RHM

RHM is a major food conglomerate, owner of a large number of well-known UK brands including some whose products contain considerable amount of hydrogenated vegetable oil. Among the brands containing hydrogenated vegetable oils are:

• Mr Kipling cakes
• Lyons cakes
• Cadbury's cakes
• Atora (vegetable shortening but not suet)
• Bisto (gravy granules).

Statement

"Manor Bakeries is committed to producing safe, high quality products, offering consumers best possible value for money and we purchase quality ingredients that are safe and comply with all current legislation.

Trans Fatty Acids occur naturally in many dairy and meat products as well as in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils where they arise as a result of the 'hardening' process.

The evidence against Trans Fatty Acids is inconclusive, but in view of public concerns we are working closely with our suppliers to reduce or eliminate fats containing Trans Fatty Acids altogether and introduce alternative ingredients, without jeopardising the quality and performance of the products."

Our comments on their statement

On the one hand they claim the evidence against trans fats is "inconclusive" - in fact, the evidence is highly conclusive, that trans fats are exceedingly unhealthy. They also point out that trans fats occur naturally in dairy and meat products - this is true, however they occur naturally only in very small amounts, and these naturally occurring trans fats are not damaging to health in the way that synthetic trans fats so conclusively are - on the contrary some such as the Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CJA) are beneficial to health.

However, after this misinformative introduction, they go on to say that they are working to reduce or eliminate trans fats from their products. This is obviously welcome, however no time scale is given. And for the time being, their cakes remain a major source of trans fat.

Other RHM statements on nutrition and fats

The RHM website contains no reference to trans fats. However the company has a slogan of:

"Better foods for a better life"

It also makes the following claim:

"RHM manufactures safe, wholesome and nutritious food. We label our products clearly in compliance with all current, relevant legislation and we aim to provide product choice, suitable for the wide diversity of consumer lifestyles."

And this is what it has to say about fats in general:

"High fat diets, particularly those high in saturated fat are recognised to be contributory factors to diseases of the circulatory system (heart attack, stroke). The majority of RHM products are low in fat (<5%). Atora Original is a beef fat used in baking. Atora Light is a vegetable suet, developed in 1995 to contain 25% less fat than standard vegetable suet."

Contact

Main website: www.rhm.com.
Catering products website: www.rhmfoodservice.co.uk.