The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a step-by-step guide—called REPLACE—to eliminate industrially produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply. WHO estimates that every year trans fat intake leads to more than 500,000 deaths of people from cardiovascular disease. Industrially produced trans fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods.
“WHO calls on governments to use the REPLACE action package to eliminate industrially produced trans-fatty acids from the food supply,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “Implementing the six strategic actions in the REPLACE package will help achieve the elimination of trans fat, and represent a major victory in the global fight against cardiovascular disease.”
REPLACE provides six strategic actions to ensure the prompt, complete, and sustained elimination of industrially produced trans fats from the food supply:
- REview dietary sources of industrially produced trans fats and the landscape for required policy change.
- Promote the replacement of industrially produced trans fats with healthier fats and oils.
- Legislate or enact regulatory actions to eliminate industrially produced trans fats.
- Assess and monitor trans fats content in the food supply and changes in trans fat consumption in the population.
- Create awareness of the negative health impact of trans fats among policy makers, producers, suppliers, and the public.
- Enforce compliance of policies and regulations.
Several countries have virtually eliminated industrially produced trans fats through legally imposed limits on the amount that can be contained in packaged food. In Denmark, the first country to mandate restrictions on industrially produced trans fats, the trans fat content of food products declined dramatically and cardiovascular disease deaths declined more quickly than in comparable Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Action is needed in low- and middle-income countries, where controls of use of industrially produced trans fats are often weaker, to ensure that the benefits are felt equally around the world.
Elimination of industrially produced trans fats from the global food supply has been identified as one of the priority targets of WHO’s strategic plan, the draft 13th General Program of Work (GPW13), which will guide the work of the organization from 2019 to 2023. GPW13 is on the agenda of the 71st World Health Assembly that will be held in Geneva on May 21–26. As part of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the global community has committed to reducing premature death from noncommunicable diseases by one-third by 2030. Global elimination of industrially produced trans fats can help achieve this goal.
Press release: http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/14-05-2018-who-plan-to-eliminate-industrially-produced-trans-fatty-acids-from-global-food-supply
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