Articles

Trans fats: chasing a global ban - they have been repeatedly called the "low hanging fruit" in global prevention of cardiovascular disease. But will this month's New York health summit deliver the goods and help remove damaging trans fats from the world food chain? Rebecca Coombes reports for the British Medical Journal, 7 September 2011.
Scientists unlock how trans fats harm arteries - Food Navigator reports, 3 November 2010: "The method by which dietary trans fats cause hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) may have been identified by a new study on mice fed a high trans fat diet. The research paper, published in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, suggests that high levels of trans fats cause atherosclerosis by reducing the responsiveness of a key protein that controls growth and differentiation in cells. The protein, known as transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, plays an important role in immunity and the development of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. "
Andrew Lansley argues against trans fat ban - the Tory / Lib-Dem government signals no intention to ban trans fats - but the door is still open for change. Article for the tfX website, 2 July 2010.
They kill 7,000 people a year, but trans fats won′t be banned - Sean Poulter writes in the Daily Mail, 1 July 2010. "Official health watchdog NICE has called for a veto on the killer fats, which are blamed for high cholesterol in the blood, clogged arteries and heart attacks. However Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has decided to reject the advice and sided with the food industry - which argues a ban is unnecessary ... "
They were supposed to have been banished from the shelves, but lethal fats are STILL lurking in your weekly shopping - Alex Renton writes in the Daily Mail, 1 July 2010. "The shopping bag is tipped out on to the kitchen table and it's every parent's nightmare. Contained in the food that tumbles out are enough artificial additives to make any nutritionist feel ill. And, most shockingly, every one of the labels on the packets - bought in major High Street shops - contains an ingredient I have investigated over the years, and hoped I would never see again: 'hydrogenated vegetable oil' ... "
Trans fats should be banned from all UK sold food, urge doctors - Up to 7,000 lives a year could be saved and 11,000 heart attacks avoided if unhealthy fats were outlawed, The Guardian reports, Friday 16 April 2010. By Denis Campbell, health correspondent.
Removing industrial trans fat from foods: a simple policy that will save lives - Editorial in the British Medical Journal. putting the case for a ban on trans fats as a simple, low cost, effective public health measure. By Dariush Mozaffarian, assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology, and Meir J Stampfer, professor of medicine and epidemiology, at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. Published in BMJ 2010;340:c1826, 15 April 2010.
Alzheimer′s can be prevented - writing for the Guardian's 'Comment is free', tfX founder Oliver Tickell makes the case for lifestyle oriented action and research to reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease, which now affects 820,000 people and costs the nation £23 billion per year. A key part of the action plan? You guessed it, a ban on industrial trans fats. Published 3 February 2010.
Call to ban man-made fat - NHS Choices picks up on the UK Faculty of Public Health call for a ban on trans fats. "The proposal came as part of a series of recommendations designed to improved UK health over the next decade. The call to completely remove trans fats from the British diet echoes bans in Denmark and parts of the US and Canada."
Why trans fats should be banned - by Alan Maryon-Davis, published in The Guardian 18 January 2010. "Most of us have at least a rough idea about the so-called bad fats and good fats in our diet ... But few have heard of industrially produced trans fatty acids, or trans fats, even though they are much more damaging to our heart and arteries than saturated fats. Trans fats are very bad fats. There is no safe level. They are not essential as an ingredient. And yet they are present in a wide range of foods, especially fast foods and takeaways. ... "
Doctors demand ban on man-made trans fats - published in the Guardian, 18 January 2010. "The UK Faculty of Public Health is urging ministers to eradicate artificial trans fatty acids, known as trans fats, from the British diet. The move is needed to reduce people's risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke, says the faculty, which represents 3,300 doctors and public health specialists in the NHS, local government and medical research."
The rise and fall of trans fat: is the battle won? - Caitlyn Donaldson, Managing Editor of Perspectives in Public Health (the magazine of the Royal Society for Public Health), reviews the state of trans fat regulation and concludes that "Cardiovascular disease is a huge killer worldwide, and it seems a real missed opportunity not to make concerted efforts globally to reduce trans fat in food. It is too soon to claim that the trans fat issue has been dealt with - and focus now needs to turn to the developing world where, in many cases, trans fats have not yet even made it onto the health agenda." Published in Perspectives in Public Health 129(2):57-58, March 2009. (.pdf file, 100KB)
Britain goes trans-free! - well, almost. This report follows an FSA meeting of 29/10/08 in which most of the UK food industry reported the exclusion of trans fats from their products. Which is great. However risks remain in the unpackaged food sectors, since there is still no legal ban - and ignorant or unscrupulous purveyors are still free to poison us.
