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25/01/23 09:43 AM IST

Five billion people unprotected from trans fat leading to heart diseases: WHO

In News
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new report that revealed that five billion people globally remain unprotected from harmful trans fat, increasing their risk of heart disease and death.
Major Findings
  • According to WHO, the consumption of trans fats, which can be found in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils and spreads, is responsible for up to half a million premature deaths from heart disease every year.
  • Trans fat is a toxic chemical that kills, and should have no place in food. It’s time to get rid of it once and for all.
  • Currently, 9 of the 16 countries with the highest estimated proportion of coronary heart disease deaths caused by trans fat intake do not have a best-practice policy.
  • They are Australia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea.
  • Best practices in trans fat elimination policies follow specific criteria established by WHO and limit industrially produced trans fat in all settings.
  • There are two best-practice policy alternatives: A mandatory national limit of 2 grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods; and a mandatory national ban on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils (a major source of trans fat) as an ingredient in all foods.
  • While most trans fat elimination policies to date have been implemented in higher-income countries (largely in the Americas and in Europe), an increasing number of middle-income countries are implementing or adopting these policies, including Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Paraguay, the Philippines and Ukraine.
Recommendations
  • In 2023, WHO recommends that countries focus on these four areas: adopting the best-practice policy, monitoring and surveillance, healthy oil replacements and advocacy.
  • WHO guidance has been developed to help countries make rapid advances in these areas.
  • WHO also encouraged food manufacturers to eliminate industrially produced trans fat from their products, aligning to the commitment made by the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA).
  • Major suppliers of oils and fats are asked to remove industrially produced trans fat from the products sold to food manufacturers globally.
Trans-fats
  • Trans fat, or trans-fatty acids, are unsaturated fatty acids that come from either natural or industrial sources.
  • Naturally-occurring trans-fat come from ruminants (cows and sheep).
  • Industrially-produced trans-fat is formed in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil converting the liquid into a solid, resulting in “partially hydrogenated” oil (PHO).
Source- India Today

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