Suneeta Chandorkar1 and Meenu Singh 2 1Department of Foods & Nutrition

Faculty of Family and Community Sciences The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Vadodara 390 002. Gujarat.

India

2Division of Nutrition. St. John’s Research Institute.

St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences. Bangalore

560034.Karnataka. India

DISPARITIES IN REPORTED AND ANALYZED TOTAL FAT AND TRANS FAT IN PACKAGED FOODS

12th IFDC, 11th -13th OCTOBER, 2017, Buenos Aires, Argentine

There is paucity of data on fat and trans fat composition of Indian processed packaged foods

INTRODUCTION

The links between diet, nutrition and chronic diseases are well-established (WHO, 2010)

Processed foods are usually high in total fat and and contain trans fatty acids (TFAs), making them unhealthy for consumption

Increased consumption of fat and trans fat through processed foods has lead to increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) across population groups (Monteiro, et al, 2011)

Therefore, the present investigation aimed at analyzing total fat and trans fat content in processed foods and comparing the analyzed values with the reported values on Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP)

OBJECTIVES

To analyze the fat and trans fat content of the most commonly consumed processed foods by the study population

To conduct a market survey for examining the commonly consumed processed packaged foods for fat and trans fat sources in Ingredients List and content on Nutrition Facts Panel

To compare the reported and analyzed fat and trans fat content of processed packaged foods

To conduct a consumer survey for arriving at the most commonly consumed processed foods (≥5 times a month) by the consumers

STUDY DESIGN

Vadodara, Gujarat, India

Random selection of consumers (≥15 years ) from five zones (East, West, North, South and Central) of Vadodara

(n=807) to arrive at the most commonly consumed processed packaged foods

Purposive selection of processed packaged foods (n=1,020, 29 food categories and 10 food groups) to

examine fat and trans fat content and their sources using Nutrition Facts Panel and Ingredients list, respectively

Fat and trans fat analysis of commonly consumed Processed Packaged Foods (n=101) by AOAC 996.06

method using Gas Chromatography

Phase I Consumer

survey

Phase II

Market

Survey

Phase III

Nutrient

Analysis

S. No. Food groups Food categories Number of Products

1 Wheat and oats based products a. Cornflakes, oats and muesli 46

b. Noodles, pasta and macaroni 66

2 Bakery products

a. Salty biscuits 18

b. Sweet biscuits 88

c. Sweet cream wafers 31

3. Confectionery a.Chocolates 39

b. Cakes 6

4 Fruit based products a. Canned fruits 6

b. Jam, marmalades and jellies 38

5 Milk based products a. Butter and cheese 18

b. Spreads and dips 17

6 Drinks

a. Malted beverages 27

b. Soft drinks 13

c. Energy drinks 27

d. Juices 37

e. Squashes 15

7 Ready-to-cook/eat products

a. Ready to cook foods 95

b. Ready to use spice mixes 99

c. Ready to make cake and ice cream mixes 16

d. Ready to eat sweets 27

e. Soups 41

8 Food adjuncts

a.Pickles 18

b. Papads (Indian lentil snack) 14

c. Chutneys 6

d. Ketchups and sauces 49

9 Snacks

a. Namkeens & savories (Snack Foods) 107

b. Chips 32

c. Popcorn 10

10 Baby foods d. Cereal and milk based baby foods 14

TOTAL 1020

Table 1: Processed Packaged Food Categories and Food Groups

Phases Parameter Method

Phase I

Consumer Survey

Frequency and amount of processed food consumption

Interview Method using Semi-structured Questionnaire

Phase II

Processed Food Purchase from the

Market

Examination of processed packaged food labels Ingredients List and NFP

Standardized Proforma

Phase III

Fat and trans fat analysis of selected

processed foods

• Total fat • Trans fat

• AOAC 996.06 • Triglyceride Internal Standard:

