WHO: Trans fat kills; 5 billion people at risk

Groundbreaking advances in longevity research are giving us the opportunity to add several healthy decades to our lives. On the other hand, some of the food choices we make can snatch precious years away from us. For example, a diet laden with trans fats increases the risk of heart disease, the world’s leading killer of adults.

Most trans fats are formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature. This hydrogenated oil is inexpensive and less likely to spoil, which is why food companies use it to extend the shelf life of products. Some restaurants use partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in their deep fryers because it doesn’t have to be changed as often as do other oils.

Five billion people globally remain unprotected from harmful trans fat, a new report from the World Health Organization has found, increasing their risk of heart disease and death. Dubbed “Countdown to 2023—WHO report on global trans fat elimination 2022”, the annual status report tracks progress towards the goal of trans fat elimination in 2023. WHO published the paper in collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, a not-for-profit organization helping governments to prevent millions of deaths from cardiovascular disease.

The report said population coverage of best-practice policies has increased almost six-fold since WHO first called for the global elimination of industrially produced trans fat in 2018—with an elimination target set for this year. At least 43 countries have now implemented best-practice policies for tackling trans fat in food, with 2.8 billion people protected globally.

“Trans fat has no known benefit, and huge health risks that incur huge costs for health systems,” said WHO Director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Put simply, 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.”

Nine 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 Republic of Korea.

Industrially produced trans fat (also called trans-fatty acid) is commonly found in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils and spreads. Trans fat intake is responsible for up to 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year around the world.

Best practices in trans fat elimination policies follow specific criteria established by WHO and limit industrially produced trans fat in all settings. The report said there are two best-practice policy alternatives: 1) mandatory national limit of 2 grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods; and 2) mandatory national ban on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils (a major source of trans fat) as an ingredient in all foods.

“Progress in eliminating trans fat is at risk of stalling, and trans fat continues to kill people,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives. “Every government can stop these preventable deaths by passing a best-practice policy now. The days of trans fat killing people are numbered— but governments must act to end this preventable tragedy.”

WHO said that 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.

No low-income countries have yet adopted a best-practice policy to eliminate trans fat, the report said.

Encouraging food manufacturers to eliminate trans fat from their products, WHO said governments must also ask major suppliers of oils and fats to remove industrially produced trans fat from the products sold to food manufacturers globally.

It would do well for Philippine health authorities to heed this advice, which can prevent premature deaths from coronary heart disease. For food lovers, which mean 99.9 percent of the population, let’s be mindful of our food choices and avoid trans fat at all costs. As we said earlier, this toxic chemical can snatch precious years away from us.