Many Asians and Middle Eastern Countries Have Yet to Enforce Policies on TFA Reduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a goal of eliminating trans-fat in the global food supply by 2023 aimed at reducing the 500,000 deaths annually caused by coronary heart disease. The organization does this through the WHO-recommended best practice policies which include setting mandatory limits for industrially produced trans fats to 2% of oils and fats in all foods or banning partially hydrogenated oils (PHO).  

Presently, about 32 countries have implemented mandatory TFA policies while most countries are in the stages of implementing national policy, strategy, or action plan as they express commitment in reducing TFA.  Moreover, there are still about 64 countries not drafting any regulations on trans-fat or PHO, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Egypt, India, Iran Nepal, Pakistan, and Republic of Korea.  These countries form part of 15 countries globally accounting for approximately two-thirds of the deaths linked to TFA.  The other countries Canada, Latvia, Slovenia, United States of America have implemented WHO-recommended best-practice policies, while Azerbaijan, Ecuador, and Mexico have not. 

WHO recommends that TFA intake be limited to less than 1% of total energy intake or less than 2.2 g/day with a 2,000-calorie diet.  In Asia, only Thailand, Singapore and India have adopted best-practice policies.  Thailand has banned PHO since 2019.  Singapore is to ban PHO by 2021, and India reduced its trans-fat levels from 5% TFA to 2% in 2019.  In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iran, and Kuwait have adopted TFA policies. Saudi Arabia banned PHO in 2020, and Iran set a 2% limit on oils and fats in 2016.  For countries already implementing best-practice policies, product reformulation is key as they look for healthier alternatives without affecting composition and shelf life of foods.