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Abstract
The aim of the study was to analyze the saturated fatty acid (SFA) and trans-fatty acid (TFA) contents of popular takeaway foods in the UK (including English, pizza, Chinese, Indian and kebab cuisine). Samples of meals were analyzed by an accredited public analyst laboratory for SFA and TFA. The meals were highly variable for SFA and TFA. English and Pizza meals had the highest median amount of SFA with 35.7 g/meal; Kebab meals were high in TFA with up to 5.2 g/meal. When compared to UK dietary reference values, some meals exceeded SFA and TFA recommendations from just one meal. Takeaway food would be an obvious target to reduce SFA and TFA contents and increase the potential of meeting UK recommendations. Strategies such as reformulation and smaller takeaway portion sizes warrant investigation.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Knowsley Council/NHS and Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council for kindly providing additional data from their respective regions, and we acknowledge Jane Rawling, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, Trading Standards; Rachel Long, Liverpool City Council, Trading Standards and Richard Fontana, Environmental Health and Consumer Protection Service, Knowsley MBC for collection of meal samples.
Disclosure statement
Funding for the project was provided by Liverpool Primary Care trust to Liverpool City Council. Liverpool City Council funded Liverpool John Moores University for the analysis of the Liverpool section of data collection as part of a larger funded project to reformulate takeaway food; the funding also provided research staff and time to analyze data, the writing of reports and peer-reviewed article submissions.