Trans Fat FAQs, with Stats from the WHO

What Is Trans Fat?

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 are formed in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil converting the liquid into a solid, resulting in “partially hydrogenated” oil (PHO).

What Effects Does It Have on Health?

Approximately 540,000 deaths each year can be attributed to intake of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. High trans fat intake increases the risk of death from any cause by 34%, coronary heart disease deaths by 28%, and coronary heart disease by 21%. This is likely due to the effect on lipid levels: trans fat increases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels while lowering HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.

Trans fat has no known health benefits.

Which Foods Typically Contain Industrially-Produced Trans Fat?

Partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) are the main source of industrially-produced trans fat. PHO is an ingredient in many foods, including margarine, vegetable shortening, and Vanaspati ghee; fried foods and doughnuts; baked goods such as crackers, biscuits, and pies; and pre-mixed products such as pancake and hot chocolate mix. Baked and fried street and restaurant foods often contain industrially-produced trans fat. All of these products can be made without industrially-produced trans fat.

Does Frying or Heating Oil Create Trans Fat?

There is evidence that heating and frying oil at high temperatures leads to modest increases in trans fat concentrations. On average, the level of trans fat has been found to increase by 3.67 g/100g after heating, and by 3.57 g/100g after frying. There is no evidence that other cooking methods, e.g. baking, boiling and grilling, lead to increased trans fat concentrations.

Why Not Target Heating and Frying if it Creates Trans Fat?

The amount of trans fat generated during heating and frying is low when compared with the amount of trans fat in partially hydrogenated oils (PHO). On average, trans fat concentrations in PHOs are 25-45% of the oil, where heating and frying only increases trans fat concentrations by approximately 3%.

Why Should Governments Prioritize Eliminating Trans Fat from the Food Supply?

Replacing trans fat with healthier oils/fats in the food supply is a low-cost way for governments to save the lives of their citizens. Experiences in several countries demonstrate that industrially-produced trans fat can be replaced by healthier oils. Costs to implement best practice interventions (i.e. regulatory limits on trans fat) are likely well under the commonly accepted thresholds of cost-effectiveness. Modelling from the United Kingdom found five-year net savings in healthcare costs. WHO recommends trans fat elimination as a cost-effective intervention for low- and middle- income countries. Governments can eliminate the cause of 7% of cardiovascular disease globally with a low-cost investment.