Fats in ready-to-eat foods sold at Korean major amusement parks

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the fat, saturated fatty acid and trans fatty acid contents in ready-to-eat foods distributed at amusement parks to develop an appropriate food safety management system for children. Design/methodology/approach - In all, 322 ready-to-eat food samples categorized into 17 types were collected from nine Korean amusement parks and their fat, saturated fatty acid and trans fatty acid contents were assessed. Findings - Fat, saturated fatty acid and trans fatty acid contents were relatively high in flour-based products. On the basis of the Korea Food and Drug Administration classification, the samples in 12 categories were classified as high-fat foods. The samples in nine categories were classified as high-saturated fatty acid foods. Most samples also contained non-negligible levels of trans fatty acids. The fat, saturated fatty acid and trans fatty acid contents of samples even in the same category varied markedly. Social implications - This research will inform the necessity of an appropriate safety management system for ready-to-eat foods distributed at amusement. Originality/value - Although the fat contents of foods distributed around school area were often observed, the potential risk of those in ready-to-eat foods distributed at amusement parks have rarely been assessed. As patterns of food intakes vary world-widely, a periodic monitoring data like this study may be useful for international organizations and researchers.