`World Health Org. Set to Miss Deadline to Eliminate Trans Fats - Olive Oil Times

World Health Org. Set to Miss Deadline to Eliminate Trans Fats

By Paolo DeAndreis
Feb. 8, 2023 18:16 UTC

Time is run­ning out for the World Health Organization to achieve its global ini­tia­tive announced in 2018 to ban all trans fats by the end of 2023.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO direc­tor gen­eral, warned that many coun­tries have not yet devel­oped poli­cies to elim­i­nate the ubiq­ui­tous pres­ence of trans fatty acids from processed food.

To date, more than 40 coun­tries account­ing for more than one-third of the world’s pop­u­la­tion had imple­mented one of WHO’s best-prac­tice poli­cies on trans fat.- , 

According to the WHO, 500,000 deaths are caused annu­ally by trans fats in com­mon processed foods.

Ghebreyesus noted how early adopters of laws that ban trans fats, such as Denmark, have decreased the inci­dence of car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease and fatal heart attacks sig­nif­i­cantly.

See Also:Europe Limits Use of Trans Fats in Foods

Ghebreyesus referred to research recently pub­lished in Plos One, which found an 11-per­cent decrease in trans-fat-related mor­tal­ity in Denmark from 1991 to 2007.

The WHO chief said trans fat could eas­ily be replaced in baked foods, fry­ing oils, fried foods and solid fats, includ­ing mar­garine and veg­etable ghee.

Ghebreyesus added how high-oleic veg­etable oils should be the pri­mary alter­na­tive since they are health­ier, no more expen­sive and taste good too.”

In the WHO’s doc­u­ments about replac­ing trans fat, the orga­ni­za­tions’ authors listed veg­etable oils such as canola and rape­seed among the main alter­na­tives, fol­lowed by sun­flower, corn and soy­bean.

They explained that other health­ier oils, such as olive oil, are not con­sid­ered on a global scale as effi­cient replace­ments as they are not used exten­sively because of their lim­ited avail­abil­ity and high cost.”

According to International Olive Council data, global olive oil pro­duc­tion and con­sump­tion has reached about 3 mil­lion tons in the past few years. While these fig­ures have tripled in the last six decades, they rep­re­sent only a frac­tion of the global veg­etable oils vol­umes.

Figures released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that global veg­etable oil con­sump­tion reached almost 210 mil­lion tons and is pro­jected to exceed 246 mil­lion tons by 2029.

According to WHO, more than 100 coun­tries are still fail­ing to remove or decrease trans fat in their food sup­plies. As a result, the WHO esti­mates that approx­i­mately five bil­lion peo­ple are still exposed to the harm­ful effects of trans fats.

No progress has been made in some coun­tries where trans-fat-induced car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease is believed to hit the high­est: Australia, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Bhutan, Nepal and Ecuador.

The WHO has pro­posed two pol­icy alter­na­tives to its mem­ber coun­tries. The first is focused on lim­it­ing trans fat to a max­i­mum of two grams per 100 grams of total fats in food. The sec­ond is to ban the pro­duc­tion or use of par­tially hydro­genated oils, con­sid­ered the most rel­e­vant source of trans fat.

Ghebreyesus praised the 2019 deci­sion by the United States Food and Drug Administration, which labeled trans fats as an exces­sive risk to human health, which cre­ated a de facto ban.

To date, more than 40 coun­tries account­ing for more than one-third of the world’s pop­u­la­tion had imple­mented one of WHO’s best-prac­tice poli­cies on trans fat,” Ghebreyesus wrote.

A fur­ther 17 coun­tries, with an addi­tional 400 mil­lion peo­ple, are using less restric­tive poli­cies but are still on a good path towards imple­ment­ing WHO’s pack­age of rec­om­mended best prac­tices,” he added.

Among the progress being made, Ghebreyesus high­lighted the com­mit­ment of the International Food and Beverage Alliance to elim­i­nate trans fat from their mem­bers’ prod­ucts – includ­ing The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, Nestle, McDonald’s and Ferrero – by 2023.



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