For the study, CSE researchers evaluted 16 major brands of popular food products including Nestlé Maggi, Haldiram's Aloo Bhujia, Top Ramen noodles, PepsiCo Frito Lays, among others. The levels of fats, salt and carbohydrates in the products were tested.
The study found that a 80g packet of Nestlé Maggi noodles contained 3.5g of salt, nearly 60% of the daily recommended salt intake of 6g. The product was found to contain a lot of empty calories - about 70% of the product was carbohydrates.
The CSE researchers found that Haldiram's Aloo Bhujia and Top Ramen noodles had misleading nutritional information about the amount of trans fats. According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a product is considered to be trans fat free if it contains less than 0.2g of trans fats per serving.
Top Ramen Noodles claims that there is zero trans fats in the product; however, the study found that the product contained 0.7g trans fat in every 100g. Similarly, Haldiram's Aloo Bhujia claims that there is zero trans fat, while the study found the product contained 2.5g per 100g.
Till February this year, PepsiCo Frito Lay's product labels noted that the products were trans fat free; however, beginning from March the products ceased to be trans fat free, which was not informed to consumers. The study found 3.7g of trans fat per 100g in PepsiCo Frito Lay's product belonging to March 2012 batch.