Deadly fats: why are we still eating them? - Hydrogenated vegetable oil has been banned in two European countries but not ours. Andrew Collier investigates in The Independent, Tuesday 10 June 2008. This article reviews the recent book by Maggie Stansfield, Trans-Fat: The Time Bomb in Your Food. What it fails to say is that thanks to voluntary action by the food industry and supermarkets there is actually very little trans fat in the UK diet. However the call for Europe-wide limits on trans fats is welcome and timely.
Nitrites and Cancer - this article in The Ecologist (9 June 2008) by tfX founder Oliver Tickell raises important health concerns about whether routine pollution of our water supplies may be behind the high rate of cancer mortality in developed and industrialising countries.
Trans fat: the Danish example - the people behind Denmark's trans fat ban examine premature preventable deaths in EU countries due to high intakes of industrially produced Trans fat, and ask: what action should be taken? by Steen Stender and Jørn Dyerberg Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Gentofte University Hospital, Copenhagen, and Arne Astrup, Department of Human Nutrition, Centre of Advanced Food Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen. Article published in NHD magazine, September 2007.
Alzheimer′s - the case for prevention article by tfX founder Oliver Tickell published in The Ecologist magazine, September 2007. We publish this uncut version complete with scientific references on the tfX website to dispel possible misunderstandings and to assist researchers wishing to follow look up the original papers. See here for The Ecologist's version.
Alzheimer's - the case for prevention - are we losing our minds? And could something as simple and inexpensive as diet and lifestyle prevent it from happening? Yes, says tfX founder Oliver Tickell. One of the many measures is to cut trans fats out of the diet. Article published in The Ecologist magazine, September 2007.
Check the Oil, Please - Matt Elmore of Barcelona Metropolitan examines the trans fat issue in the Catalan context.
S. Korean children's trans fat consumption higher than adults. "According to a recent study by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA), the average daily consumption of trans fats among 916 children between the ages of five and 12 stood at 0.36 grams, while the figure among 781 adults aged 20-77 was 0.18 grams. The figure for those aged between 13 to 19 was the highest, at 0.48 grams, the study showed." Seoul, Jan. 23 (Yonhap News).
Food fats threaten women's fertility by Julie Wheldon, this story took the front page splash in the Daily Mail of 19 January 2007. "Fats hidden in thousands of foods can harm a woman's chance of having a baby, scientists said yesterday. They can increase the risk of fertility problems by 70 per cent or more ... Nutrition campaigners [tfX] said the research provided ‘considerable new weight and urgency' for trans fats to be banned."
Killer fats to be banned from food - the Government is considering a ban on trans fats, unnamed sources in the FSA and the Dept of Health reveal to Scotland on Sunday. Published 14 January 2007.
Trans fats news feed from Just-Food.com. Note that you have to register (free) with just-food.com to read the full articles.
Grease is the word - excellent feature article by Alex Renton in the Guardian, 27 September 2006. "The brick of vegetable fat is tacky to the touch, grey-white and translucent - like the skin on a corpse, I think, but this is unscientific. We are here to test the semi-solid vegetable fat Cookeen against butter and we must be objective. But the butter looks so much prettier on the baker's rolling board: its genteel yellow makes you think of primroses ... "
Eschew the fat - article on the Government's mysterious failure to regulate trans fats in our food, by by tfX's Oliver Tickell. Published on the Guardian's "Comment is Free" website, 5 July 2006.
Panel recommends limits on trans fats in processed foods - CBS article, 28 June 2006. Excellent news, except that the limits proposed are too high: 2% of fat in spreads, 5% for other products. If Denmark has managed 2% since 2004, why is Canada only aspiring to 5%? Canadians are among the world's top consumers of trans fat: average intake is 10g / day, with 45% of fat as trans in many baked goods. See the official report at TRANSforming the Food Supply.
Trans fats: FAQs (Canada) - a summary of the position in Canada by CBC, or 28 June 2006.
Overfed and Undernourished: the Plight of UK Children Today - In the face of the UK's unfolding child nutrition disaster, Jennifer Swift argues the case for serious regulation of our children's food and how it is advertised, including a ban on industrial trans fats. Published in the Church Times, 23 June 2006.
New soybean oil may add texture in formulations free of trans fat - article in Baking Business about a new variety of soybean developed at Iowa State University with 50 percent oleic acid and just 1 percent linolenic acid, making an oil that is stable in food service without hydrogenation.
Trans Fat Leads To Weight Gain Even on Same Total Calories - The "apple" body shape that increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease may be accelerated by eating trans fat such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, according to new animal research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Story on Newswise.
Unhealthy fats make you a biscuit barrel - for the potbellied there is a new excuse. It is not the beer, it's the biscuits. A study has found that the "hydrogenated", or processed, fats used to cut manufacturing costs of foods such as biscuits and cakes can alter body shape, leading to potbellies. By Jonathan Leake and Will Iredale, the Sunday Times, 11 June 2006.