Triundecanoic Acid • Standard Solution: 37- FAME

Mix (Sigma) • Control Food Sample: Ghee

sample • GC Column: SP 2560 (100 m X

0.25 mm with 0.20 m film

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

The study was granted ethical clearance by the Departmental

Medical Ethical Committee, Dept. of Foods and Nutrition, The

M.S. University of Baroda (Ethical Clearance number:

F.C.Sc/FND/ME/50 dated: 30th

September 2010)

Of the 1,020 food products, 97.8% of the

products reported total fat on NFP

0

20

40

60

80

100100 100 100 100 100 99 99 99 97

83

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Food Groups

Figure 1: Reporting of Total Fat on NFP in various Food Groups (in percentages)

Figure 2: Commonly listed alternative names of the “Fat” in

Ingredients list

Cocoa Butter

Fat Powder

Ghee

White Butter

Cream

Edible Vegetable

oil

Butter

Margarine

Shortening

Hydrogenated Oils

Figure 3: Sources of Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) in Ingredients List and their Substantiation by NFP in Various Food Groups (in percentage)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

4040

28

22

6 2 2 1 0 0 0

28

7 4

2 1 2 0 0 0 0

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Food Groups

Sources of TFA in Ingredients list Substantiation by NFP

Of the 1,020 products, 61% of the products had fat sources in the ingredients list Of those having fat sources (n=627), 19.6% (n=200) had trans fat sources in ingredients list with various alternative names Of the 200 products that had trans fat sources in ingredients list, only 42% (n=84) substantiated the presence of trans fat by NFP suggesting poor substantiation of trans fat content in food products

02468

101214

13,9

10,0 8,4

3,6 3,5

1,4 1,3 0,4 0,2 0,0

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Food Groups

Figure 4:Processed Packaged Foods High in Total Fat (≥35% of the Total Energy from Fat) as per USFDA Criteria in Various Food Groups (in percentage)

Low-31%

Medium-39%

High-30%

Low (≤3 g/100g) Medium (>3.0 to ≤20 g/100g) High (>20 g/100g)

Of the 1,020 products, 97.8% reported total fat content on NFP

Figure 5: Low, Medium or High content of Total Fat as per UK-FSA Criteria in Total Products (in percentage)

Food Groups High Medium Low

Wheat and oats based products 0.2 7.1 3.8

Bakery Products 6.4 7.3 0

Confectionery 2.9 1.6 0

Fruit based products 0 0.1 4.3

Milk Based 3.2 0.3 0

Drinks 0.2 1.2 10.2

Ready-to cook/eat products 4.1 16.7 6.8

Food adjuncts 0 1.6 5.6

Snacks 13 1.6 0.2

Baby Foods 0.1 1.2 0.1

Table 2: Low, Medium or High content of Total Fat as per UK-FSA Criteria in various Food Groups (in percentage)

Figure 6: Listing of More Than One Source of “Fat" in Ingredients List in Various Food Groups (in percentage)

0,00,51,01,52,02,53,03,54,0

4,0 3,7

1,6

1,0

0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0,0 0,0

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Food Groups

Table 3: Over-reporting, Under-reporting and Mean Total Fat Content of Selected Processed Packaged Foods in Various Food Categories

Food categories

No. of

products

Over-

reporting

Under-

reporting

Reported

(g/100g)

