Source Australian Farm Weekly

EEK Palm OIL yuk !



Generic food brands could cost health
MARK METHERELL
16/04/2009 6:43:00 PM
Tough times are driving many people to cheaper, generically branded
food, but it could be at the cost of their health, the National Heart
Foundation says.

Early results of a foundation analysis comparing generic products with
branded goods show the cheaper in-house brands generally contain
significantly more salt, saturated and trans fats and more calories than
branded products.

Concerned that the supermarket chains are increasingly loading their
shelves with home brands in an era when consumers are tightening their
purses, the foundation has analysed 5000 packaged food products,
including canned food, margarine, breads and breakfast cereals.

Dr Lyn Roberts, the foundation's chief executive, told the National
Press Club yesterday that more than 60 per cent of consumers said they
had switched to cheaper supermarket brands.

Dr Roberts said if the rising incidences of obesity, diabetes and
physical inactivity continue, cardiovascular death rates could begin to
rise, after years of decline.

One reason for this is the pressure on shoppers to be influenced by
clever marketing.

The number of products with the Heart Foundation tick had failed to
increase at the same rate as that of the number of choices confronting
supermarket shoppers.

"Cheaper foods often equal cheaper, less healthy ingredients such as
cakes, biscuits, and fried chicken cooked in cheap imported palm oil
laden with saturated fat," Dr Roberts said.

Palm oil, used for frying and in products such as biscuits, ice cream
and chocolate, contain 55 per cent saturated fat, compared with about 12
per cent in sunflower-canola blend oil.

Woolworths has challenged the findings, claiming that branded and
unbranded products were often identical.

"In many instances, supermarket private label products are exactly the
same as the branded equivalent: same ingredients, same recipe, same
factory, same manufacturer," Luke Schepen, a spokesman for Woolworths, said.

He said the company benchmarked its products against those of branded
competitors regularly, "to ensure we can match or better them in terms
of quality, ingredients, nutritional content and value."

Coles's response was not available as this report went to press.