Why Danish frites are better than French ones - Report in European Voice 4 May 2006, by Nina Teicholz: "a Danish study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 12 April reveals that average consumption ignores a sizeable percentage of the population eating trans fats in dangerous doses. A daily intake of 5g of trans fats increases risk of heart disease from 4 percent to 28 percent ..."
Europe must address trans fats, article by Anthony Fletcher published in foodnavigator.com, about the tfX call for a ban on trans fats. See also other related articles on the website.
Forced to own up to the killer fat in our food, published in Scotland on Sunday, 5 February 2006. By Health Correspondent Richard Gray. All about the FSA's decision to support trans fat labelling as in USA.
The surprising truth about saturated fats by Cherie Calbom, MS. "drastically reducing saturated fats from the modern diet has not solved our health problems. Obesity is at an all-time high as is heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke. The doctrine of low-fat eating has lost credibility. In fact, quality saturated fats are important for good health. It's time to revisit what changed in the American diet and precipitated a sudden rise in heart disease ... ". From the PCC Sound Consumer archive, February 2006.
The inner life of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil - article by Giles Whittell about hydrogenated oil and trans fats. Written for The Times in December 2006.
M&S ban trans fats - article by Dr Mark Porter in London's Evening Standard of 25 November 2005.
M&S bans man-made fats from foods as health fears increase - article in the Sunday Times of 21 November 2005.
A Rare Steak a Day Keeps the Cardiologist Away by Chris Masterjohn. "One of the main casualties of what we might call the Public Health-Industrial Complex's war on cholesterol has been a molecule called 'coenzyme Q10' (CoQ10). Among its many benefits and functions, coenzyme Q10 is a powerful protector of the heart and blood vessels. CoQ10 is found primarily in red meats, especially organ meats like liver and heart, and is heat-sensitive, destroyed by overcooking. The anti-cholesterol campaign of the government and its associated medical cartels has assaulted the population's CoQ10 status first through dietary recommendations, and now through the expanding use of CoQ10-lowering drugs, more popularly called 'cholesterol-lowering' statins."
Deadly Immunity by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. investigates the US government's cover-up of the link between thimerosal, a preservative for vaccines based on the neurotoxin ethyl mercury, and autism and other neurological disorders. Nothing to do with trans fats - but a powerful illustration of how "democratic" processes can be captured by powerful corporate interests with total disregard for the lives and health of ordinary people. Now does that sound familiar? Published in Rolling Stone. Updated, corrected version of 20 June 2005.
Fats, Oils, Fatty Acids, Triglycerides - Chemical Structure - a large amount of useful information here on fats, lipids and related themes in this excellent 3-part article.
Trans fat - article on the Explore Chemistry website with useful fats about trans fats.
The killer in your cupboard - They can cause heart attacks and diabetes, yet most of us know nothing about them - let alone how to avoid them. Catherine Nixey lifts the lid on trans fats. The Independent, 22 February 2005.
Co-op bid to expose 'stealth fats' - article in the Evening News, 9 February 2005.
Call to cut unhealthy fat in food - the BBC reports on the Which report on trans fats of 7 October 2004. Click here to see the report itself.
Hydrogenated oils are silent killers - article by David Lawrence Dewey, first written in 1998, updated in August 2004. Useful information about the links between trans fats and disease, including diabetes and cancer.
Face the fats - article highlighting the dangers of trans fats by tfX founder Oliver Tickell. Daily Express Health Section, 27 July 2004.
Digestives have 'killer fat' removed - the Daily Mail reports on the decision by McVities (part of the United Biscuits combine) to remove hydrogenated fats from many of their biscuits.
Solid evidence - hydrogenated fat is found in many cakes, pastries and ready meals, but has a nutritional dark side. So why is it there? Alok Jha reports. The Guardian, May 15 2004.
Interesting article on the qualities of Palm Oil by Black Herbals.
Statement on Palm Oil to WHO by Nevin S. Scrimshaw, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, President, International Nutrition Foundation, Senior Advisor, Food and Nutrition Program, United Nations University. Dr Scrimshaw shows that the saturated fats in palm oil behave like unsaturated vegetable fats in terms of their health qualities.
The margarine hoax - margarine, fatty acids and your health. By Dr Dane Roubos, B.Sc., D.C., D.A.B.C.I., 1997.
1% linolenic soybean oil - The State University of Iowa has developed developed soybeans with a very low linolenic acid content - the fatty acid that causes rancidity. This oil therefore has good keeping qualities without needing to be hydrogenated. "Most soybean varieties produce oil with 7 percent linolenic acid. Linolenic acid causes foods to become stale or rancid. These new varieties produce oil with only 1 percent linolenic acid... ".
The Human Brain - excellent article about the role of fats in the brain, the essential role of omega-3 fatty acids, and the damage caused by trans fats. By the Franklin Institute Online (no named authors).
