tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post7561807760882752614..comments2024-03-19T18:44:15.041+08:00Comments on Little Stories: Banishing the FatsGilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-30982417212091624612007-01-17T15:49:00.000+08:002007-01-17T15:49:00.000+08:00i don't think it's difficult at all to print a sti...i don't think it's difficult at all to print a sticker that says " Contains Trans Fat"!!!<br />Well...I am totally disappointed with our local authority. Still the cheek to reply my letter on the MSG issue , that MSG-free claim is misleading yet i am still seeing so many products in the supermarkets carrying such claims...<br />Liars!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-24625845144581364352007-01-12T16:31:00.000+08:002007-01-12T16:31:00.000+08:00We should not ban the Esplanade, tobacco and alcoh...We should not ban the Esplanade, tobacco and alcohol. But it is absolutely necessary to brighten up the dark corners in theatres, clearly label food items that contain tobacco and alcohol. Allow consumers tO make their informed choices.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-25240390746163102302007-01-11T22:12:00.000+08:002007-01-11T22:12:00.000+08:00I think that product labelling is not too much to ...I think that product labelling is not too much to ask for. As it is, I am always checking food labels to understand what I'm eating. I'm horrified to discover now that food manufacturers are allowed to deliberately conceal their trans fat content.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-76228252849227503322007-01-11T21:41:00.000+08:002007-01-11T21:41:00.000+08:00Sigh. Fact: One woman fell down at the Esplanade a...Sigh. Fact: One woman fell down at the Esplanade and died. Conclusion: Demolish the Esplanade as unsafe.<br /><br />Fact: xx thousand excess deaths are caused by tobacco, alcohol, high sodium consumption. Conclusion: Ban 'em all<br /><br />Fact: Cooking any oil at high temperatures creates carcinogenic compounds. Concluson: Ban the sale as well as home production of deep fried foods.HaveAHackshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16801231365251376582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-47548412494817757602007-01-11T20:20:00.000+08:002007-01-11T20:20:00.000+08:00It is not too difficult to understand the governme...It is not too difficult to understand the government's thinking on the trans fat issue. <br />Restrict trans fat --> less food choices --> higher food prices --> higher cost of living --> risks of loosing more votes in the next election. It saddens me to know that the government thinks that its popularity is more important than the health of people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-73266507162345845922007-01-11T15:02:00.000+08:002007-01-11T15:02:00.000+08:00Can't you see its some family's business having th...Can't you see its some family's business having their fingers stuck in all these trans fat business.These pathethic people from the 'health promotion board' - my foot are just some elevated scholars of a mouthpiece who need to keep their pockets lined so they can go overseas on gourmet binges and attend the local astronomical gastronomic festivals <br /><br />A word of caution though to that family. Your days of creaming the fat off Singaporeans are numbered because you are going to get sudden cardiac arrest very soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-5636273900198865112007-01-11T10:36:00.000+08:002007-01-11T10:36:00.000+08:00I for one read the labels on the cans. I am obese...I for one read the labels on the cans. I am obese... but then one still need to eat healthy.<br /><br />In Taiwan, they have a requirements for all the imported items to lable the trans fat. What the importers do is to print out stickers of the contents in the cans and stick it over the existing label. <br /><br />You can get retirees to do things like this... does not add much cost to it.<br /><br />HPB is the taking the easy way outAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-32435421831650890622007-01-11T10:27:00.000+08:002007-01-11T10:27:00.000+08:00HPB now says that 70% of imported food has trans f...HPB now says that 70% of imported food has trans food. Stricter laws will affect our trade relations wor...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-1877627402732454212007-01-11T10:04:00.000+08:002007-01-11T10:04:00.000+08:00nothing like an endorphine rush i'd say. keep it u...nothing like an endorphine rush i'd say. keep it up :)<br /><br />i just got back to working out myself.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01263650154681381441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-65748158666159399922007-01-11T09:18:00.000+08:002007-01-11T09:18:00.000+08:003 times is still very high, considering that color...3 times is still very high, considering that colorectal cancer is one of the most frequent cancers that Singaporeans get.Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-62739320206684851632007-01-11T03:14:00.000+08:002007-01-11T03:14:00.000+08:00The deaths attributable to trans fats has been gre...The deaths attributable to trans fats has been greatly exaggerated because I missed a decimal place. My mistake :b Enough to make me lose sleep over.<br /><br />So, in the USA in 1994, it is slightly more than 1 in 10,000 death per annum, just about 3 times the colorectal cancer rate in Singapore.<br /><br />Cheers with apologyYCKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552925873957227661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-15776598733922555792007-01-11T01:33:00.000+08:002007-01-11T01:33:00.000+08:00This resembles the HDB trying to explain that thei...This resembles the HDB trying to explain that their land cost is very high, ergo we are paying for a highly subsidized housing. HPB explaining that singaporeans eat little trans fat, ergo there is no need to ban. Really brilliant logic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-87788003658067382542007-01-11T01:09:00.000+08:002007-01-11T01:09:00.000+08:00This topic irked me so much that I dug up more inf...This topic irked me so much that I dug up more information lest anyone is interested:<br /><br />A good resource is <a href="http://www.bantransfats.com/">Ban Tran Fats</a>. It claimed that <a href="http://www.bantransfats.com/abouttransfat.html">"a 2 percent increase in energy intake from trans fatty acids was associated with a 23 percent increase in the incidence of coronary heart disease...."</a> citing New England Journal of Medicine studies.