GENEVA, Jan 24 (EW):Pakistan is among the countries where industrially-produced trans fat still poses a risk to a large number of the population the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report on Monday.
The report said that five billion people in the world remain unprotected from harmful trans fat, increasing their risk of heart disease and death.
The WHO in 2018 called for the global elimination of industrially produced trans fat by 2023. These fats are thought to be responsible for around 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart diseases annually. The body noted in an annual progress report that the goal was still out of sight.
The global health body said although 43 countries with a combined population of 2.8 billion people have now implemented best-practice policies, most of the world still remains unprotected, adding that nine of the 16 countries that were estimated to have the highest proportion of coronary heart disease deaths due to trans fat intake were not implementing best-practice policies. These include Australia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Nepal and South Korea.
Best-practice policies against trans fat
The WHO urged the countries to take immediate measures to implement the best-practice policies with regard to trans fat intake. Best practice infers either a mandatory national limit of two grams of industrially-produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods; or a national ban on producing or using partially-hydrogenated oils, which are a major source of trans fat.
The WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “trans fat has no known benefit, and huge health risks that incur huge costs for health systems.” By contrast, eliminating them is cost-effective and has numerous health benefits, he added.
“Put simply, trans fat is a toxic chemical that kills and should not be a part of food. It’s time to get rid of it once and for all,” he added.
Francesco Branca, the global body’s nutrition and food safety director, told reporters that policies to eliminate trans fat were in place in 60 countries, covering 3.4 billion people or 43 per cent of the world’s population.