Analyzed

(g/100g) t-value

% (n) % (n) % (n) Mean±SD Mean±SD

Cornflakes, oats and muesli 12(12) 12(12) 0 4.86±3.0 1.77±1.52 3.211**

Noodles, pasta and macaroni 14(14) 13(13) 0 11.85±6.44 7.18±4.26 2.263*

Salty Biscuits 2(2) 2(2) 0 15.1±1.56 8.22±1.88 _

Sweet biscuits 14(14) 14(14) 0 16.85±5.01 9.18±3.12 4.854***

Sweet cream wafers 1(1) 1(1) 0 15.6 9.1 _

Chocolates 10(10) 10(10) 0 18.94±5.15 10.97±5.2 3.436**

Cakes 1(1) 1(1) 0 18 5.9 _

Canned fruits 1(1) 0 0 0.1 0 _

Jam, marmalades and jellies 2(2) 0 0 0 0 _

Butter and cheese 1(1) 1(1) 0 70 59.9 _

Spreads and dips 2(2) 2(2) 0 50.45±12.09 20.26±28.27 _

Malted beverages 3(3) 3(3) 0 5±5.20 2.0±3.0 0.864

Soft drinks 1(1) 0 0 0 0 _

Juices 1(1) 0 0 0 0 _

Ready to cook foods 2(2) 2(2) 0 6.8±1.13 4.29±1.02 _

Ready-to-use spice mixes 3(3) 3(3) 0 11.33±2.52 6.17±0.64 3.419*

Ready to eat sweets 1(1) 1(1) 0 1.6 0.8 _

Soups 6(6) 6(6) 0 6.95±6.18 2.70±1.8 1.62

Pickles 1(1) 0 0 9 8.4 _

Ketchups and sauces 2(2) 0 0 0 0 _

Savory Snacks 11(11) 11(11) 0 29.51±10.71 14.51±6.36 3.991***

Chips 5(5) 5(5) 0 25.18±8.96 9.14±6.19 3.291**

Popcorn 1(1) 1(1) 0 28 12.6 _

Cereal and milk based baby foods 2(2) 2(2) 0 9±0 1.08±0.47 _

Food categories No. of products

Reported

(g/100g)

Analyzed

(g/100g) t-value

% (n) Mean±SD Mean±SD

Cornflakes, oats and muesli 16(7) 0 0.124±0.284 1.140

Noodles, pasta and macaroni 7(3) 0 0.046±0.041 1.000

Salty Biscuits 2(1) 0 0 _

Sweet biscuits 14(6) 0.333±0.817 0.802±1.232 0.770

Cakes 2(1) 2.7 0.2 _

Canned fruits 2(1) 0 0 _

Jam, marmalades and jellies 2(1) 0 0 _

Butter and Cheese 2(1) 0 17.2 _

Spreads and dips 5(2) 0 1.40±1.980 _

Malted beverages 2(1) 0 0 _

Ready to cook foods 5(2) 0.300±0.424 0.021±0.030 _

Ready to eat sweets 2(1) 0 0.1 _

Soups 5(2) 0 0.004±0.005 _

Papads 2(1) 0 0 _

Namkeens and savories (Snack foods) 23(10) 0 0.203±0.578 1.122

Chips 7(3) 0 0.137±0.199 1.000

Popcorn 2(1) 0 0 _

Table 4: Mean TFA Content of Selected Processed Packaged Foods in Various Food Categories

Food Categories Not Reported

% (n)

Analyzed Mean

(g/100g of food)

Analyzed Range

(g/100g of food)

Cornflakes, oats and muesli 9 (5) 0.01±0.03 0.00 to 0.06

Noodles, pasta and macaroni 19(11) 0.13±0.33 0.00 to 1.11

Salty Biscuits 2(1) 0.00 _

Sweet Cream Wafers 16(9) 0.00 _

Chocolates 18(10) 0.37±1.17 0.00 to 3.71

Jam, marmalades and jellies 2(1) 0.00 _

Soft Drinks 2(1) 0.00 _

Malted beverages 4(2) 0.00 _

Juices 2(1) 0.00 _

Soups 7(4) 0.23±0.23 0.00 to 0.54

Ready-to-use spice mixes 5(3) 0.00 _

Ketchups and sauces 4(2) 0.00 _

Pickles 4(2) 0.00 _

Chips 4(2) 0.12±0.17 0.00 to 0.24

Namkeens and savories (Snack

Foods) 2(1) 0.00 _

Cereal and milk based baby foods 4(2) 0.04±0.05 0.00 to 0.07

Table 5: Food Products “Not Reporting” TFA Values in various Food Categories

Table 6: Most Commonly found Fatty Acids in Analyzed Processed

Packaged Foods and their Fat/Oil Sources Source: FAO, 2010; Sanders, 2003 and Agarwal et. al, 2003

