Despite calls for a more healthy diet, many food items available in the market are still quite rich in fat, as indicated by results of the latest food testing by the Consumer Council and Centre for Food Safety.

Of the 85 food samples tested, a doughnut contained the highest trans fat level at 4.7g per 100g.

The results are more alarming than those of the last test conducted in October 2007 in which a cream-filled shredded-coconut bun was found to contain 1.8g of trans fat per 100g, the highest level among all samples.

Ambrose Ho (right), Chairman of the Publicity & Community Relations Committee of the Consumer Council, and Anne Fung, Principal Medical Officer of the Centre for Food Safety, show doughnut and "wife cake" samples at a press conference yesterday. They alerted consumers to the high trans fat levels in doughnuts, "wife cakes" and cream wafers. Edmond Tang

Trans fat is created when a liquid vegetable oil is turned into a solid through hydrogenation.

The recommended maximum daily intake of trans fat by the World Health Organization is 2.2g.

A high level of trans fat was also found in a traditional Chinese pastry (commonly known as "wife cake") sample (1.7g per 100g) and a cream wafer sample (1.3g per 100g).

The food testing also found that nutrition labels of seven samples contained misleading information in terms of total fat, saturated fat, energy and cholesterol levels.

Anne Fung Yu-kei, Centre for Food Safety's Principal Medical Officer (Risk Assessment & Communication), said the center has issued warning letters to the concerned food manufacturers, who are required to make corrections to the labels within two weeks.

Using trans fat in food can prolong its shelf life and make it more tasty, she explained.

But trans fat is bad for health as many scientific researches have indicated that it increases the risk of coronary heart disease, she added.

Food items that contain high levels of trans fat include margarine, cookies, pastry, deep fried foods and crispy snacks, she said.

Ambrose Ho, Chairman of the Publicity & Community Relations Committee of the Consumer Council, elaborated that it is possible to reduce the level of trans fat in food because the test has shown that trans fat levels vary considerably in samples within the same food category.

"We therefore urge food manufacturers to use less trans fat in their foods," he said.

"We hope a mandatory nutrition labeling scheme can be put into effect as soon as possible so as to give consumers an informed choice on food," he added.

The government has submitted a bill on mandatory nutrition labeling to the Legislative Council early April.

Under the proposed regulation, prepackaged food items have to be labeled with energy and seven core nutrients including trans fat.

The Consumer Council also announced yesterday that it had received 1,414 complaints involving a total of HK$17.2 million in relation to the defunct Oasis airline.

According to the council, Oasis customers may be able to obtain a chargeback for their unused tickets. This came after the council found that 20 credit card issuers are accepting chargeback requests from Oasis customers under different conditions.

For example, the time limits for submitting the request may vary from 60 days after the monthly statement is issued to 120 days after the transaction date.

Ho advised Oasis customers to submit their chargeback requests as soon as possible.

(HK Edition 05/15/2008 page1)