this oil has been fried 5 kg of flour should be disposed of to reduce the trans fat in food.

Trans fat, also known as trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fatty acid that comes in two varieties: one natural and one synthetic. In everyday life, it is almost impossible to be completely free from exposure to trans fatty acids. Natural trans fatty acids are mainly found in animal fats such as dairy products, beef and lamb. Scientific studies have concluded that the effects of consuming natural TFAs are not significant and that it is mainly the man-made TFAs that have an impact on health.

Long-term consumption of processed foods containing TFA may be harmful to the health of the heart and vascular system. In addition, the risk of developing diabetes increases gradually with increased intake of TFA. Long-term consumption of TFA-containing foods by children can easily lead to obesity and even affect growth and development; it also affects the absorption of essential fatty acids in children and is detrimental to the development of the retina, central nervous system and brain function. For women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, excessive intake of foods containing TFA not only affects their own cardiovascular health, but also has a negative impact on the health of the foetus or infant. Some studies have found that a fetus or infant can passively ingest TFA through the placenta or breast milk, which may affect the growth and development of the fetus and infant.

Are there trans fatty acids in many foods? Learn to read ingredient lists.

“In life, most TFAs come from the hydrogenation of vegetable oils.” Cai Hua said that vegetable oils can be transformed from liquid to solid through hydrogenation, which has the characteristics of good stability and easy storage, and is often used to make fried foods and margarine, etc.

Trans fatty acids are found in many foods we eat, especially snacks, such as bread with high fat content, such as shortbread, Danish bread and buttered bread; fried foods, such as sesame, doughnuts and instant noodles; snacks such as puffed foods, French fries, crisps and rice sticks; high-fat snacks, including biscuits, puffs, pancakes, shortbread, custard or strawberry pies, cream cakes, cream Foods named after “phyllo” or “creamer”, such as coffee mates and pearl milk tea, are also available.

Trans fatty acids, which have been “blacklisted” by the World Health Organisation, are found in many processed foods, so why is it that when we look at the nutrition facts on food labels, many foods are labelled as containing “0” trans fatty acids? In fact, this label does not mean that there are no trans fatty acids in the food, but the Code of Practice for the Management of Food Nutrition Labelling makes it clear that food containing less than (equal to) 0.3g/100g of trans fatty acids can be labelled as “0”.

In addition, some food products are not directly labelled as TFA on their packaging, but they have many “vests”, such as refined vegetable oil, vegetable cream, hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable butter, margarine, margarine, phyllo, cocoa butter, etc.

“So, when shopping for food, especially snacks, learn to read the ingredient list.” Cai Hua said that when picking up bread, cakes, ice cream, crisps and other foods to determine whether they contain trans fatty acids, you should not only focus on whether the “trans fatty acids” in the nutrition facts list is “0”, but also look at the ingredient list in the food label to see if it contains “If these substances are present in a food product, it means that the food itself contains trans fatty acids.

How to avoid excessive intake of trans fatty acids? Pay attention to these aspects.

“Although trans fatty acids have many health effects, their effects are the result of long-term accumulation. As long as they are not eaten every day or in large quantities, the risk to health is manageable, and the key is to control intake and not to eat foods containing trans fatty acids for a long time or in large quantities.” Cai Hua said.

According to the World Health Organisation’s food safety standards and the recommendations of China’s Dietary Guidelines for Residents, the daily calorie intake through TFA per person should not exceed 1% of total food calories, which for an adult who needs to consume 8,400 kJ of energy per day is equivalent to eating approximately 2.2 grams of TFA per day. According to current dietary guideline recommendations and food safety standards, many residents may be exceeding their intake of trans fatty acids.

So, how can we avoid excessive intake of TFA in our daily lives? Cai Hua recommends that.

Avoid high oil temperatures and repeated frying. When cooking, the oil temperature should be kept below 150°C. Do not wait until the oil is smoking before adding the vegetables. If you are not sure of the oil temperature, put a small strip of shredded spring onion in the pan at the same time, and when more small bubbles appear around the shredded spring onion, it is ready to be served. This is because the higher the frying temperature and the longer the frying time, the more trans fatty acids will be produced. An experiment published in Food Industry showed that two oils, rapeseed oil for household use and palm oil for industrial use, were used to test the effect of different heating temperatures (180 °C, 220 °C and 260 °C) and different heating times (0.5 to 10 hours) on fatty acids, and it was found that when both oils were heated to 260 °C, their TFA content was more than five times that of crude oil, and as the heating temperature The content of TFA in cooking oil increased as the heating temperature rose or the heating time was extended.

For deep-fried and pan-fried food, the less you eat, the better, and avoid repeated use of oil. It is best to eat fried foods with some vegetables and fruits such as bell peppers, coloured peppers, tomatoes, kiwis and strawberries to increase the intake of vitamin C.

Snacks should be chosen to be healthy. Trans fatty acids are common in desserts, such as biscuits, croissants, egg tarts, cream cakes, etc. It is recommended to give your child healthy snacks such as home-made bread, steamed cakes and cakes, and nuts for children over 3 years old.

Try to make your own sauces. Sauces such as salad dressings and peanut butter are also big consumers of trans fatty acids and are often made with hydrogenated vegetable oils to make them thick and creamy. In fact, you can make some homemade sauces at home, such as a homemade vinaigrette with a spoonful of sesame or olive oil and half a spoonful of vinegar, either white or red.