WHO warns that billions of people are still at risk of eating trans fats

The goal is to end fats trance industrial The WHO is far from on track and 5 billion consumers worldwide are still exposed to these toxic substances, the WHO warned on Monday, highlighting Mexico’s plan to phase out feeding these chemicals.

In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to eliminate these trans fatty acids from the human diet by 2023.

In a report released this Monday, the organization nonetheless acknowledged that this goal is currently “unattainable”.

“They have no known benefits, pose many health risks, and incur enormous costs for healthcare systems,” said the CEO. WHOTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement.

Boss WHO issued a call “immediately” to get rid of these “toxic chemicals that kill”.

Currently, only 43% of the world’s population enjoys some form of protection from these products. WHO considered the cause cardiovascular diseases They cause 500,000 deaths every year.

Of the 60 countries that have announced plans to phase out industrial trans-fatty acids, only 43 have implemented best practice: Mandatory restriction that these substances do not exceed 2% of oils and fats in the whole food or a ban on partially hydrogenated oils.

acids fatty trance industrial they are present in hardened vegetable fats such as margarine or ghee and are often found in snack foods, baked goods, and fried foods.

Manufacturers use them because they last longer and are cheaper.

Ecuador is lagging behind

“There are some regions of the world that are not aware of the problem,” said Francesco Branca, head of food safety at WHOat a press conference in which he stressed that Food alternatives that don’t cost more.

Currently, nine of the 16 countries with the highest estimated proportion of deaths from coronary heart disease caused by trans fats have not adopted these recommendations. These are Ecuador, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and South Korea.

“Honestly, when there are trans fats, people die, and this should be banned,” said Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and now president of the Resolve to Save Lives, an NGO that fights against cardiovascular diseases.

“There is simply no excuse for a country not to take action to protect its population from a man-made toxic chemical,” he said.

WHO He spoke about the plans of Mexico, Nigeria and Sri Lanka to combat the use of these substances in food production.

Mexico – a country where the problem is widespread – “is going to act, so we really hope that Mexico and Nigeria will become more active in the near future,” Frieden said.

“Trans fats don’t show up on feeding. You may not know they are there. If you have a heart attack and die, you won’t know what caused it,” he warned, noting that he was “optimistic” that the world could “deliver Trans fats.

(According to AFP)