Abstract

MERELES, Laura et al. Processed foods as source of total trans fatty acids in urban areas of Paraguay. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2017, vol.15, n.3, pp.19-26. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2017.015(03)19-026.

The food fats play a fundamental role in human nutrition. Based on the known adverse health effects of diets high in trans fatty acids (TFA) and the need for information on levels in food for local consumption, in this work we investigated the content of total lipids and total TFA in some processed foods and fat raw material commercialized in four cities in urban areas of Paraguay. Of the 28 types of foods analyzed, 84.7% contained ≥0.2 g TFA/serving. Approximately 79% exceeded 5% of total TFA in food fat, which is higher than those levelscurrently recommended by the WHO. In raw material fat samples, exceptionally high levels of total TFA were found (77.6%) compared to the recommended level (5%). This paper presents the first data on the content of TFA in traditional foods of consumption in Paraguay, as “chipa”, and highlights the importance of the control of the composition of the foods of local sale and without labeling, as well as the need to point to the reformulation of these foods, with lower levels of trans fatty acids based on the current nutritional recommendations worldwide for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords : Lipids; total trans fatty acids; processed foods; infrared spectrometry..

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