Fat and fatty acid composition of selected regular and healthy fast foods in Amman, Jordan

Abstract

Fast food is a food that is timely and easily prepared and consumed. Generally, it is made of cheap and low nutritional value ingredients. The aim of this study is to determine the fat and the fatty acid composition of regular and healthy fast foods in Amman, Jordan. Thirty-six samples of different fast-food items were collected from three regular fast-food restaurants. Twelve samples were bought from a healthy fast-food restaurant. The results showed that the highest fat content among regular samples was in chicken burger (CB) 12.022% but it was the lowest in turkey sandwich (T) 5.13%. Total fat was lower in healthy items. The highest amount of fat was in healthy chicken pizza (IPH) 6.62%, while baked potato (BP) showed the lowest fat content (0.27%). Halloumi sandwich (H) recorded the greatest level of saturated fatty acids (SFA) 67.01%, yet the lowest was in beef shawarma (BS) 28.30%. Healthy halloumi (HH) recorded the greatest level of SFA (69.45%) where it was the lowest in BP (20.60%). The greatest monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) content was in BS (42.88%), however its lowest content was in cheese pizza (EP) 26.31%. The highest content of MUFA was in healthy chicken fajita (HCF) 55.33% while its lowest was in HH (27.24%). The highest polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content was recorded by chicken shawarma (CS) 34.45% where it was the lowest in H (5.29%). The highest PUFA content was in samples containing meat. The greatest PUFA content was recorded in healthy turkey (HT) 38.01%, whereas it was the lowest in HH (5.20%). The highest level of trans fatty acids (TFA) was observed in French fries (FF) (0.72%), while its lowest amount was in chicken burger (CB) (0.12%). The highest TFA level was in HT (0.86%) while its lowest amount was in BP (0.11%). The ω-6/ω-3 in regular samples was from 5:1 for (CS) to 36:1 for (FF). Nevertheless, ω-6/ω-3 ranged from 1:1 to 22:1 for healthy beef quesadilla (HBQ) and HH in healthy samples. It was found that ω-6/ω-3 in healthy samples was lower than regular ones. The PUFA/SFA ranged 0.08 - 1.25 for H and BS. Whereas, the PUFA/SFA ranged 0.07 - 1.59 for HH and BP in healthy samples. Among the regular samples, the highest atherogenic index (AI) and thrombogenic index (TI) were in H (2.54 and 3.06). The lowest AI and TI were in BS (0.47) and CS (0.54). The highest AI and TI were in HH (2.91 and 3.46) in healthy samples, whereas the lowest AI and TI were in BP 0.26 and 0.49. Key words: Jordan, fast-food, regular, healthy, fat content, fatty acid composition