There’s a new bad fat out there that attacks the heart and the brain - yet we eat it every day, says Amanda Ursell - originally for the Sunday Times Style section, reproduced by Big Barn.
Biotech industry targets 'deadly' trans fat in foods. Published in USA Today, October 26 2003.
FDA requires trans-fat labelling - article from Food Magazine, 22 October 2003. Interesting article about the US trans fat labelling regulations with some UK-specific information - for example, that 12,000 deaths per year in the UK may be resulting from trans fat consumption.
Call to remove 'danger' fats from food - the Daily Mail reports that "Reducing the amount of 'trans fats' in the nation's diets by just a small amount could help cut heart disease deaths by almost a quarter". Based on research published in Health Which?
The Health Which article on trans fats of October 2003 - made publicly available by the Ban Trans Fats campaign.
Trans Fat Translation - a useful guide to trans fats and their chemistry from the Washington Post - maybe a bit techie for some.
The Secret of Trans Fat. By Kevin Kolodziejski. Explains how the US food industry has exploited weaknesses in food labelling laws to disguise the presence of trans fat in their products.
Health Issues and Trans Fat. By Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., F.A.C.N. Director, Nutritional Sciences Division Enig Associates, Inc. Written July 18, 2003.
Trans Fats: Metabolic Poisons - a long article by by Eric Armstrong explaining why trans fats are so bad for you. This article is particularly worthwhile for its discussion of how trans fats interfere with you body chemistry, lipid function and cell wall composition.
Denmark Sets Limits For Trans Fatty Acids. And the limits are considered by the food industry to be so low that trans fats are, in effect, banned in Denmark. If they can do it, why can't we?
The great Con-ola - fascinating article about how canola oil - known in the UK as rapeseed oil, and often sold simply as "vegetable oil" - is not as good for you as you are told. It contains residues of industrial solvents such as hexane. Many of the good omega-3 fatty acids it contains are oxidised - made rancid - in high-temperature processing, then cleaned up by hydrogenation and converted to trans fat... Originally published in Nexus Magazine, August / September 2002.
And You Think Saturated Is Bad... - From The John Hopkins Medical Letter: Health After 50, March 2002.
Hidden killer - It's trans fat. It's dangerous. And it's in food you eat every day. Article from San Francisco Chronicle, 30 January 2002. Links trans fats with "Syndrome X" - a collection of health problems ultimately linked to cells' inability to process insulin; also called metabolic syndrome or, more commonly, beer belly syndrome, the prevalence of the condition has increased along with the amount of refined foods and partially hydrogenated oil Americans eat.
The impact of essential fatty acids on the brain - an informative review article of this important topic by by Rashid A. Buttar and Andrew Halpner from the International Journal of Integrative Medicine Vol 3 No 2, August / September 2001. Complete with refs to scientific papers.
Trans-Fat Harder on Arteries than Saturated Fat - "French fries might be healthier if cooked in saturated fat instead of the hydrogenated vegetable oils that are typically used, say researchers reporting in the July issue of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association... ".
The good trans fat - article in Science News about health-promoting Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), a naturally-occuring type of trans fat found in butter and meat -0 not to be confused with the damaging trans fats formed synthetically during hydrogenation. 3 March 2001.
The Soft Science of Dietary Fat - by Gary Taubes. Mainstream nutritional science has demonized dietary fat, yet 50 years and hundreds of millions of dollars of research have failed to prove that eating a low-fat diet will help you live longer. This article won the 2001 Science in Society Journalism Awards awarded by the National Association of Science Writers.
Fatty Acid Requirements for Women - article by Mary Enig, emphasising the need for women, especially when pregnant or breast-feeding, to eat plenty of esential fatty acids.
Health Risks from Processed Foods and The Dangers of Trans Fats - Dr. Mary Enig interviewed by Richard A Passwater. Dr Enig was one of the main scientists who warned of the dangers of trans fats in the human diet.
Before You Swap Butter for Margarine - summarising the work of Prof. Chen Zhen Yu of the Department of Biochemistry of The Chinese University, Hong Kong, in determining the effect of dietary trans fat on human breast milk.
Butter vs Margarine: A look at "trans fatty acids":, by Low Carb Luxury.
The oiling of America - from Nexus Magazine, Volume 6, Number 1 (December 1998 - March 1999). A major article by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon first published in Nexus Magazine, December 1998 - March 1999."Modern-day diets high in hydrogenated vegetable oils instead of traditional animal fats are implicated in causing a significant increase in heart disease and cancer ..."
Avoid hydrogenates like the plague - article by Jonathan Christie, extracted from his book Foods for Vitality (Bantam, April 1992). He writes, "The day that I put together graphs of heart attacks and margarine consumption in America and saw how closely the curves matched (click here), I threw out all the margarine in my fridge! ... ". Also much info on the role of hydrogenates in inhibiting uptake of essential fatty acids.