Much more needs to be done to eliminate industrial trans fatty acids from the world diet. The objective of eliminating them by 2023, while they are used in many consumer foods, is very far from being achieved and five billion consumers are still not protected against these products dangerous to health. In its progress report, published on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) is forced to acknowledge that this “is unattainable at present”.
However, these trans fatty acids have “no known benefit and pose enormous health risks which entail gigantic costs for health systems”, recalls the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted in a communicated. And to urge to get rid “once and for all” of these “toxic chemicals that kill”.
Risks of heart disease
Today, only 43% of the world’s population benefits from some form of protection against these products, which the WHO estimates cause heart disease responsible for 500,000 deaths a year. Of the 60 countries that have planned some form of elimination of industrial trans fatty acids, only 43 have adopted best practices: either a mandatory limit so that they represent no more than 2% of oils and fats in all food products, or a ban on partially hydrogenated oils.
Industrial trans fatty acids are found in solidified vegetable fats, such as margarine and clarified butter (ghee), and are often found in snack foods, baked foods, and fried foods. Manufacturers use them because they have a longer shelf life and are less expensive than other greases.
” It should be forbidden “
“Frankly, when there are trans fatty acids, it kills people and it should be banned”, asserted during the press briefing Tom Frieden, former head of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and President of Resolve to Save Lives which fights in particular against cardiovascular diseases.
“There is simply no excuse for a country not to take action to protect its people from this man-made toxic chemical,” he said. “You can eliminate trans fatty acids without changing the cost, taste, or availability of great foods.” “You can’t see trans fatty acids in your diet. You don’t know they are there. If you have a heart attack and you die, you may not know who caused it,” he warned, saying his “optimism” that the world “can relegate the trans fatty acids to oblivion”.