Digestives have 'killer fat' removed

by SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail
Last updated at 12:02 03 July 2004

Food for thought: Biscuits have 'killer fat' removed

Many of Britain's top-selling biscuits are to have a 'killer fat' removed amid mounting fears of a link to heart disease.

McVitie's has changed virtually all its dough recipes to exclude hydrogenated vegetable oil from its Digestive, Rich Tea and Hob Nob products.

The suspect substance, used in thousands of processed and fast foods, contains trans fatty acids (TFAs) which are associated with obesity, clogging of arteries, heart disease, strokes and death.

The Daily Mail has campaigned to raise awareness of the risks of using hydrogenated vegetable oil, and many food manufacturers have begun to change their recipes.

Masterfoods UK, maker of Mars bars, removed the ingredient from the country's biggest-selling chocolate bar.

Nestle has done the same with Rolo and Toffee Crisp, while Danone has changed the Jacob's Cream Cracker and will do so with TUC biscuits.

Under pressure

The move by McVitie's will put pressure on other leading manufacturers, including Cadbury and Kellogg'sto remove the fat from their products. McVitie's Chocolate Digestives have annual sales of 71million packets - equivalent to six million biscuits eaten every day - while around 54million packets of ordinary digestives are sold every year and 36million packets of Rich Tea.

Brand owner United Biscuits said: "We are aware of the potential health concerns over TFAs and have removed partially hydrogenated vegetable oils from the majority of our biscuit doughs, which will result in either very low trans fats or no trans fats being present."

Packs of the new recipe biscuits are now going out to supermarkets.

The company is using vegetable oil which has not been hydrogenated and processed in a way which generates trans fats.

The fats are considered more harmful to the body than saturated fats found in meat and dairy products.

The Consumers' Association has claimed that cutting consumption of trans fats could reduce heart disease deaths by almost 25 per cent a year.

A spokesman said: "Most leading scientists think hydrogenated oils do much harm. The U.S. Institute of Medicine says the only safe level of intake is zero.

"These are stark warnings, yet most supermarket shelves are stacked high with products that contain hydrogenated oils."

The Food Standards Agency is also concerned about the danger of trans fats, but rather than campaigning on the issue has restricted itself to offering advice on its website. This states: "Trans fats raise the type of cholesterol in the blood that increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Evidence suggests that trans fats have worse effects on the body than saturated fats."

Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, said: "Here is a relatively new ingredient, inserted to suit food processors, about which mounting evidence suggests there might be serious health disadvantages."