Four 'zero trans fat' products found to contain trans fat: Case, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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Four 'zero trans fat' products found to contain trans fat: Case

This article is more than 12 months old

The bread spreads claim that they contain no trans fat.

But it seems that these four products are not as healthy after a spot check by Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).

Flora Light 500G and Flora Original 500G were found to have 0.09g and 0.13g of trans fat per 100g respectively, while Sunny Meadow Spread with Canola Oil 500G and Sunny Meadow Spread with Olive Oil 500G, contained 0.12g and 0.19g of trans fat per 100g.

The nutritional information printed on the products indicated that there was zero grams of trans fat.

Case yesterday said that it has shared the findings with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).

When contacted, AVA said that it has conducted checks and will be taking enforcement action against the traders for inaccurate labelling. The traders will also need to rectify their labels.

The consumer watchdog's findings came after a survey last July by mystery shoppers of 20 common household margarine and vegetable oil-based spreads sold in Singapore.

The survey was conducted to find out if these products' trans fat contents were within the AVA's 2 per cent limit.

Case said the trans fat levels in all samples were within the statutory limit. But some samples had a higher trans fat content than the amount declared in their food labels.

Case president Lim Biow Chuan said the differences between the declared values and the test results could be due to sample handling and the method used to analyse the sample.

Consumption of trans fat, a by-product from the industrial manufacture of vegetable oil-based spreads, is associated with high cholesterol levels.

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