As of last year, a total of 53 countries had put in place best practice policies to address industrial trans fats in food, significantly improving the food environment for 3.7 billion people, or 46 percent of the world’s population. world population, according to a progress report released on Monday by the UN World Health Organization.
This is significant progress compared to Figure of only six percent in 2018or less than half a billion people, while the ambitious goal of eliminating all trans fats from the global food supply by the end of 2023 was initially set by the WHO.
“Eliminating trans fats is achievable, affordable and life-savingand WHO remains committed to supporting Member States in their efforts towards this goal,” said Dr Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO.
Trans fats – or trans fatty acids – clog arteries, increasing the risk of heart attacks and death. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and more than 278,000 deaths per year can be attributed to the consumption of industrially produced trans fats, according to the health agency.
Given their negative effects on health, current progress could save around 183,000 lives per year. However, progress has been uneven, with the largest remaining burden concentrated in the WHO African and Western Pacific Regions. The new report summarizes the steps countries are taking to ban this toxic chemical and makes recommendations to achieve the global elimination of trans fats.
Best practices
Remarkable progress has been made in all regions of the world towards the WHO goal of total elimination of industrially produced trans fats. The chemicals are fatty acids found in many fried foods, baked goods, vegetable shortening and margarine.
In 2023 alone, new best practice policies came into effect in seven countries: Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, the Philippines, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
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In January 2024, WHO awarded five countries the Certificate of Validation for their progress in eliminating industrially produced trans fats: Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.
However, despite promising trends, progress has been uneven. More than four billion people worldwide remain unprotected from this toxic chemical, mainly in the WHO Africa and Western Pacific Regions.
Implementing best practice policies in just eight additional countries would eliminate 90 percent of global deaths associated with this harmful ingredient.
“Beyond adopting best practices recommended by the WHO for trans fat policies, it will be essential to ensure that compliance with these policies is monitored and enforced. to achieve maximized and lasting health benefits through the elimination of trans fats,” added Dr. Branca.
New commitments from WHO
The new WHO report helps continue the organization’s efforts toward the global elimination of trans fats. The report urges all countries to adopt best practice policies and to better monitor and enforce these policies so that more countries can become eligible for the WHO validation certificate.
The WHO is also calling on food manufacturers to eliminate the use of trans fats in their product lines and supply chains, even where regulations are not yet in place.
