FATTY ACIDS ANALYSIS IN FOOD

It’s a habit. We purchase our snack from the shelf. We flip to the back of the food packaging. We read the small prints on nutrition and we scan through the label for its fat content.

The question is, why do we need to know the fat contents in our food?

Fat in food can be classified into saturated fat (the enemy) and unsaturated fat (the good guys).

Saturated fat is fully saturated, meaning that it is low reacting and will not react with acids in your body. In a healthy diet, people usually want to limit or avoid the saturated fat. Saturated fat is known to raise blood cholesterol levels. Saturated fat is found in foods such as fatty meats, poultry skin, coconut and palm oils, pastries, cookies and high fat dairy products like whole milk.

Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, and are divided into two groups:

1. Monounsaturated fat – is found in some nuts (peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pecans) as well as in certain oils like canola oil and olive oil.
2. Polyunsaturated fat – is found in fatty fish like salmon, tuna and sardines, and in oil like corn oil, safflower oil and soybean oil. Polyunsaturated fats are split into Omega 3 fatty acids and Omega 6 fatty acids.

Trans fats formed by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils and have been shown to be bad for your health. Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Most trans fats are man-made. However, a small amount of naturally occurring trans fat is found in animal products. Trans fats may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated but never saturated.

The required amount of fat intake depends on your age, your size and gender. Hence, the information provided on the food label is important to ensure that you are not consuming more that you should. Usually, the reference values for nutrition labeling are based on an intake of 2000 calorie, for adults and children 4 or more years of age.

According to the Healthy Eating Guideline for Malaysian Adults, the recommended daily intake values are as below (based on an intake of 2000 calorie);

1. Total Fat = 44g to 56g
2. Saturated Fat = < 22g
3. Polyunsaturated Fat (PUFA) = 9g to 13g
   Monounsaturated Fat (MUFA) = 22g to 33g
4. Trans Fat = < 2g