WHO Europe says ban trans fats
The WHO Europe European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020 recommends that the European Union member states “develop and implement national policies to ban or virtually eliminate trans fat from the food supply”.
This is just one of the recommendations put forth from the Regional Committee for Europe meeting that took place 15-18 September 2014 to promote healthy diets objective for the European population.
In 2003, Denmark became the first country to restrict the amount of trans fats in the diet by strictly regulating many foods containing trans fats. This was followed by Switzerland, Austria, Iceland and Sweden that restricted or banned trans fats. In the United States (US) various locations such as the State of California, New York City and Baltimore and Montgomery counties in Maryland banned or restricted trans fat. The US Food and Drug Administration proposed on 8 November 2013 to ban partially hydrogenated oils, the primary source of trans fats, and while the comment period has closed no final determination has been published.
Since the early 1990s, there have been studies that showed the negative effects of trans fats and it was clearly noted by the mid-2000s that trans fats increase the risk of coronary heart disease. WHO’s Europe strategic goal is to provide advice to governments to establish policies which will cause the avoidance of premature deaths and significantly reduce the burden of preventable diet-related non-communicable diseases.
