FSA: Reducing saturated fat and sugar in sweet foods

London / UK. (fsa) Following a public consultation in the summer of 2009, the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recommended that food manufacturers reduce saturated fat in foods such as biscuits, cakes, buns, chocolates and added sugar in soft drinks. The Agency also wants to see more smaller single-portion sizes available in some of these foods, which contribute much of the saturated fat and calories in our diet. The Agency is encouraging industry to:

• reduce saturated fat in biscuits, cakes, buns and chocolate confectionery;
• reduce added sugar in soft drinks;
• make smaller single portion sizes more easily available for chocolate confectionery and soft drinks.

Currently, in the United Kingdom people eat too much saturated fat which is a significant risk factor in coronary heart disease. The Agency´s recommendations include:

• reducing the saturated fat level in some chocolate confectionery (bars with fillings) by at least ten percent;
• where soft drinks contain added sugar, making single portion sizes of 250 millilitres;
• reducing the saturated fat content in plain sweet and savoury biscuits, and plain cakes by at least ten percent and five percent in non-plain biscuits and cakes

Further recommendations will follow in the summer on dairy and meat products, pastry and savoury snacks. The recommendations recognise and welcome the progress that many food companies have already made and challenge the whole food industry to move toward healthier products, the FSA says in a statement.