1
|
Zainal Arifen ZN, Shahar S, Trieu K, Abdul Majid H, Md Noh MF, Haron H. Individual and total sugar contents of street foods in Malaysia - Should we be concerned? Food Chem 2024; 450:139288. [PMID: 38631211 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 03/30/2024] [Accepted: 04/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Street foods are often of poor nutritional quality with high sugar content, in which the overconsumption of sugar is associated with obesity. However, sugar content information on local street foods is scarce. Thus, the individual and total sugar contents of 94 types of street foods in Malaysia were analysed. Compared to snacks and main meals, desserts contained the highest amounts of sugar, sucrose, fructose, glucose, and maltose. Sucrose was predominant in 90% desserts, 79.3% snacks, and 68.6% main meals. Most desserts (93.3%) contained medium to high sugar content (≥5 g to >15 g/100 g), while 82.9% main meals and 65.5% snacks had low sugar content. When comparing the sugar contents of 39 foods with other local databases, 58.3% main meals, 55.6% desserts, and 33.3% snacks contained either significantly (p < 0.05) higher or lower sugar contents. Consumers can identify low and high-sugar foods, and policymakers can review health priorities to combat obesity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zainorain Natasha Zainal Arifen
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia.
| | - Suzana Shahar
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia.
| | - Kathy Trieu
- The George Institute for Global Health Level 5, 1 King St, Newtown, New South Wales 2042, Australia.
| | - Hazreen Abdul Majid
- Centre for Population Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia; School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, AECC University College, Bournemouth BH5 2DF, United Kingdom.
| | - Mohd Fairulnizal Md Noh
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Selangor 40170, Malaysia.
| | - Hasnah Haron
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zainal Arifen ZN, Haron H, Shahar S, Harun Z, Michael V, You YX, Manaf ZA, Majid HA, Chia YC, He FJ, Brown MK, MacGregor GA. Perceptions, barriers and enablers on salt reduction in the out-of-home sectors in Malaysia (MySaltOH) from the perspective of street food vendors, caterers and consumers. Public Health Nutr 2023; 27:e12. [PMID: 38098442 PMCID: PMC10828668 DOI: 10.1017/s136898002300277x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To explore the perspectives, barriers and enablers on salt reduction in out-of-home sectors in Malaysia among street food vendors, caterers and consumers. DESIGN A qualitative study involving twenty-two focus group discussions and six in-depth interviews was conducted, recorded and transcribed verbatim. An inductive thematic analysis approach was employed to analyse the data. SETTING Two in-depth interviews and twenty-two focus group discussions were conducted face-to-face. Four in-depth interviews were conducted online. PARTICIPANTS Focus group discussions were conducted among twenty-three street food vendors, twenty-one caterers and seventy-six consumers of various eateries. In-depth interviews were conducted among two street food vendors and four caterers, individually. RESULTS Consumers and food operators perceived a high-salt intake within Malaysia's out-of-home food sectors. Food operators emphasised the necessity for a comprehensive salt reduction policy in the out-of-home sector involving all stakeholders. Consumers faced limited awareness and knowledge, counterproductive practices among food operators and challenges in accessing affordable low-Na food products, whereas food operators faced the lack of standardised guidelines and effective enforcement mechanisms and uncooperative consumer practices. Both groups expressed that food quality and price of salt were also the barriers, and they advocated for awareness promotion, enhanced regulation of manufactured food products and stricter enforcement targeting vendors. Consumers also suggested promoting and recognising health-conscious food premises, whereas food operators suggested on knowledge enhancement tailored to them, strategies for gaining consumers acceptance and maintaining food quality. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide valuable insights that serve as foundational evidence for developing and implementing salt reduction policies within Malaysia's out-of-home sectors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zainorain Natasha Zainal Arifen
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Hasnah Haron
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Suzana Shahar
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Zaliha Harun
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Viola Michael
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Yee Xing You
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Zahara Abdul Manaf
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur50300, Malaysia
| | - Hazreen Abdul Majid
- Centre for Population Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur50603, Malaysia
| | - Yook Chin Chia
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan 47500, Malaysia
| | - Feng J He
- Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, LondonEC1M 6BQ, UK
| | - Mhairi Karen Brown
- Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, LondonEC1M 6BQ, UK
| | - Graham A MacGregor
- Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, LondonEC1M 6BQ, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Zainal Arifen ZN, Shahril MR, Shahar S, Mohamad H, Mohd Yazid SFZ, Michael V, Taketo T, Trieu K, Harith S, Ibrahim NH, Abdul Razak S, Mat Jusoh H, Hun Pin C, Lee JS, Mohamed Ismail R, Lai Kuan L, Haron H. Fatty Acid Composition of Selected Street Foods Commonly Available in Malaysia. Foods 2023; 12:foods12061234. [PMID: 36981160 PMCID: PMC10048182 DOI: 10.3390/foods12061234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite growing evidence of increased saturated and trans fat contents in street foods, little is known about their fatty acid (FA) compositions. This study aimed to analyse the saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and trans fatty acids (TFAs) content of 70 selected and most commonly available street foods in Malaysia. The street foods were categorised into main meals, snacks, and desserts. TFAs were not detected in any of the street foods. Descriptively, all three categories mainly contained SFAs, followed by MUFAs, and PUFAs. However, the one-way ANOVA testing showed that the differences between each category were insignificant (p > 0.05), and each FA was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from one to another. Nearly half of the deep-fried street foods contained medium to high SFAs content (1.7 g/100 g–24.3 g/100 g), while the MUFAs were also high (32.0–44.4%). The Chi-square test of association showed that the type of preparation methods (low or high fat) used was significantly associated (p < 0.05) with the number of SFAs. These findings provide valuable information about fat composition in local street foods for the Malaysian Food Composition Database and highlight the urgency to improve nutritional composition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zainorain Natasha Zainal Arifen
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia; (Z.N.Z.A.)
| | - Mohd Razif Shahril
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia; (Z.N.Z.A.)
| | - Suzana Shahar
- Dietetic Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
| | - Hamdan Mohamad
- Non-Communicable Disease Section, Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia
| | | | - Viola Michael
- Enforcement Section, Allied Health Sciences Division, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya 62050, Malaysia
| | - Tanaka Taketo
- Representative Office for Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore, World Health Organization, Cyberjaya 63000, Malaysia
| | - Kathy Trieu
- The George Institute for Global Health Level 5, 1 King St, Newtown, NSW 2042, Australia
| | - Sakinah Harith
- Nutrition & Dietetic Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Nerus 21300, Malaysia
| | - Nor Hayati Ibrahim
- Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Malaysia
| | - Shariza Abdul Razak
- Nutrition Programme, School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
| | - Hanapi Mat Jusoh
- Department of Nutrition Sciences, Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan 25200, Malaysia
| | - Chua Hun Pin
- Food Science and Technology Research Centre, Malaysia Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Kuching 93050, Malaysia
| | - Jau-Shya Lee
- Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Malaysia
| | | | - Lee Lai Kuan
- Food Technology Programme, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia
| | - Hasnah Haron
- Nutritional Sciences Programme, Centre for Healthy Ageing and Wellness (H-Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia; (Z.N.Z.A.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +60-3-9289-7457
| |
Collapse
|