Govt Steps Up Battle Against Trans Fats In Food

The government has proposed banning food containing a major source of trans fats because of the risk of causing heart problems.

Partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) are the major source of industrially produced trans fatty acids, which are commonly found in margarines, vegetable shortenings, pastries, biscuits and other baked food.

The government on Friday launched a three-month public consultation on amendments to the Harmful Substances in Food Regulations, which would outlaw PHOs and eight other harmful food substances.

Controller of the Centre for Food Safety, Dr Edwin Tsui, said he believes a ban on PHOs would better safeguard public health, saying trans fats increase “bad” cholesterol in one's blood and significantly increase the risk of coronary heart diseases.

Tsui also said the public won't need to worry about fewer food choices as a result.

“Recently, many margarines and shortenings can be produced by another manufacturing method that PHO is not contained. There have been PHO-free margarine and shortening. So for members of the public who are going to buy cooking oil from the market, which is in liquid form, I think the PHO [regulations] are not a major concern for them," he said.

"But for prepackaged food this is one of the regulatory measures we want to implement.”

Tsui urged traders who procure overseas prepackaged food to find out if their suppliers export food containing PHOs.

Officials said the amendments are in line with the World Health Organisation’s goal in eliminating trans fats from global food supply by 2023. Countries such as the US, Canada, Thailand and Singapore have already banned PHOs.

The government has also proposed limiting the maximum levels of three types of mycotoxins in food.

One of them is commonly found in apple juice made of rotten apples, and could cause nausea and vomiting.

The authorities said they see an increasing trend of the substance in apple juice because of the pandemic.

“Because of the Covid, some factories or plants have been suspended from operation. So maybe the apples have been stored for prolonged period of time, leading to the rotten apples, affecting the juice they produced,” Tsui said.

Officials also want to limit the presence of aflatoxins in tree nuts, peanuts and dried fruit, saying the mycotoxin could lead to liver cancer.