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Geneva: Intake of trans-fatty acids (TFA) is associated with increased risk of heart attacks and death from coronary heart disease. Replacing industrially produced TFA with healthier oils and fats is cost-effective and feasible, and can be done without changing the taste of food or its cost to the consumer. The WHO had set a goal of eliminating trans fats by 2023. It now warns that there should not be any further delay in eliminating trans fats from global food supply.
India is one of the fifteen countries that account for approximately two-thirds of the worldwide deaths linked to trans fat intake. However, it is still among 11 countries which have not taken any action to curtail the use of trans fats, a World Health Organisation progress report on global trans fat elimination – Countdown to 2023 – launched during 2020 Global Week for Action on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) from 7 to 13 September, has stated.
Only Canada, Latvia, Slovenia, United States of America have implemented WHO-recommended best-practice policies since 2017, either by setting mandatory limits for industrially produced trans fats to 2% of oils and fats in all foods or banning partially hydrogenated oils (PHO). Besides India, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of Korea still need to take urgent action.
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The WHO though has taken note of countries, “such as India, that have previously implemented less restrictive measures, are now updating policies to align with best practice”.
Industrially produced trans fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods. Manufacturers often use them as they have a longer shelf life and are cheaper than other fats. But healthier alternatives can be used that do not affect taste or cost of food.
In many countries, civil society organizations are advocating for mandatory TFA limits and supporting governments to set these limits. The food industry is also becoming more receptive to replacing industrially produced TFA in their products with healthier oils and fats.
“Making food trans fat-free, saves lives and saves money, and, by preventing heart attacks, reduces the burden on health care facilities,” said Dr Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of the global health organization Vital Strategies, which focuses on preventing deaths from cardiovascular disease and by preventing epidemics. .
Consumption of industrially produced trans fats are estimated to cause around 500,000 deaths per year due to coronary heart disease. WHO recommends that trans fat intake be limited to less than 1% of total energy intake, which translates to less than 2.2 g/day with a 2,000-calorie diet. To achieve a world free of industrially produced trans fats by 2023, WHO recommends that countries:
- develop and implement best-practice policies to set mandatory limits for industrially produced trans fats to 2% of oils and fats in all foods or to ban partially hydrogenated oils (PHO);
- invest in monitoring mechanisms, e.g. lab capacity to measure and monitor trans fats in foods; and
- advocate for regional or sub-regional regulations to expand the benefits of trans fat policies.
The WHO reports that 58 countries so far have introduced laws that will protect 3.2 billion people from the harmful substance by the end of 2021. New policy measures passed and/or introduced in the past year in Brazil, Turkey and Nigeria all meet WHO’s criteria for best-practice policies. But more than 100 countries still need to take actions to remove these harmful substances from their food supplies.
In 2019, the European Union passed a best-practice policy, and all 35 countries that are part of the WHO American Region/Pan American Health Organization unanimously approved a regional plan of action to eliminate industrially produced trans fats by 2025. Together, these two regional initiatives have the potential to protect an additional 1 billion people in more than 50 countries who were not previously protected by trans fat regulations.
Mandatory TFA policies were currently in effect for 2.4 billion people in 32 countries (32% of the global population in 2020). Of these, 14 countries (covering 589 million people – 8% of the global population) had best-practice policies, and two countries — Peru and Uruguay, covering 36 million people, which had less restrictive limits in place, have passed best-practice policies that will come into effect in the next two years. Another 26 countries, covering 779 million people, had also passed best-practice TFA policies that will come into effect within the next two years. Currently, 27 countries had other complementary measures in place, and 62 countries had a national policy, strategy or action plan in place that expresses a commitment to reduce TFA in the food supply. For the remaining 64 countries, there had either been no action to eliminate TFA or the status is unknown.
To better understand the laboratory needs in countries, an interlaboratory study (“ring trial”) on measurement of TFA and other fatty acids in selected foods by gas chromatography was undertaken. Fourteen laboratories, representing all WHO regions, are participating in the study, which aimed to assess the level of agreement of results among laboratories. Full analysis of results is under way. The global laboratory protocol for measuring TFA in food have been revised, based on the preliminary findings from this study, to make them more usable for countries.
Despite the encouraging progress, important disparities persist in policy coverage by region and country income level. Most policy actions to date, including those passed in 2019 and 2020, have been in higher-income countries and in the WHO Regions of the Americas and Europe. Best-practice policies have been adopted by seven upper-middle-income countries and 33 high-income countries; no low-income or lower-middle-income countries have yet done so. Many countries do not have data on TFA levels in foods or population TFA intake. Without data, TFA elimination is often not a priority issue for investment of time and resources.
In the next year, WHO says it plans to accelerate efforts in providing Member States with technical support to strengthen their regulatory and legal capacities for implementing policies to eliminate TFA from their food supplies. WHO also plans to publish the ring trial results and will explore the possibility of identifying laboratories that could become regional hubs for TFA testing in foods.
– globalbihari bureau
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