Measures against the presence of trans fats in foods, related to a higher risk of heart attack, are advancing in the world, but at a slow pace, which has led to the failure to meet the objective of eliminating this ingredient from the diet. food chain at the end of 2023.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized it today, announcing that it is granting the first certificates that validate the progress of five countries to eliminate the production of industrial trans fats (unsaturated fatty acids).
The winners (Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Thailand) are countries with small and medium demographic weight on a global scale, which explains why more than half of the world’s population remains unprotected – from a policy point of view. public – against the harmful impacts of trans fats, which increase the probability of death from heart diseases.
The WHO said the five award-winning countries have demonstrated that they have best practices for the elimination of trans fats and that these are complemented by rigorous monitoring and compliance systems.
Seven other countries (Egypt, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria, North Macedonia, the Philippines and Ukraine) also received recognition from the WHO for the good practices they are implementing in this area, although they still have a way to go to reach the level of the award-winning countries.
Trans fats are solid or semi-solid fats present in a variety of industrial foods, such as fried foods, pastries, cakes and ready meals, which are often high in salt, sugar and fat.
According to the WHO, a total of 53 countries have policies to address trans fats in food, which means a considerable improvement in the diet of 3.7 billion people, that is, 46% of the world’s population, compared to the 6% from just five years ago.
These efforts by the States would save about 183,000 lives per year, according to calculations by expert entities.
The WHO proposes two suitable practices to eliminate trans fats. The first involves the adoption of national provisions that limit trans fats to 2 grams per 100 grams of fat in general in foods.
The alternative is for countries to ban the production and use of partially hydrogenated or hydrolyzed oils, which are the largest source of unsaturated fatty acids.
The WHO maintains contacts with the food industry, in particular with producers of raw materials and finished foods to discourage them from removing that ingredient from their products.
In these circumstances, the WHO indicated that it has reviewed its objective and now aims at the global elimination of Trans fat in 2025.
The measure of success will be that good practices in this regard have been adopted by a number of countries that together represent 90% of the global population.
Source: Gestion
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