No. 293 Consumer Report
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests low sugar intake to maintain good health, the Council therefore conducts tests on sugar contents of food in recent years for consumers’ reference. The Council and the Food Safety Centre of IACM tested 20 samples of chocolate earlier, test result shows that all samples contain high levels of sugar, certain samples are found to contain more sugar than the listed amount on the package.
Difference between label information and real contents
The testing criteria include organisms, calories and sugar contents, hygienic condition of all 20 samples are satisfactory.
Among the 20 samples, 4 are found to contain more calories than the stated amount and 14 samples are found to contain higher level of sugar. One sample are found to contain 50 percent more sugar than the amount stated on the package.
Improvements to be made
The Council states that manufacturers are responsible for providing accurate and correct information to consumers, manufacturers therefore should rectify the mentioned information as soon as possible.
The test report also identifies that, according to the Hong Kong Food Safety Centre, foods that contain over 15g of sugar per 100g are considered as high sugar foods, and the sugar contents of all the samples tested exceed this standard.
The WHO states that sugar increases the risk of tooth decay and obesity, adults with a daily intake of 2000 calories are suggested not to consume more than 50g of sugar. Chocolate is high in calories and sugar and should be consumed considerably.
The test on chocolate is now available in Consumer Report issue no. 293.
Airline companies terms comparison
The Consumer Council conducted a questionnaire on the terms and conditions of airline companies that operate routes departing from Macao, survey questions include their rules for checked baggage, arrangements of flight cancellations, surcharges of flight tickets, etc.. The detailed questionnaire is now available in the latest Consumer Report.
The latest Consumer Report also includes a feature on the “Online Certified Shop” mechanism and its application procedures, as well as different kinds of services of the Consumer Council.
Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the Council (Av. Horta e Costa, N.º 26, Edf. Clementina Ho), and the service counter of the Council at Macao SAR Government Service Centre (Rua Nova da Areia Preta, Nº52), Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza, libraries, and bookstores. Consumers may also access the magazine online on the Council’s official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo) and WeChat official account.
For enquiry, please call 8988-9315.