Five billion people unprotected from trans fats that lead to heart disease

Since the WHO first called for the global elimination of industrially produced trans fats in 2018 – with an elimination target set for 2023 – population coverage of best practice policies has increased nearly sixfold. Forty-three countries have now implemented best practice policies to address trans fats in food, with 2.8 billion people protected worldwide.

Despite significant progress, this still leaves 5 billion worldwide at risk of the devastating health effects of trans fats, and the global target for their complete elimination by 2023 remains elusive at this time.

Industrially produced trans fats (also called industrially produced trans fatty acids) are often found in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils and spreads. Trans fat intake is responsible for up to 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year worldwide.

“Trans fats have no known benefit and are major health risks that cause enormous costs to health systems,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “In contrast, eliminating trans fat is cost-effective and has enormous health benefits. Simply put, trans fat is a toxic, killing chemical that should have no place in food. It’s time to get rid of him once and for all.”

Currently, 9 of the 16 countries with the highest estimated proportion of coronary heart disease deaths attributable to trans fat intake do not have best practice policies. These are Australia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic), Nepal, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea.

Best practices in trans fat elimination policies follow specific criteria established by the WHO and limit industrially produced trans fats in all settings. There are two best practice policy alternatives: 1) a mandatory national limit of 2 grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods; and 2) a mandatory national ban on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils (the main source of trans fats) as an ingredient in all foods.

“Progress in eliminating trans fat is in danger of stalling, and trans fat continues to kill people,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives. “Every government can stop these preventable deaths by adopting best practice policies now. The days of trans fats killing people are numbered – but governments must act to end this preventable tragedy.”

While most trans fat elimination policies to date have been implemented in higher-income countries (mainly the Americas and Europe), a growing number of middle-income countries are implementing or adopting such policies, including Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Ukraine. Best practice policies are also being considered in Mexico, Nigeria and Sri Lanka in 2023. If adopted, Nigeria would be the second and most populous country in Africa to introduce a policy to eliminate trans fat as a best practice. No low-income country has yet adopted a best-practice policy to eliminate trans fat.

In 2023, WHO recommends that countries focus on these four areas: adoption best practice policy, monitoring and supervision, healthy oil replacements and advocacy. WHO guidelines was developed to help countries make rapid progress in these areas.

WHO is also encouraging food manufacturers to eliminate industrially produced trans fats from their products, in line with the commitment made by the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA). Major suppliers of oils and fats are being asked to remove industrially produced trans fats from products sold to food manufacturers worldwide.

The report, the so-called Countdown to 2023 WHO Report on the Global Elimination of Trans Fats 2022is an annual status report published by WHO in collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, to track progress towards the goal of eliminating trans fat by 2023.

For editors:

The World Health Organization has partnered with Resolve to Save Lives, a non-profit organization, to support development and implementation Action package REPLACEMENT. Launched in 2018, WHO’s REPLACE Action Package provides a strategic approach to removing industrially produced trans fat from national food supplies.

Since 2017 Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported Resolve to Save Lives’ global efforts to save lives from cardiovascular disease.

To learn more, visit: https://www.resolvetosavelives.org or Twitter @ResolveTSL