EU - petition to ban trans fats
On World Health Day 2008 the Major of Nynäshamn (Sweden) launched an EU trans fat petition, aiming to raise one million signatures in order to make the European Union act against trans fats in foods.
Government to regulate trans fats?
The BBC reports on TV, radio and website that "The government is also due to ask the Food Standards Agency to probe the use of unhealthy 'trans-fats', which have been linked to coronary heart disease, in fast food." See the BBC website article Obesity 'as bad as climate risk' , of 14 October 2007.
Preventing Alzheimer's
tfX campaign founder Oliver Tickell sets out the case for preventing Alzheimer's Disease by simple changes in diet, nutrition and lifestyle, including cutting trans fats. Published in The Ecologist magazine, September 2007: Alzheimer's - the case for prevention (original version)or edited version on The Ecologist website.
Euro-MEPs declare war on trans fats
with a tfX-supported Declaration calling on the Commission to require trans fat labelling, drop its legal action against Denmark's ban, and introduce its own measures to restrict trans fats in Europe's food supply. More ...
UK Trans fat ban on the way?
Scotland on Sunday reports that the Government is to ban trans fats, quoting unnamed sources in the FSA and the DoH. Deadly artificial fats found in hundreds of foods are set to be made illegal under a government plan aimed at saving thousands of lives each year in the UK ... Talks are under way between the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health on measures leading up to a ban ... A senior Department of Health source said: "... the government is prepared to look at all proactive options leading up to a total ban." We hope it's true but they haven't told us about it!
McDonalds to go low-trans
McDonalds is to switch to low-trans frying oils made from high-oleic acid varieties of UK-grown rapeseed. The company expects to roll out the new oil, which contains 2% or less trans fatty acids, into all its 1,200 outlets by late 2007. McDonalds is the first fast food chain in the UK to commit to such a move.
Big 4 announce "no HVO" timetable
Four major UK retailers have promised to get all hydrogenated vegetable oil out of their own-brand products by 1 January 2007: Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Marks & Spencer. Waitrose has also committed to remove HVOs. It is making good progress but has yet to set a deadline. The Co-op has promised to label trans fats on its own brand products but is lagging behind other retailers in removing their main dietary source, hydrogenated oil.
BMJ editorial calls for trans labelling
See the original article, Trans fatty acids and coronary heart disease, and the tfX response in which we argue that labelling alone is not enough - unpackaged foods like pub meals, bakery food and take-aways will escape the need to label; and what about people who ignore labels, and their children?
Why won't the Government regulate trans fats?
So asks tfX founder Oliver Tickell in Eschew the fat, published on the Guardian's influential "Comment is Free" website, 5 July 2006.
Trans link to weight gain, insulin resistance
Strong scientific evidence has emerged in a US animal study showing that eating trans fat predisposes to weight gain disproportionate to the number of calories, that the weight gain is mainly on the abdomen, and accompanied by insulin resistance. We have two accounts of this research, from the Sunday Times and from the Newswise news agency, as well as the original research abstract, Trans Fat Diet Induces Insulin Resistance in Monkeys.
School food - make it trans-free!
Just why does is the School Food Trust so reluctant to say anything about trans fats and hydrogenated oil? Could it be because over half of its Board members are part of, or close to, the UK food and catering industry?
Action: Write to the School Food Trust and ask ...
The Department for Education & Skills says it wants to make school meals healthier. But its consultation paper Turning the Tables: Transforming School Food ignores the role of trans fats in causing severe health problems. In fact, it only recognises the existence of saturated and unsaturated fats - and thinks that all fats are bad.
Action: Demand Government action to remove hydrogenated oil and trans fats from school food. See the Campaign for trans-free school meals.
Britain goes trans-free!
tfX campaign declares "success"
The British Retail Consortium which represents all Britain's major retailers (85 percent by sales volume) said that its members how now reduced the number of "problem foods" with appreciable levels of trans fat from almost 6,000 to just 26, and those will all be trans free by 2008. Typical trans content in oils and fats is now well below 1 percent in all but a tiny minority of cases, and typically 0.3 to 0.5 percent. All the major branded products, even imports, are now very low in trans - even if hydrogenated oil is present, for example in Unilever and Nestle products, it will be fully hydrogenated and not present a trans fat hazard.
This means that the UK as a whole is now operating well within the limits that apply by law in Denmark, where there is a legal limit of 2 percent industrial trans fat in the fat content of food. Even people with poor diets who eat loads of cakes, takeaways and other products that used to be high in trans will now have serious trouble getting enough trans fat to damage their health - and will suffer much more from excess calories, salt and sugar than from any residual trans fat.
The main problem area flagged up was the 'value supermarket' sector (not the UK supermarkets' 'value' brands which comply with their low-trans policies) which import cheap produce from abroad which may contain hydrogenated oil. So if you shop in Aldi, Netto or similar shops, exercise caution. The same could apply to other imports, especially those that are not made by the major multinationals.
