US doughnut chain serves up unhealthier food in Asia (Feature)

By Simon Parry and Hazel Parry Dec 15, 2008, 4:40 GMT

   Hong Kong - If they are too unhealthy for US consumers to stomach, should fast food chains be allowed to continue serving up products laden with harmful fats in Asia?

   That is the question raised by the closure of the Krispy Kreme Doughnuts franchise in Hong Kong and the discovery that it was keeping the controversial ingredient, trans-fats, in Asian doughnuts while banning them in the US.

   Trans-fats are found in some deep-fried foods and processed foods made with margarine or shortening.

   In January Krispy Kreme, the US's second-largest doughnut chain after market leader Dunkin' Donuts, announced a 'zero trans-fats' policy for its US restaurants.

   Four months later, a consumer watchdog investigation found that doughnuts sold in the nine Krispy Kreme Doughnuts outlets in Hong Kong still contained high levels of trans-fats.

   The report in May by the Hong Kong Consumer Council found that while doughnuts sold in the US may be trans-fats free, a single Krispy Kreme doughnut in Hong Kong contained 2.2 grams of trans-fats, in excess of the World Health Organisation's recommended daily intake.

   Trans-fats, also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats, have been used in food processing for the last 40 years because they make the process cheaper and preserve food longer.

   Studies have now identified those fats as a cause of coronary heart disease and other conditions, and they have been banned in Denmark, Canada and New York City.

   Many foods served in Asia still contain trans-fats and the Hong Kong Consumer Council report identified a number of local cake shops and other food outlets still using them.

   What has upset some health watchdogs is that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts appears to have one standard for the US and another for the rest of the world.

   'It is outrageous and completely unacceptable,' said World Health Organization senior policy advisor Judith Mackay, who is based in Hong Kong.

   'I believe that all these companies are probably careful to adhere to the letter of any local laws and standards but when a public health risk is known, the same standards should apply globally. This smacks of public health neo-colonialism.'

   Wong Chi Wing, nutritionist at Hong Kong's Adventist Hospital, said: 'There shouldn't be a double standard. I don't understand why an international company or food chain can do one thing in the United States but not in Hong Kong or China.'

   Krispy Kreme Doughnuts closed its Hong Kong outlets in October, with creditors blaming high rents and the company's US headquarters denying that the trans-fats controversy was a factor.

   Despite the Hong Kong closures, Krispy Kreme is pressing ahead with plans to open 35 branches in China, where a spokesman for the chain made clear that trans-fats will be used.

   Krispy Kreme also has outlets in Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. Only in South Korea are doughnuts with zero trans-fats available at present, though Krispy Kreme is looking at extending the policy to Australia.

   Krispy Kreme's US-based spokesman Brian Little said the company was introducing a zero trans-fats policy where possible.

   'We do not think there is a connection between trans-fats and our Hong Kong franchisee's recent business decision,' he said.

   The Hong Kong franchise operator, Australian restaurateur Wayne Parfitt, refused to comment on the closures or to say whether the trans-fats issue had played a role. 'He doesn't want to speak about this,' an employee at his office said.

   Creditors handling the collapse of the Hong Kong franchise said they believed flagging sales and rising rents in the city had contributed to the failure of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

   Professor Lam Tai Hing, head of the department of community medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said it was 'totally irresponsible' for companies to adopt one standard for trans fats for the US and another for Hong Kong and China.

   'Companies that do this are exploiting the population's lack of awareness of harmful substances and trying to introduce things not allowed in their home countries,' he said.

'Chinese people are no different to Americans, they don't need trans-fats and there are much better alternatives. They should not take advantage of the fact that the Chinese government has not yet introduced regulations. I simply cannot see what the justification is to behave this way.'