Objective: To examine the labelling status of trans-fat of pre-packaged foods sold in Hong Kong. Design: Data from 19,027 items in the 2019 FoodSwitch Hong Kong database were used. Ingredient lists were screened to identify specific (e.g., partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, PHVO) and non-specific trans-fat ingredient indicators (e.g., hydrogenated oil). Trans-fat content was obtained from the on-pack nutrition labels, which was converted into proportion of total fat (%total fat). Descriptive statistics were calculated for trans-fat content and the number of specific, non-specific and total trans-fat ingredients indicators found on the ingredients lists. Comparisons were made between regions using one-way ANOVA and χ2 for continuous and categorical variables respectively. Setting: Cross-sectional audit. Participants: N/A. Results: A total of 729 items (3.8% of all products) reported to contain industrially produced trans-fat, with a median of 0.4 g per 100 g or 100 mL [Interquartile range (IQR): 0.1 – 0.6] and 1.2%totalfat (IQR: 0.6 – 2.9). “Bread and bakery products” had the highest proportion of items with industrially produced trans-fat (18.9%). “Non-alcoholic beverages” had the highest proportion of products of “false negatives” labelling (e.g., labelled as 0 trans-fat but contains PHVOs; 59.3%). The majority of products with trans-fat indicator originated from Asia (70%). Conclusions: According to the labelling ∼4% of pre-packaged food and beverages sold in Hong Kong in 2019 contained industrially produced trans-fat, and a third of these had trans-fat >2%total fat. The ambiguous trans-fat labelling in Hong Kong may not effectively assist consumers in identifying products free from industrially produced trans-fat.
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