This is significant progress compared to the In 2018 this was only six percentor less than half a billion people, when the ambitious goal The initial goal was to eliminate all trans fat from the global food supply by the end of 2023 WHO.
“Eliminating trans fatty acids is feasible, affordable and life-savingand WHO remains committed to supporting Member States on their journey towards this goal,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of the Ministry of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO.
Trans fats – or trans fatty acids – clog arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack and death. Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of the world’s deaths and more than 278,000 deaths per year can be attributed to the ingestion of industrially produced trans fat, according to the health agency.
Given their negative health effects, current progress could save approximately 183,000 lives per year. However, progress has been uneven, with the highest remaining burdens concentrated in WHO’s Africa and Western Pacific regions. The new report summarizes countries’ actions to ban this toxic chemical and makes recommendations to achieve the global elimination of trans fat.
Best practices
Remarkable progress has been made in every region of the world toward the WHO goal of total elimination of industrially produced trans fats. The chemicals are fatty acids found in many fried foods, baked goods, vegetable shortening and margarine.
In 2023 alone, new best practice policies came into effect in seven countries: Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, the Philippines, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
In January 2024 The WHO awarded the Validation Certificate to five countries for progress in eliminating industrially produced trans fat: Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.
However, despite promising trends, progress has been uneven. More than four billion people around the world remain unprotected from this toxic chemical, mainly in the WHO’s African and Western Pacific regions.
Implementing best practice policies in just eight additional countries would eliminate 90 percent of global deaths linked to this harmful ingredient.
“In addition to adopting the WHO-recommended best practice trans fat policy, It is critical that compliance with this policy is monitored and enforced to achieve maximum and lasting health benefits from the elimination of trans fats,” added Dr. Branca.
New WHO commitments
The WHO’s new report helps advance the organization’s efforts toward the global elimination of trans fat. The report urges all countries to adopt best practice policies and to better monitor and enforce these policies so that more countries qualify for the WHO Validation Certificate.
WHO is also calling on food manufacturers to eliminate the use of trans fats in product lines and supply chains, even where regulations do not yet exist.