Be alert to transfatty acids

According to Countdown to 2023: WHO report on global transfat elimination 2022, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Jan 23, 2023, a total of five billion people worldwide are facing increased risk of heart disease and death caused by transfatty acids (also known as trans fat).

 

In 2018, the WHO called for the elimination of industrially produced transfat for the first time, and set the goal of achieving a global ban on transfatty acids by the end of 2023.

 

Transfatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids.

 

Transfatty acids come from:

 

1. The bio-transformation of bacteria in a ruminant’s rumen;

 

2. An industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil to convert the liquid into solid, resulting in partially hydrogenated oil (for the production of margarine and vegetable shortening);

 

3. Refining and deodorizing process of vegetable oil or fish oil with high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids;

 

4. High oil temperature (>220 ℃)during cooking.

 

The transfatty acids that the WHO has called to eliminate are the industrial type, which usually exists in baked and fried foods.

 

Transfatty acids increase low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and reduce high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, excessive intake of which will increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

 

Studies show that intake of transfatty acids from dry hydrogenated vegetable oil can increase the risk of coronary heart disease by 16 percent. For example, if women reduce their intake of transfatty acids to 2 percent of total energy intake, the risk of coronary heart disease can be reduced by 53 percent.

 

Excessive intake of transfatty acids also increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. According to the WHO, 500,000 people worldwide die from coronary heart disease every year due to excessive intake of trans-fatty acids.

 

Transfatty acids also interfere with the metabolism of essential fatty acids, which may affect the growth and development of children and the health of the nervous system.

 

 

The WHO recommends that the daily intake of trans fatty acids should not exceed 1 percent of the total energy intake. The Chinese Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022) and the Reference Intake of Dietary Nutrients for Chinese Residents (2013) suggest that the maximum daily intake of industrially produced transfatty acids for children (over 2 years old) and adults in China should be 1 percent of the total dietary energy, or about 2 grams.

 

 

In order to reduce the amount of industrially produced transfatty acids, the WHO has put forward two policy recommendations: first, each country should impose a mandatory 2-gram limit on the amount of industrially produced trans fat for every 100 grams of total fat in any food; second, each country should prohibit the production or use of partially hydrogenated oil (the main source of trans fat) as an ingredient in any food.

 

For us consumers, we can reduce our intake of transfatty acids in the following ways:

 

1. Reduce the use of frying and other high-temperature cooking methods.

 

2. Eat less fried food, such as fried cakes, fried chicken, fried dough twists, youbing (deep-fried round and flat dough-cake), fried meatballs and fried spring rolls (a traditional Chinese food).

 

3. Eat less processed food containing trans fatty acids, such as biscuits, cream cakes, pies, puffed foods.

 

4. Read the nutrition facts and ingredients labels, and select processed foods without transfatty acids. The following names in the ingredient list may indicate trans-fatty acids content: refined vegetable oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, hydrogenated palm oil, hydrogenated fat, margarine, vegetable butter, creamer, vegetable shortening, vegetable fat powder, cocoa butter substitute, solid vegetable oil.

 

The General Standards for the Nutrition Label of Pre-packaged Food in China (GB28050-2011) stipulates that if hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oil is included in ingredients or used in the food production process, the content of transfats should be indicated in the nutrition label.

 

When the content of transfatty acids is less than 0.3 q/100g or 100mL, it can be marked as 0g in the nutrition label. Therefore, if you consume large quantities of food like this, it may lead to excessive intake of transfatty acids.