Trans fat still widely consumed – WHO

Five billion people worldwide are still exposed to harmful trans fats, the World Health Organization has warned.

In a new status report, they state that 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.

These countries are Australia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Republic of Korea.

The WHO called for the global elimination of industrially produced trans fat in 2018, and set an elimination target for 2023.

Industrially produced trans fats can be found in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils and spreads.

WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “Trans fat has no known benefit, and huge health risks that incur huge costs for health systems. By contrast, eliminating trans fat is cost effective and has enormous benefits for health.

"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.”

So far, 43 countries have implemented best-practice policies for tackling trans fat in food, meaning 2.8 billion people protected globally. This represents a six-fold increase in the population coverage of such policies.

WHO estimates that trans fat is responsible for up to 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year. They are working with the not-for-profit organisation, Resolve to Save Lives, to implement the ‘REPLACE’ action package to eliminate trans fat from national food supplies.

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