CHOICE shows high levels of dangerous trans fats in Australian food supply

According to the consumer group CHOICE tests have proven that Australian manufacturers are continuing to use dangerous levels of unhealthy fats in processed foods.

CHOICE has carried out an analysis of more than 30 foods including pies, cakes and doughnuts and found that almost half contained high levels of trans fats - the use of such on a regular basis, significantly increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

CHOICE says some manufacturers still sneak unhealthy trans fats into our foods and authorities have failed to make it mandatory for manufacturers to disclose the level of trans fats on their food labels.

Many of the foods CHOICE tested in 2005 still today contain unacceptably high levels of trans fats and there is no real need for food manufacturers to continue to use them - but CHOICE says some manufacturers have reduced the levels of trans fats and others have stopped using trans fats altogether.

Trans fats rarely warrant a mention on a food label in Australia, but are often hidden in many processed foods and are worse for the health than saturated fats and pies, cakes and doughnuts may contain trans fats without our knowledge.

In 2005, CHOICE tested more than 50 processed foods and found many contained trans fats at unacceptably high levels and while some fast-food chains have reduced their levels of trans fats, and some of the foods tested previously have eliminated trans fats altogether, others now apparently contain even more than before.

Back in 2005, CHOICE called for Australian regulations to require manufacturers to include the amount of trans fat as well as saturated fat on the label, which now happens now in the U.S. and Canada where the use of trans fats in foods has decreased 50% since labelling was introduced.

Despite the previous federal government setting up the National Collaboration on Trans Fats with the aim of reducing the amount of trans fats in the Australian food supply, manufacturers are still not required to identify the amount of trans fats in their products.

Australia is lagging behind on this issue - Denmark and Switzerland have banned the sale of food products in which trans fats are more than 2% of the total fat and UK regulations require hydrogenated fats to be identified in the ingredients list on the label.

Ever since 2006 food manufacturers in the U.S. have been required to list trans fats on the nutrition label immediately under saturated fat and some states have banned restaurants and fast-food outlets from serving foods containing more than 0.5g of trans fats per serving - these actions have had a substantial impact on the use of trans fats in the U.S. - food giant Kraft, for example, reduced the trans fat content in about 650 of its products to meet the labelling deadline.

CHOICE has condemned the national regulator, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) for being too complacent about the well-established risks to health from trans fats and is calling for it to be mandatory that the amount of trans fat and saturated fat be included on the label of foods.

CHOICE says labelling has had a substantial impact on the levels of trans fats in processed foods in the U.S. and Canada and there is no reason to believe it wouldn't have a similar impact in Australia.

CHOICE says it is also important that trans fats are not reduced at the expense of increased levels of saturated fats in some foods and warns that trans fats offer no nutritional benefits and consumers should be informed about how to avoid them.

FSANZ meanwhile insists its ultimate goal is "a safe food supply and well-informed consumers".