Watchdog Finds Carcinogens In Cookies

Manufacturers of cookies have been urged by the Consumer Council to switch to butter when baking their products, after the watchdog found 90 percent of samples it tested contained carcinogens.

The council examined 58 brands of biscuits, egg rolls and sweet pastries in the run up to Chinese New Year – with these kind of products making for popular gifts during the holiday period.

The carcinogenic substances found – glycidol and acrylamide – are released when oils are cooked at high temperatures, the watchdog said.

A spokesman for the council, Clement Chan, said using butter instead of margarine and refined oils could prevent the generation of these contaminants.

"We recommend the manufacturers to study more closely about the production process, try to replace, for example the cooking oil, and come up with an alternative which can eliminate the production of this kind of contaminant," he said.

But the consumer watchdog noted that world bodies on foods and the local regulator have not set a safety or maximum limit for the intake of these cancer-causing substances, and consumers are only advised that the less consumption the better.

The council also found that all the samples checked were high in sugar or fat, but the levels were understated on more than half the product labels. It said the sugar in one brand was 210 percent higher than its label indicated.

The watchdog said all the test findings had been referred to the Centre for Food Safety.