Five billion people are at risk of developing heart disease from trans fat due to a lack of action from some governments to curb the use of the harmful substance in food products, according to the World Health Organization.
(Bloomberg) — Five billion people are at risk of developing heart disease from trans fat due to a lack of action from some governments to curb the use of the harmful substance in food products, according to the World Health Organization.
The United Nations agency had aimed for the elimination of trans fats worldwide this year. Of the 16 countries that have the highest estimated proportion of heart disease deaths caused by trans fat, more than half don’t have a best-practice policy, WHO said in a statement Monday. That includes Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Pakistan and South Korea.
The consumption of trans fats, which can be found in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils and spreads, is responsible for up to half a million premature deaths from heart disease every year. Many richer countries in the Americas and Europe have phased the substance out with bans on partially hydrogenated oils. However, no low-income countries have yet adopted such measures.
“Trans fat is a toxic chemical that kills, and should have no place in food,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement. “It’s time to get rid of it once and for all.”
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