AVOID TOXIC TRANS FAT IN FOODS

It Kills 500, 000 People Each Year, Exposes 4 Billion More to Health Risks

Consuming trans fats – found in everyday foods like cookies, cakes and pizza – can be deadly.

Industrially produced trans fat is commonly used in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils and spreads to increase their shelf life and flavour stability. Those benefits make it a popular ingredient in snack foods such as chips, crackers, cookies and candies; convenience foods such as frozen entrees and pizza; and fast foods such as french fries, onion rings and chicken nuggets.

Trans fats in the bloodstream can lead to blocked arteries, coronary heart disease and stroke. According to the WHO, trans fat intake is responsible for up to 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year around the world.

In 2018, the WHO called on countries to gradually wipe out trans fats by 2023. Though this target has not been fully met, as of 2023, a total of 53 countries had best practice policies in place for tackling industrial trans fat in food, the WHO recently reported.

“These policies have vastly improved the food environment for 3.7 billion people, or 46% of the world’s population, and could help save approximately 183,000 lives per year.” (WHO, 24 June 2024)

However, progress has been uneven, and “more than 4 billion people remain unprotected from this toxic chemical globally”, WHO warned.

Trans fat has no known nutritional benefits and there is no amount that is safe. It’s the worst type of fat you can eat – it raises “bad” cholesterol and also lowers “good” cholesterol. And it leads to early death. Avoid it completely.

How to spot it? Trans fats are stated on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil and are often present in: commercial baked goods (cakes, cookies and pies), shortening, microwave popcorn, frozen pizza, refrigerated dough (biscuits and rolls), fried foods (including french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken), non-dairy coffee creamer, and margarine.