Fatty Acids N N%

Mean

(%g of

total fat)

Range

(%g of total

fat)

Fat/Oil Source*

SFA

Palmitic Acid 75 79.8 19.4 0.1-105.4 Palm Oil and Animal Fats (sanders), Cottonseed oil

Arachidic Acid 49 52.1 10.1 0.0-71.2 Peanut Oil

Stearic Acid 47 50 9.5 0.0-56.3 Cocoa butter, hydrogenated fats, Cottonseed oil

Capric Acid 43 45.7 2.3 0.0-17.1 Dairy Fat, Coconut and Palm Kernel Oils

Butyric Acid 30 31.9 161.5 0.0-4776.4 Dairy Fat

Myristic Acid 30 31.9 1.4 0.0-7.6 Dairy Fat, Coconut Oil, Palm Kernel Oil

Caproic Acid 22 23.4 92.2 0.1-976.9 Dairy Fat

Caprylic Acid 20 21.3 1 0.0-5.5 Dairy Fat, Coconut and Palm Kernel Oils

Behenic Acid 13 13.8 2.1 0.1-15.9 Peanut Oil

MUFA

Oleic Acid 85 90.4 37.7 0.1-452

Olive oil, sunflower and safflower oil,rapeseed oil, palm oil,

Cottonseed oil

Erucic Acid 36 38.3 8.7 0.0-49 Mustard oil, Rapeseed oil

PUFA

Linoleic Acid 67 71.3 31.6 0.0-456.1 Safflower, sunflower, corn oil, soyabean oil

Linolenic Acid 37 39.4 7.3 0.0-46.2 Flaxseed, Soyabean

TFA

Elaidic Acid 22 23.4 9.6 0.1-41.7 Partially hydrogenated fats

Linolelaidic Acid 17 18.1 65.6 0.2-914.5 Partially hydrogenated fats/oils

Table 7: Mean Fatty Acid (%g of total fat) Composition of Analyzed Processed Packaged Foods in Various Food Categories (Red: First Highest Mean, Yellow: Second Highest Mean, Green: Third Highest Mean)

Fatty Acids

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Palmitic acid 6.7 10.5 25.0 29.2 10.5 3.3 21.1 9.0 26.3 0.5 0.0 3.8 0.8 9.0 9.1 5.7 15.0 22.6 9.4 0.0

Arachidic acid 13.0 10.5 3.6 0.0 6.6 6.4 1.7 3.2 3.4 0.0 1.8 0.4 1.5 6.7 2.2 28.7 0.2 0.7 3.6 20.6

Stearic acid 9.6 4.2 2.2 7.3 3.1 0.8 3.3 0.3 8.3 0.2 0.0 1.2 3.7 0.6 3.0 2.4 2.9 5.3 19.9 0.0

Lauric acid 0.0 0.3 0.8 3.4 3.2 0.9 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.5 4.2 0.3 0.3 0.0 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.0

Butyric acid 0.0 0.2 65.4 0.0 0.3 1.0 0.6 0.1 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.2 1.4 1.2 1.7 3.3 0.7 0.0

Caproic acid 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 32.6 55.7 10.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.9 0.1 0.0 0.0

Oleic acid 34.6 29.0 32.5 61.1 32.3 26.6 66.4 61.5 44.9 1.9 1.7 50.5 75.4 22.2 36.7 36.0 37.8 12.6 44.6 28.2

Erucic acid 8.4 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.9 0.5 0.1 5.3 4.4 0.0 0.6 24.8 0.0 1.3 0.1 7.3 13.3 0.0 0.0 42.4

