ABSTRACT

The study on transfatty acid content of street foods was conducted in Abja State. Two locations were used in Abia Central Local Government Areas (LGAs) namely: Ikwuano representing the rural and Ibeku representing the urban area. One hundred (100) respondents were selected for the study using non probability sampling method. A well structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on personal data and food habits of the respondents and gas chromatography fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) was used to determine the transfat content of the chosen street foods which were categorized as baked food (cake), steamed food (moimoi) and fried food (egg roll). The result revealed that four transfatty acids were found in these street foods namely: myristelaidic, elaidic, linolelaidic and vaccenic acid. Baked food (cake) had the highest total transfatty acid content (1.25) followed by fried food (egg roll) having a total transfat of 1.24 and steamed food (moimoi) which had a total transfat content of 1.21. Majority (47%) of the respondents that consume street foods were between the ages of 20-30 years. About 40% of them gave their reasons for patronizing these foods as due to the fact that they had no time to cook, 7% said it was cheaper for them, while 15% gave reasons that it was convenient for them, lO% said it was due to the location of their business, lS% do not know how to prepare these foods. Consumption of street foods containing some levels of transfatty acid did not have much effect on the respondents' body mass index (BMI). In fact, 62w/a of the respondents were normal, 2% were underweight, 10% were obese while 26% were overweight. The females were found to consume more of these street foods containing transfat. Since these transfatty acids are also linked with some diseases such as increased risk of coronary heart disease, thrombosis, strokes, etc., there is need for more programme to be carried out to enlighten the public on the effect of transfatty acid on their health.