Eliminating trans fats is a global concern. Regulators worldwide are working to remove them from the food chain. Given their adverse health effects, WHO has committed to eliminate trans fats globally by 2023. This move will improve people’s health and well-being.
FSSAI has recently amended the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, according to which the regulator has capped the amount of trans fatty acids (TFA) in oils and fats to 3% for 2021 and 2% by 2022, from the current permissible limit of 5%.
What is Trans fat?
Trans fatty acids (trans fats) are a type of unsaturated fat produced from vegetable oils through hydrogenation. They occur in two forms: one naturally present in dairy and meat products, and the other manufactured when producers convert liquid oils into solid fats to saturate the fatty acids in vegetable oil, primarily to extend shelf life. The manufactured form of trans fat is also called partially hydrogenated oil.
What is “Partially Hydrogenated Oil”?
Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction that modifies carbon-carbon double bonds in lipids through addition of hydrogen atoms and an inert catalyst.
Manufacturers create partially hydrogenated oils by adding hydrogen gas to vegetable oil in the presence of a catalyst, which triggers a chemical reaction that breaks some double bonds and allows more hydrogen atoms to attach to the carbon chain. This industrial process is known as hydrogenation.
It replaces double bonds between carbon atoms with hydrogen. If manufacturers replace all the double bonds, the fat becomes fully hydrogenated, forming a saturated fat. If they stop the process early, some double bonds remain, and this is called partial hydrogenation. This process makes the fat less prone to rancidity phenomenon by which free radicals attack the double bond between carbon atoms.
The Partial Hydrogenation process eliminates most of the unstable fatty acids thereby increasing the stability, resistance to oxidation and shelf life of vegetable oils.
Why do manufacturers use trans fat in commercial foods?
Food manufacturers use partially hydrogenated oils because they are inexpensive, resistant to oxidation, and stable enough to withstand repeated heating. These oils appear in a variety of foods, including baked goods such as cakes, cookies, and pies, as well as shortening, margarine, pizza, doughnuts, and deep-fried foods.
Adverse health effects of Trans fat
The more trans fat you add to your diet, the greater your risk of heart and blood vessel disease.Consuming trans fat increases LDL (low-density lipoproteins or bad cholesterol) and lowers our HDL (high-density lipoproteins or good cholesterol)
Alternative for Trans fat
Trans fats are common in vanaspati ghee, margarine, and bakery shortenings. They should be replaced with natural, non-hydrogenated oils such as butter, canola, safflower, sunflower, or olive oil.
A healthier alternative to saturated or partially hydrogenated fats is MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acids) and PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids). These offer better health benefits than saturated fats.
MUFA rich oils are sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil. PUFA rich oils include liquid vegetable oils such as Sunflower oil, Canola oil, corn oil, and soy oils.
Make sure to consume foods containing non – hydrogenated oil rather than partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated vegetable oils or saturated fat.
How safe is Trans fat free food ?
Foods free of trans fats aren’t automatically good for you. Manufacturers may substitute other ingredients for trans fat that may not be healthy either. Some of these ingredients include palm kernel and palm oils which contain a lot of saturated fat. Consumption of saturated fat in turn raises your total cholesterol.
Hence it is necessary to read the food labels and nutrition facts to have a better understanding of what you are consuming. FSSAI allows (Food Business Operators) FBOs to use the “TRANS FAT FREE” logo if the foods contain less than 0.2g trans fat per 100 g or 100 ml .
Many countries across the globe have restricted or banned usage of trans fats, it includes Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and certain US states, including New York and California.
The very first limit set by the FSSAI back in 2011 for the TFA in oils and fats was 10%. In 2015 the limit was further reduced to 5%.
While the regulator intends to implement the new limit with immediate effect, industry has asked for more time to comply. Notably, many big players from the industry took a pledge back in 2018 when WHO called in for action to reduce TFA by 3% by 2021. This gave them a window of three years to comply with the latest regulation.