Vanaspati, cooking oils larded with trans fats: CSE

04 February 2009

A study on cooking oil and vanaspati brands available in the Indian market shows that most brands contain unacceptably high levels of trans fatty acid. The study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a well-known non-government organisation, tested 30 brands, including ghee and butter, at its Delhi laboratory.

Trans fats are a kind of unsaturated fat produced when hydrogen is added to the vegetable oil to increase its shelf life. "Trans fats are deadly for health, especially for the heart, as they reduce good cholesterol. They can increase the risk of infertility in women and cause diseases like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Many countries around the world have regulated the use of trans fats in oils," said CSE director Sunita Narain, while releasing the report.

Narain was earlier in the news in 2003, when her studies showed that fast-selling soft drinks like Pepsi and Coke have high pesticide content.

The CSE tests, using modern techniques like gas chromatography, indicated that trans fatty acid content in all vanaspati brands in the country is five to 12 times higher than the prescribed standard for edible oils set in, for example, Denmark, where it is limited to two per cent of the total oil.

The biggest culprit was vanaspati, where all brands had excessive trans fat content. Brands examined included well-known names like Dalda, Rath, Raag and Gagan, some of which are manufactured by multinationals like Cargill and Bunge. Cooking oils were not far behind.

Ghee brands and Amul butter fared better, at 5.3 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively. The safest appeared to be mustard oil brands, which indicated trans-fat content within 1 per cent.