What to do About Trans Fatty Acids?

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- What to do About Trans Fatty Acids?

 

 

Trans fatty acids, which can extend the shelf life of processed

food, give potatoes and doughnuts more flavor and make crackers and

cookies crisper and crunchier also, according to this editorial,

increase the risk of heart disease.

 

Trans fats have been found to raise the body's level of low-density

lipoproteins, which can clog the blood vessels with fatty deposits,

and to reduce the level of high-density lipoproteins, which would

otherwise clear away those deposits.

 

The editorial says that risk is all relative. The greater one's

predisposition to heart disease, the more concerned one should be.

 

Health Canada has estimated that the average Canadian consumes 8.4

grams of trans fatty acids a day (10 per cent of total fat intake),

and that men between 18 and 34 wolf down 38.9 grams a day. Since

most of us are still walking around after at least a decade of

eating the stuff, it must be assumed that many of us have a natural

way of dealing with any resulting cholesterol imbalance.

 

Still, some people live to 116 after smoking every day. Common sense

would dictate that we face a serious nutritional problem,

particularly since more people die of cardiovascular disease in

Canada each year than of any other disease; 74,824 Canadians died of

it in 2001.

 

The editorial says that one startling finding, by Health Canada

scientist Nitmal Ratnayake, was that even newborns can't escape the

proliferation of trans fats. On average, he found, those fats

account for 7 per cent of the fat in breast milk, and in some women

reach 17 per cent.

 

The industry has made particular use of trans fats since warnings

about the dangers of high-cholesterol diets of saturated fats (found

in palm and coconut oils) made consumers rightly wary of the

saturated fat in their diet.

 

Companies have been marketing their products as cholesterol-free or

low in saturated fat, without having to mention whether they are

high in trans fats.

 

(Some companies have seen a consumer backlash coming. McCain Foods

said in an Aug. 12 press release that it had introduced French

fries " prepared in non-hydrogenated oils in order to lessen the

level of trans fatty acids. " Frito-Lay announced last year that it

would introduce a new oil for its potato chips.)

 

Although voices at Health Canada (and its predecessor Health and

Welfare Canada) have said for more than a decade that trans fats can

be a serious health problem, the editorial says that the government

dragged its feet on the labeling issue.

In 1991, the director-general of the department's food directorate

said putting too much information on labels might confuse

consumers. " We have to take it one step at a time. "

 

Only now has the government moved to require manufacturers to list

the amount of trans fats on food labels (along with number of

calories and levels of 13 nutrients), and even that requirement

won't take effect until 2006 (2008 for smaller companies).

 

Even then, the rules won't cover baby formula and other food for

children under 2.

 

The editorial goes on to say that no one who eats regularly at a

fast-food outlet can reasonably claim ignorance about the health

effects of eating breaded and fried foods.

 

Even those unaware of trans fats must know the risks of a diet heavy

in saturated fats. What parent hasn't preached the benefits of fresh

fruits and vegetables and balanced meals? On those counts, one might

be tempted to say, Buyer beware.

 

Information is important. People are free to make unhealthy choices,

but in a great many cases -- smoking being a prime example -- the

government has insisted that companies explicitly publicize the

health risks.

 

If a fast-food chain were required to tell customers that it used a

trans-fat-heavy shortening rather than, say, far healthier (and more

expensive) olive oil, consumers could make an informed decision.

They might gorge regardless, or they might eat elsewhere.

 

The editorial concludes that it can be argued that, if the risks of

trans fatty acids are as great as scientists such as Prof. Holub at

the University of Guelph have been warning for years, relying on

voluntary change is insufficient.

 

However, the practicality of requiring signage or labeling in all

restaurants, fast-food and sit-down alike, requires further study.

How realistic is it to demand a restaurant that changes several menu

items daily to provide a useful breakdown of the fats each item

contains?

 

Might it be enough to require a general accounting: for instance,

that this restaurant uses shortening in which trans fats account for

30 per cent?

 

Customers would know they'd be tucking into a meal heavy with unsafe

fats, and restaurants would have a greater incentive to reduce or

eliminate that source of concern.

 

Or not; it seems nobody in North America is going broke by

overestimating people's capacity to chow down on food they know, in

their heart of hearts, will do those hearts no good. What those

people should expect is greater certainty about the hazardous

artificial ingredients they are being fed.

 

Republished with permission from the Food Safety Network, December

11, 2003, Globe and Mail, Editorial

 

http://www.nowfoods.com/

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