Linoleic acid 29.8 36.1 14.0 5.2 18.8 6.4 83.3 58.3 46.1 0.0 16.6 13.3 0.4 27.5 12.0 3.7 0.2 15.8 18.9 3.5

Linoleinic acid 3.5 5.0 0.5 23.3 2.5 7.7 0.0 1.0 0.9 0.0 0.9 0.5 2.6 7.7 3.4 0.0 0.8 11.6 0.7 0.0

Elaidic acid 0.0 0.6 1.9 3.7 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 14.2 0.6 12.3 0.0 4.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

Linolelaidic acid 57.2 14.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.2 0.0 1.7 0.4 1.0 0.0

RESULT HIGHLIGHTS

Food Safety and Standards Act of India (FSSAI) regulations mandate reporting of fat on NFP but only 97.8% of the products complied with the same

Majority of the food groups declared the source of fat in ingredients list as “edible vegetable oil.”

Of the total products containing fat sources (61%, n=627), 19.6% (n=200) had trans fat sources in ingredients list with various alternative names and of these only 42% (n=84) substantiated it by NFP

Fried chips reported a higher mean fat content (31.7 ±0 g/100g) than the baked chips (15.4±1.1 g/100g) on the label

The analyzed fat content was found to be lower for fried (9.3 ±8.4g/100g) and baked chips (8.95±3.4g/100g) than that reported on label

Reported TFA content in products ranged from 0 to 2.7 g/100g while the analyzed values ranged from 0 to 17.2 g/100g.

High fat content was found in 13% of the snacks, followed by bakery products (6.4%), ready-to-cook/eat products (4.1%), milk based products (3.2%), confectionery (2.9%), wheat and oats based products (0.2%), drinks (0.2%), baby foods (0.1%) and none in food adjuncts.

Products in the present study that did not report total fat content on NFP were pickle and papad, however when analyzed it was found that pickle contained 7.1g/100g and papad had 0.2 g/100g of total fat in per 100 g of food

Cereal and milk based baby foods and cornflakes oats and muesli were found to be high in linolelaidic acid (914.5 %g and 175.7%g of total fat respectively)

The ingredients list on labels of cereal and milk based baby foods mentioned corn oil as the source of fat.

Elaidic Acid (23.8% of products) and Linolelaidic Acid (18.1% of products) were chief TFA in analyzed products

RESULT HIGHLIGHTS

CONCLUSION

Due to the incomplete and non-specific declaration of fat source in processed packaged food products, there is lack of clarity in information conveyed to the consumer which is a matter of public health concern

Processed foods contained fatty acids which are derived from palm oil, hydrogenated fat, dairy fat, animal fat and they may have adverse health outcomes.

Disparities in reported and analyzed total fat and trans fat content need to be taken care of to curb the incidence of CVD

RECOMMENDATIONS

Listing of specific source of fat in ingredients list should be made mandatory

Provisions should be made to indicate foods as high, medium or low in fat content in order to help consumers in making healthy food choices

There is a need to promote healthy processing of foods

Monteiro C, Levy RB, Claro RM, Castro I and Cannon G (2011). Increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods and likely impact on human health: Evidence from Brazil. Public Health Nutr, 14(1):5-13 United Kingdom-Food Standards Agency (UK-FSA) (2007). Front of pack nutritional signpost labelling technical guide, Issue 1. (Source: http://www.5aldia.org/datos/60/pdf 13_6051.pdf) Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2010). Fats and fatty acids in human nutrition. Report of an expert consultation. FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 91. 10-14 November 2008, Geneva Sanders T and Emery P (2003). Molecular Basis of Human Nutrition. Taylor and Francis Inc, New York (ISBN 0-748-40753) Agarwal DK, Singh P, Chakrabarty M, Shaikh AJ and Gayal SG (2003). Cottonseed oil quality utilization and processing. Central Institute for Cotton Research Nagpur (Source: www.cicr.org.in)

REFERENCES

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