Watchdog Chips Away At 'stress Reliever' Snacking

As restrictions forced by the pandemic leave people spending more time at home, the consumer watchdog has sniffed out a new packet of trouble linked to the situation – frequent snacking, especially of potato crisps.

The Consumer Council acknowledges that opening a pack of crisps "may even be a form of stress relief for many people staying home during the epidemic".

But it's worried about the effect of this on the overall health of the people, and it studied 70 commonly available snacks, including prepackaged treats as well as those sold at fast food outlets.

Concerned by the results, the watchdog sent out an alert to those staying home: the samples it tested were either high in fat, sodium or contained acrylamide, a substance formed in the frying process that is suspected to be carcinogenic.

The council’s spokeswoman, Nora Tam, said that while none of them were “health foods”, snacks made and sold in restaurants proved to be less damaging in their tests.

Freshly-cooked chips, crisps and hash browns could therefore be a "lesser evil" than prepackaged crispy snacks, the council said.

The watchdog said making snacks like potato chips at home can be a way out to reduce the harmful effects. It also offered tips like blanching spuds before frying and cutting them into big thick sticks to reduce the formation of acrylamide.

"When preparing fries and hash browns at home, the cooking time should not be too long. They should also not be fried at high temperature. Aiming for a golden yellow colour instead of brown would help reduce the formation of acrylamide,” the watchdog added.

The council also urged the SAR government to review the safety rules for infant milk powder for babies after it found 15 types of the formulas sold in Hong Kong contain a substance that could be toxic.

The watchdog said all of the models it tested contained a contaminant named 3MCPD, which if consumed excessively can lead to kidney damage.

The council said that if some of the products that are locally available were consumed as per the instructions on their labels, it would be in excess of the safety levels set by European authorities.

The council says it's high time for local authorities to look at international practice over the matter and set up similar guidelines here.