The trans fatty acid content in human milk and its association with maternal diet among lactating mothers in Malaysia

Excessive intake of trans fatty acids (TFA) could reduce the fat density of human milk and impair the desaturation of essential fatty acids. Because the mammary glands are unable to synthesize TFA, it is likely that the TFA in human milk come from dietary intake. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the sources of TFA intake for lactating mothers in one of the urban areas in Selangor. In this cross-sectional study, anthropometric measurements, FFQ including 7 food groups and dietary consumption data were collected from 101 lactating mothers. Five major TFA isomers (palmitoelaidic acid (16:1t9), petroselaidic acid (18:1t6), elaidic acid (18:1t9), vaccenic acid (18:1t11) and linoelaidic acid (18:2t9,12) in human milk were measured by gas chromatography (GC). The relationship between food consumption and TFA levels was assessed using the non-parametric Spearman's rho test. The TFA content in human milk was 2.94±0.96 (SEM) % fatty acid; this is considered low, as it is lower than 4%. The most abundant TFA isomer was linoelaidic acid (1.44±0.60% fatty acid). A sub-experiment (analyzing 3 days of composite food consumption) was conducted with 18 lactating mothers, and the results showed that linoelaidic acid was the most common TFA consumed (0.07±0.01 g/100 g food). Only 10 food items had an effect on the total TFA level and the isomers found in human milk. No association was found between TFA consumption and the TFA level in human milk

Industrially produced trans fatty acids: major potential sources in Malaysian diet

This study was conducted to determine the major potential sources of industrially produced trans fatty acids (IP-TFAs) in Malaysian diet. Levels of IP-TFAs were initially determined in samples (n = 136) collected from 8 food groups (baked products, snacks, dairy products, breakfast cereals, fast foods, semisolid fats and cooking oils, and fried foods). A survey was carried out to 105 subjects aged 19-59 years old to determine the intake of IP-TFAs using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The IP-TFAs range from 0-5.79% of food, with the highest found in semisolid fats and cooking oils (0.1-5.79%), followed by fast foods (0.04-0.86%), baked products (0.01-0.29%), breakfast cereals (0.06-0.45%), snacks (0.03-0.26%), dairy products (0-0.26%), and fried foods (0.002-0.06%). A Spearman’s Rho rank test showed that there were significant correlations (p < 0.05) between 4 of the food groups (semisolid fats and cooking oils, fast foods, fried foods, and baked products), with the total IP-TFA intakes of subjects. In general, total IP-TFAs intakes of subjects were < 1% of subjects’ diet (0.067%-0.91% of subjects’ total calorie intakes). This indicate that high fat foods (semisolid fats and cooking oils, fast foods, fried foods, and baked products) were the main contributor of IP-TFAs in Malaysian diet, despite the low proportion oftransfatty acids, following their high frequency of daily intake

The trans fatty acids content of selected foods in Malaysia

Introduction: There is a lack of information on the trans fatty acid (TFA) content in Malaysian foods. The objective of this study is to determine the TFA content of bakery products, snacks, dairy products, fast foods, cooking oils and semisolid fats, and breakfast cereals and Malaysian fast foods. This study also estimated the quantity of each isomer in the foods assayed. Methods: The trans fatty acid content of each food sample was assessed in duplicate by separating the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) in a gas chromatography system equipped with HP-88 column (USA: split ratio 10: 1) for cis/trans separation. Five major TFA isomers, palmitoelaidic acid (16: 1t9), petroselaidic acid (18:1t6), elaidic acid (18:1t9), vaccenic acid (18: 1t11) and linoelaidic acid (18:2t9, 12), were measured using gas chromatography (GC) and the data were expressed in unit values of g/100 g lipid or g/100 g food. Results: The total TFA contents in the studied foods were <0.001 g-8.77 g/100 g lipid or <0.001 g-5.79 g/100 g foods. This value falls within the standard and international recommendation level for TFA. The measured range of specific TFA isomers were as follows: palmitoelaidic acid (<0.001 g-0.26 g/100 g lipid), petroselaidic acid (<0.001 g - 3.09 g/100 g lipid), elaidic acid (<0.001 g-0.87 g/100 g lipid), vaccenic acid (<0.001 g-0.41 g/100 g lipid) and linoelaidic acid (<0.001 g-6.60 g/100 g lipid). Conclusion: These data indicate that most of the tested foods have low TFA contents (<1 g/100 g lipid)

Trans Fatty Acid in Selected Malaysian Foods and its Association with Intake Pattern and Contents in Human Milk of Lactating Mothers in Bandar Baru Bangi, Malaysia

Many countries have enforced regulation on TFA content in food labelling except for Malaysia. The unknown amount of TFA in local food have been hypothesized to impact the health, as well as disruption on nutritional value of human milk. The presence of TFA in human milk have been implicated in significant “displacement” of essential fatty acid, making the milk less energy dense. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the TFA intake of Malaysian lactating mothers in association with human milk composition. The study consists of two parts; Part 1: Analysis of TFA content in selected food; bakery products, snacks, milk and dairy products, cooking oils and semisolid fats, fast food, breakfast cereals, roti canai, chapatti, thosai, drinking cereals, sweetened milk and ice cream and Part 2: Determination of pattern of intake for selected Malaysian food and TFA content in human milk among lactating mothers. The results from Part 1 showed that the highest amount of TFA was found in fast food which was <0.001g - 8.49g/100g lipid or <0.001g - 1.97g/100g food whereas, the lowest amount was found in snack, which was <0.001g - 1.89g/100g lipid or <0.001g - 0.57g/100g food. Besides that, TFA level in most of food tested is still reasonably low. In terms of TFA isomers, major isomers found in studied samples were linoelaidic acid (18:2t9,12) (41.19%) and elaidic acid (18:1t9) (35.87%),whereas, other isomers were lower than 20%. In Part 2 of this study, there were 101 lactating mothers recruited from Klinik Kesihatan Bandar Baru Bangi. Information on sociodemographic, reproductive data, anthropometric, Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ) score for 7 food groups and dietary consumption parameters were collected for this part. The TFA content in human milk was 2.94±0.96% fatty acid which is considered low as the detected value is less than 4% fatty acid. The most abundantly found TFA isomer in human milk is linoelaidic acid (18:2t9,12) (1.44±0.60% fatty acid) whereas vaccenic acid (18:1t11) (0.15±0.12% fatty acid) was found to be the least. From sub experiment result, the daily intake of TFA 18 lactating mothers is 1.27±0.26g/100glipid/day/person which is below as compared with countries like US and Denmark. The relationships between frequencies food consumption and TFA level in human milk were assessed using non-parametric Spearman Rho test (SPSS version 15). The results showed only 10 of the food items; bun, chicken burger, shortening, powdered milk, cheese burger, sweetened milk, blended oil, mayonnaise, corn oil and ice cream were identified to give an effects towards total TFA and TFA isomers in human milk. None of the dietary parameters observed give any effect on total TFA in human milk. In regards to lipid composition of human milk, the finding showed that, total TFA in human milk could decrease Arachidonic acid AA (20:4) content but have no effect on total fat, linoleic acid (18:2), Eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) (20:5) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (22:6) content. It was demonstrated that, lipid composition of human milk was not significantly affected by current TFA intake. It was probably due to low consumption of TFA among lactating mothers. The extensively usage of palm oil by Malaysian population may also contribute to low consumption of TFA