The tfX campaign therefore declares success in its key objective! And it commends the efforts of the British food industry in bringing this about, acting ahead of regulatory pressures in the interests of the British people and our health.
What next?
So where should we go from here? The meeting was called in response to Alan Johnson's request that the FSA examine the trans fat issue, and this process is now continuing. There were no objections from the food industry to the principle of a mandatory approach, whether on labelling or a quality standard, and some explicit support as a mandatory approach levels the competitive 'playing field' and builds consumer confidence.
The tfX view is that the UK should adopt either the Danish standard, or an updated version of the Danish standard with a lower 1 percent maximum - reflecting what the food industry is already achieving. This would have the effect of creating a 'low trans free trade area' in Europe drawing together the UK and Denmark, and pulling in a wider 'sphere of influence' taking in all of Scandinavia, and other countries with which the UK has a substantial food trade including Ireland, Germany and France. This would in turn lead on to the establishment of an EU wide standard and bring the health benefits the UK and Scandinavia are now enjoying to all Europeans.
Mandatory trans labelling was also discussed however the question of trans labelling is complex and potentially confusing to consumers. Moreover once all food is low or very low in trans by law, there is no need for labelling anyway. The one exception should be to allow manufacturers, retailers etc to make voluntary claims of "very low trans fat" or "zero trans fat" at legally defined levels lower than the level set by law.
Trans fats: stealth killers
Trans fats are stealth killers lurking in our food, causing the early death and debility of many thousands of people a year in the UK. They are mainly found in (partially) hydrogenated vegetable oil, common ingredients in thousands of food products.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, at least 30,000 people, and probably more like 100,000 people a year in the USA die prematurely from coronary heart disease as a result of eating trans fats. If Britons are dying in similar proportions to population, some 5,000 - 20,000 people could be dying prematurely every year in the UK, or 15 - 60 people every day.
And that's without looking at the role of trans fats in causing Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes, omega-3 essential fatty acid deficiency and other disabling and life-threatening conditions.
See also our introduction to how trans fats affect human health, and authoritative quotes about trans fats and health.
tfX aims
- to persuade Government to place an upper limit on trans fats both in food, and in oils and fats used in the preparation of food, as has already taken place in Denmark (see Denmark's trans fat law)
- to persuade the food industry and retailers to voluntarily reduce levels of trans fats in their products, or eliminate them altogether
- to persuade the food industry to voluntarily label trans fats in products, as detailed above.
We had aimed for the compulsory labelling of trans fats, as is happening in the US and Canada, as an intermediate stage towards a ban. However we note that British supermarkets have chosen to get hydrogenated oils out of their products altogether, rather than labelling the amount of trans fat. This is a quicker, more immediate and effective solution, apparently more acceptable to the food industry, and the technology is already in place to enable this to happen at little or no cost to the industry or consumer, as has already been demonstrated by Denmark.
See also our page on alternatives to trans fats.
What are trans fats?
Trans fats are unsaturated oils or fats whose 3-d molecular structure has been alterered, usually by prolonged exposure to high temperature. This happens mainly during hydrogenation: the industrial process that hardens liquid vegetable oils by making them more saturated. Unsaturated oils normally occur in nature in the cis configuration, but during hydrogenation the oils can 'flip' into the unnatural and damaging trans configuration - hence the name 'trans fat'.
Small amounts of natural trans fat also occur in meat and butter, but (contrary to food industry claims) there is no evidence that these are harmful like the synthetic trans fats made from vegetable oil, in the quantities in which they occur. Indeed the naturally-occuring Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA), which occur in the trans configuration, are beneficial to health.
See also our pages on what trans fats are and the chemistry of trans fats.
Why trans fats?
Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils - the main dietary source of trans fats - are very useful to the food industry. They are cheap; they have neutral flavour; they melt in the mouth, like butter; and they have very long shelf lives, which they confer to the products that contain them. Unlike other unsaturated oils and fats which go rancid over time, hydrogenated fats are highly resistant to oxidation and rancidity.
Trans fats are therefore found in thousands of everyday food products, such as margarine, cakes, pies, biscuits, some vegetable oils, cheap chocolate, other confectionery and ice cream, and ready-made meals. They also occur widely in fast food, as the industry - including local fish and chip shops - often use hydrogenated oil for frying, as well as in shortening.
High Street bakeries also make great use of hydrogenated oil as shortening for pastries and fallings. Even home-baked cakes and pastries are a risk, as hydrogenated oil occurs frequently in margarines, "vegetable fat", "vegetable suet", ready-made pastries and other such ingredients.
As for the fact that trans fats are seriously toxic, causing premature death and misery on a massive scale, the food industry just doesn't care. I only know of one other industry that treats its customers with the same callous disregard, knowingly selling them products that will lead to unnecessary illness and premature death - the tobacco industry.
See also our page about where trans fats are found.
Please follow the links in the menu for more information about trans fats and our campaign...
