The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed in a new report that billions of people around the world remain unprotected by policies that eliminate trans fats, which increase the risk of heart disease and death.
“Although many countries have applied best practices to deal with trans fats in food, we are far from reaching the goal of its total elimination in 2023,” they maintain from the United Nations health agency.
In 2018, the WHO already designated the elimination of trans fatty acids (TFA) as one of its priority objectives, calling for their global elimination by 2023. Since then, the WHO has supported the actions of countries and has even established a live policy monitoring map to monitor global progress in this regard.
As they have reported, countries “are responding” to the call made in 2018 and, currently, there are policies against trans fats for 3.4 billion people in 60 countries (43% of the world population); Of these, 43 countries have good practice policies, covering 2.8 billion people.
Denmark, the first country
The first country to lead the elimination of trans fats was Denmark, where a decrease in cardiovascular disease has already been noted. In the rest of Europe, the regulations came into force in April 2021, so it is still early to assess its effect on the health of the population.
“However, five billion people still live in countries where they are not protected against these trans fats,” he warned at a press conference andl doctor Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global nonprofit initiative funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Some of the 16 countries of most concern to the WHO are Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Egypt, South Korea, Mexico and Argentina, as no action is being taken.
unhealthy diets
“Addressing unhealthy diets, which are responsible for 8 million deaths worldwide each year, must be a key element in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases,” they reiterate in the WHO report. As the document reads, policies to phase out industrially produced TFA are relatively simple to implement and can save lives and economies. “There are healthier oils and fats to replace TFA, and companies around the world already use them,” they state.
Thus, the WHO points out that the elimination of TFA has increased in recent years, but in the last “Notable progress has been seen.” As we approach the 2023 deadline, there is an urgent need for action by country policy makers, influencers, industry stakeholders and advocates.
The WHO plan
Throughout this year, the WHO recommends that countries focus on different areas of action. First, in the development and implementation of best practice policies to set or prohibit AGT limits; then, investing in monitoring and surveillance mechanisms, such as laboratories with the capacity to measure the TFA content in food; also in discuss alternative oils and fats and specific replacement techniques for trans fats, and, finally, in promoting a road map, advocating for regional or sub-regional regulations to expand the benefits in this area.
As it is, the WHO expects the food and drink industry groups to honor the commitments they have made to eliminate TFA, and that the main suppliers of oils and fats follow the pioneering strategy of the American multinational Cargill to remove industrially produced TFA from products sold to food manufacturers globally.
“We are approaching a tipping point to achieve the goal that by 2023 it will mean the global elimination of industrial products with trans fats, the first opportunity to remove a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases”, they express in the document. For Dr. Frieden, “there is no excuse to protect people from this artificial toxin”.