Chand, Bandna and Lako, Jimaima V. and Prasad, Rajendra
(2011)
Trans fatty acid content of selected foods in Fiji.
[Conference Proceedings]
Abstract
This article focuses on studying the effects of
processing on trans fatty acid content of selected foods that are commonly sold in Fiji. The results of trans fatty acid content of 30 manufactured and 34 commonly consumed fast foods and snacks are presented.
Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared
(ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic method was applied to the analysis
of trans fatty acid content in the food and oil samples. The
trans fat contents are represented as elaidic acid equivalent.
The results for the food samples analyzed showed that bakery
products contained the highest amount of trans fatty acid
content, while the spreads contained the lowest trans fat
content. The differences in the data have been attributed to the factors that contributed to the higher rate of cis to trans conversion. These include the materials for the cooking vessels, temperatures and duration for cooking and types of cooking oil or fat used.
Results were correlated with the dietary consumption patterns in different population groups in Fiji. Study shows a positive correlation between the high incidence of non communicable disease in Fiji and the presence of trans fatty acid in commonly consumed processed foods. It appears that in the absence of any regulatory mechanism, only a few manufacturers had voluntarily reported the appropriate values of the trans fat content in their processed foods on the food labels. It is thus recommended that consumer awareness and a statutory regulatory mechanism for labeling of trans fat in different foods should be carried out.
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