Butter alternatives often marketed as healthy options because they contain more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are not quite all they seem, according to a Consumers’ Association investigation published in Which? magazine yesterday.
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The study focused on the fat content of over 100 margarines, low fat, sunflower oil- and olive oil-based spreads, and found that many of the products contained high levels of saturated fats. Government dietary advice has linked saturated fats to a higher risk of heart disease and consumers are encouraged to consider that avoiding them is the predominant reason for choosing the butter alternatives in the first place.
The products were also found to contain high levels of “trans fats” that were generally not noted on the labels. These can also increase the risk of heart disease for consumers because they raise blood cholesterol, and many believe that the law should make it obligatory to label the transfats where they occur.
“One of our experts said the Somerfield margarine should come with a health warning, it was that high in trans fats,” a spokeswoman for the Consumers’ Association told Which?
“Apart from that, spreads which customers believe are made mainly from olive oil are nothing of the sort,” she pointed out, saying that the main ingredient of many olive oil spreads is actually vegetable oil. Marks & Spencer’s Olive spread made with extra virgin olive oil only contains 4% extra virgin olive oil, for example.
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By GlobalData“People are not getting what they believe they are paying for,” she concluded.