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard School of Public Health</a> in this update, TRANS FATTY ACIDS AND CORONARY HEART DISEASE , reported, <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/reviews/transfats.html">"Based on the available metabolic studies, we estimated in a 1994 report that approximately 30,000 premature coronary heart disease deaths annually could be attributable to consumption of trans fatty acids."</a>, which works out to about 1 death per 1000 population in the USA per year. Now that is high compared to the <a href="http://www.nccs.com.sg/epub/CU/vol_04/colorectal.htm">Singapore rate for colorectal cancer of 33.4 and 31.0 per 100,000 population per year for males and females repectively</a> provided by the National Cancer Centre, Singapore. Alarming.<br /><br />These two sites also covered important topics such as <br />1. alternatives to trans fats,<br />2. argument against change from economic cost of replacement, <br />3. milestones in the fight to ban the use of trans fats and explicit labeling (sorely lacking in Singapore. Has any of you tried to make sense of the difference between vegetable oil, vegetable fat, partially hydrogenated vegatable shortening (the last is surely trans fat). My hunch is that in Singapore all three are interchangeable!), <br />4. list of products with trans fats (unfortunately, Oreo from Thailand found in all major supermarkets still includes "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" unaffected by the move to have no trans fats in the USA products. Though the honesty is appreciated, I am envious of obese Americans who can heartily stuff themselves silly with Oreo cookies knowing that they contain zero trans fats due to close government oversight and civil acitivism. Hey, I thought we are the nanny state here!)<br /><br />How does the economic costs in trade weigh against the health cost and death resulting from the lack of regulation now? May the HPB attempt to enlighten us on this soon.<br /><br />Lastly, thanks to Mr Wang who brought trans fat conscioness to the blogosphere! May your resolution to live a healtier lifestyle bear fruit.YCKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552925873957227661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-11372326885636857352007-01-11T00:20:00.000+08:002007-01-11T00:20:00.000+08:00Oops, according to today's newspaper, Shanmugam al...Oops, according to today's newspaper, Shanmugam alleged that the NKF had lost its plot by putting fund raising first and the welfare of patients second. Anyone noticed any similarity here?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-83102806031187286582007-01-11T00:17:00.000+08:002007-01-11T00:17:00.000+08:00You summarized it well posing the retorical questi...You summarized it well posing the retorical question:<br /><br /><i>Should trade barrier issues really be in the purview of HPB nutritionists like Grace Soon?</i><br /><br />Even if it is the case that trade <b>is</b> under the purview of Health Promotion Board as one of its many concerns, as well-rounded as stats board could concievably be, does its name not suggest that the health of the citizens of Singapore should be its <b>top</b> priority?YCKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552925873957227661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-61145307213220132322007-01-10T16:12:00.000+08:002007-01-10T16:12:00.000+08:00as usual, we just keep putting up barriers, barrie...as usual, we just keep putting up barriers, barriers to our making of informed choices.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-13090973220690557342007-01-10T15:59:00.000+08:002007-01-10T15:59:00.000+08:00The WHO recommendations probably refer to Maximum ...The WHO recommendations probably refer to Maximum Levels of intake. Trans fats cannot be banned outright because trace amounts appear naturally in animal protein. The idea is to keep the levels of eaten trans fats to small amounts.<br /><br />I suppose, the HPB must have some kind of data on Singaporean diets' to be able to say that the nation takes trace amounts of trans fats.<br /><br />Still, it would be nice if they made some kind of move towards transfat labelling for mass produced foods, instead of just citing "trade barriers".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-46977608625174942662007-01-10T15:00:00.000+08:002007-01-10T15:00:00.000+08:00Everything this Gov do have only one aim, Make Mon...Everything this Gov do have only one aim, Make Money.<br />Why spend all this time to defend their reason for not doing something on things that might hurt the population, must be view by them on an economic angle. <br />1.) Do not disturb the existing tax paying business or have a stake in it.<br />2.) More sick people is good for the health care secotr<br /><br />If you understand the bottom line, it's easy to see how and why they make poicies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-89507473757976305052007-01-10T14:58:00.000+08:002007-01-10T14:58:00.000+08:00Personally I don't see how it is really very "dras...Personally I don't see how it is really very "drastic" to print new food labels to include trans fat info.<br /><br />The grand total of extra words needed is about six. Eg:<br /><br />"Trans fat: [ ] g per [ ] "Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-52722279509936968402007-01-10T14:10:00.000+08:002007-01-10T14:10:00.000+08:0070% of packaged food are produced in... Singapore,...70% of packaged food are produced in... Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for these same markets and the labeling of said products is approximate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-955994734917565812007-01-10T13:40:00.000+08:002007-01-10T13:40:00.000+08:00"About 70 per cent of packaged food products curre...<i>"About 70 per cent of packaged food products currently do not carry trans fat labelling and will be affected," said HPB nutritionist Grace Soon. "This will drastically limit the choice of food Singaporeans have right now."</i><br /><br />I don't see mandatory labels will drastically limit the choice of food Singaporeans have now. <br /><br />Surely, most companies that export packaged foodstuff to Singapore also export them to the EU and the US where food labelling laws are stricter. <br /><br />Furthermore, it can be implemented piecewise. For example, we can require all confectionary items to have transfat labelling, then snacks, etc.Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04726805279916950590noreply@blogger.com