The Trading Standards Institute finds children who have habit of eating foods high in fat and salt put their future in risk .
Therefore, TSI warned parents to be cautious about the amount of salt and fat when purchasing products in the market, which was concluded after surveying about 270 processed foods with great variations.From the survey, it was evident that children’s consuming food with highest fat content such as breakfast cereal, snack, ready-made lunchbox, cereal bar, chocolate bar, ready-meal, dessert and drink eat 133.7g of fat per day. This level overflows the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) of 85g for boys and 70g for girls (14-years) – TSI said.
Adding risk to the above, the survey finds the salt intake per day (13.5g) also showed well above the RDA of 11 to 14 years old.
High salt intake during childhood predisposes to high blood cancer, osteoporosis and even stomach cancer risk in the future - Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), says.
It is better if the manufacturers state the products salt instead of its sodium content with standardised food labels – said TSI.
About 37 TSI officers from both England and Wales made the survey of 279 food products successful, which includes breakfast cereals, lunch box foods, snacks, crisps, desserts, sweets, chocolate, ready meals, biscuits, bars, pizzas and tinned products such as beans and spaghetti hoops.
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