Global elimination of Trans Fat 

Why in News?

• Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that 5 billion people globally remain unprotected from harmful trans fats, increasing their risk of heart disease and death

Highlights

• 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.
• 43 countries have now implemented best-practice policies for tackling trans-fat in food, with 2.8 billion people protected globally. Many countries in America and Europe have phased the substance out with bans on partially hydrogenated oils.
• However, no low-income countries have yet adopted such measures.
• 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 (Islamic Republic of), Nepal, Pakistan and 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:
• Mandatory national limit of 2 grams of industrially produced trans-fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods;
• Mandatory national ban on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils as an ingredient in all foods.
• 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).
• Trans fats have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, as they can raise bad cholesterol (LDL) levels in the blood and lower good cholesterol (HDL) levels.
• They can also contribute to the development of other health conditions such as diabetes and obesity.