Cream cakes sold on the market are popular for their delicate texture and their ability to be crafted into various exquisite designs. However, in reality, frequent consumption of cream cakes is detrimental to the healthy development of teenagers.
Professor Lin Xingrun, a member of the expert committee of the China Health Care Association, told reporters that these cakes are mostly made with vegetable butter, because a bucket of vegetable cream costs about 80 yuan, while a bucket of animal cream costs over 300 yuan, making it nearly four times more expensive. This vegetable cream is a type of artificial cream, namely trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are even more harmful than saturated fatty acids. Occasional consumption is not a big problem, but frequent consumption greatly increases the risks:
It increases the level of low-density lipoprotein (bad protein) cholesterol in the blood while reducing the level of high-density lipoprotein (good protein) cholesterol, which helps prevent heart disease, thus increasing the risk of coronary heart disease.
It increases blood viscosity, promotes thrombosis, accelerates atherosclerosis, and raises the incidence of diabetes and breast cancer.
It affects the growth and development of fetuses, infants, and teenagers, and has an adverse impact on the development of the central nervous system, inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins.
It can induce diseases such as tumors, asthma, and allergies.
In addition, Professor Lin said that to enhance the cake's visual appeal, making its color more vibrant and its texture smoother, cakes often contain excessive amounts of colorings and emulsifiers. The overuse of these additives is harmful to health.
The intake of trans fatty acids in the diet of Chinese residents is alarming, with 40% of foods on the market containing trans fatty acids. Besides cream cakes, foods such as biscuits, fast food, convenience foods, potato chips, condiments, and peanut butter also contain trans fatty acids.
In foreign countries, trans fatty acids are subject to strict regulations. Denmark began stipulating limits for trans fatty acids in foods as early as 2003, and at the beginning of this year, the U.S. mandated that food packaging must list the content of trans fatty acids.
At present, China's food safety departments have not yet established corresponding standards to regulate the use of trans fatty acids by food production companies. Professor Lin emphasized that in this situation, the safest approach is to limit cream cakes to "birthday tables" and to eat them less or not at all on a regular basis.