World Health Organization Moves to Ban Trans-fats

May 18, 2018 – You would think this is a no-brainer when we understand the potential danger to human health represented by trans-fatty acids, invented by the food industry to extend food product shelf life. There is nothing natural about them. To produce trans fats hydrogen is added to vegetable oils. This process was first used with the creation of margarine, a butter substitute. Today, however, most quality margarine brands such as Becel no longer contain trans-fats. But if you are looking at the content labeling on the foods you eat, you won’t see trans-fats in the listing, but you might see partially hydrogenated vegetable oil which is the same thing.

If you are what you eat than trans-fats represent a persistent danger to you potentially contributing to coronary artery disease. More than 500,000 worldwide die because of trans-fats annually.

We know this.

The food industry knows this.

Yet despite the known danger many in the food industry continue to lobby consumer safety regulators to give them extended time periods to remove trans-fats from products. Some argue that replacement with alternatives adds costs that the consumer can ill afford to absorb. Others argue that shelf life will be impacted, or that product taste will be negatively affected.

With the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement this week, however, we may finally see a global end to trans-fats in foods. The WHO launched REPLACE, a step-by-step guide to eliminate trans-fats from the global food supply.

States WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “WHO calls on governments to use the REPLACE action package to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the food supply….Implementing the six strategic actions in the package will help  achieve the elimination of trans-fat, and represent a major victory in  the  global  fight against cardiovascular disease.”

REPLACE is an acronym for six strategic actions that will ensure the elimination of industrially-produced trans-fats from the food supply, hopefully, within the next decade. The letters stand for:

• REview dietary sources of industrially-produced trans-fats and required policy changes.
• Promotion of replacements with healthier fats and oils.
• Legislate or regulate to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fats.
• Assess and monitor trans-fat content in the food supply and changes in trans-fat consumption.
• Create public education and awareness of trans-fats negative impacts.
• Enforce compliance for policies and regulations.

Denmark was the first country to mandate restrictions on trans-fats in food products. The results have witnessed a dramatic decline in cardiovascular disease deaths in that country.

New York City has followed Denmark’s lead. WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases, Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City describes the impact of the trans-fats ban on his city stating it “helped reduce the number of heart attacks without changing the taste or cost of food.” He goes on to state that eliminating trans-fats around the world will save millions of lives. Bloomberg believes what is needed is an effort similar to the comprehensive approach to tobacco control to stop “preventable death.”

The WHO program against trans-fats is tied to the United Nations’ decade-long initiative focused on nutrition and healthy food systems aimed at not just eliminating hunger but also ensuring a healthier human population.

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