Joint Centre for Food Safety (CFS) / Consumer Council (CC) Study
Nutrition Labelling Series Article 2

Canned Luncheon Meat, Canned Sardines and Prepackaged Sandwich Bread

Introduction

1.        Canned luncheon meat and canned sardines are common food items used in making sandwiches. The second issue of Joint CFS/CC Nutrition Labelling Series studies the nutrition labels of canned luncheon meat, canned sardines and prepackaged sandwich bread for comparing their nutrient contents, especially the amount of sodium and fats.

2.        Salt, sauces and sodium-containing food additives such as sodium nitrite in canned food and/or prepackaged sandwich bread increase the sodium content of these food products. Eating too much sodium adds to the risk of high blood pressure. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations suggest that sodium intake should be less than 2000 mg (or 5 g of salt, i.e. about 1 level teaspoon ) a day .

3.         Meanwhile, pork, sardines as well as sauces and/or oil used in preparing canned food and/or bread provide certain amount of total fat and saturated fat. Too much fat will lead to overweight and obesity whereas excessive saturated fat increases the risk of heart diseases. WHO and FAO suggest the intake of total fat and saturated fat should be between 15 to 30% and less than 10%, respectively, of the daily energy intake. For example, an individual with a daily energy intake of 2000 kcal should limit the intake of total fat to not more than 60 g (about 4 tablespoons of oil) whereas the intake of saturated fat should be less than 20 g a day.

4.        Taking reference to overseas experience, we have produced a set of shopping guide cards (or "shopping cards") to facilitate consumers to make effective use of nutrition labels. If the amount of sodium or fat contained in every 100g of prepackaged food exceeds 30% of the daily intake limit, such nutrient content is regarded as high. As such, a food item is classified as high in sodium if every 100g of such food contains more than 600 mg of sodium. Similarly, a food is classified as high in total fat if there is more than 20g of total fat in 100 g of the food.

The study

5.        In March 2010, we collected 17 types of canned luncheon meat, 16 canned sardines and 9 prepackaged sandwich bread samples from supermarkets and grocery shops. Nutrition information on the labels was examined.

6.        Main findings of the study are summarised below (Please also refer to Table 1):

• For canned luncheon meat, the sodium and total fat content of samples were generally high.
  • The canned luncheon meat contained 300 mg to 2230 mg of sodium per 100 g of food. Among 17 canned luncheon meat samples, over eighty percent of them (i.e. 14 samples) were high in sodium. For the sample with the highest amount of sodium (2230 mg per 100 g of food), consuming half can of the food would account for over 100% of the daily intake limit of sodium.
  • The canned luncheon meat contained 7 g to 29 g of total fat and 1.5 g to 11 g of saturated fat per 100 g of food. Nearly one-third of the samples (i.e. 5 samples) were high in total fat. For the sample with the highest amount of total fat and saturated fat (29 g and 11 g per 100 g of food respectively), consuming half can of the food would account for approximately 50% of the daily intake limit of corresponding nutrients
• Canned Sardines contained relatively lower levels of s odium and fat. For canned sardines samples, the energy and nutrient values listed on the nutrition labels were based on the content of the whole product, i.e. sardines as well as seasoning.
  • Canned sardines contained 177.1 mg to 637 mg of sodium. Two out of 16 samples were high in sodium.
  • The total fat and saturated fat content of canned sardines ranged from 2 g to 35.4 g per 100 g of food and 0.7 g to 6.8 g per 100 g of food respectively. Only one sample was high in total fat. For the sample with the highest amount of total fat and saturated fat (35.4 g and 6.8 g per 100 g of food respectively), consuming whole can of food would account for more than half of daily intake limit of total fat and over 30% of the daily intake limit of saturated fat.
• Prepackaged sandwich bread contained generally lower fat content while the sodium content required some attention. The sodium content ranged from 215 mg to 561 mg per 100 g of food. The total fat and saturated fat content were between 2.4 g to 7 g per 100 g of food and 0 g to 3.6 g per 100 g of food respectively.

Table 1: Summary of Main Results

Shopping Cards for Effective Use of Nutrition Labels

7.        We suggest the following steps to effectively making use of nutrition labels and choosing the appropriate food items:

• First, classify food items according to the levels of sodium and fat content, making reference to the nutrition labels and the CFS Shopping Card.
  
  Shopping card
• Then, compare the nutrient content among food products and choose food with suitable amount of sodium, total fat and saturated fat according to one's own need.
• The sodium and fat content of canned sardines can be further reduced by removing the oil and sauces,
• If time and circumstances allow, make a low fat, low sodium and nutritionally balanced sandwich with boiled egg, chicken meat without skin together with fresh vegetables.

More Information

8.        Selected analysis (10 samples of canned luncheon meat, 10 samples of canned sardines and 9 samples of prepackaged sandwich bread) is also published in the CHOICE MAGAZINE (Issue 402 released on 15 April)(Chinese only) . Full list of the results is also available on the website of Consumer Council:
http://www.consumer.org.hk/website/images/news/p402/choice402_nl2_sample.pdf

9.        To obtain Shopping Cards, please contact the Communication Resource Unit during office hours. ( 8/F Fa Yuen Street, Municipal Services Building , 123A Fa Yuen Street , MongKok, Kowloon and Enquiry no. : 2381 6096)

Centre for Food Safety
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

April 2010