Make Healthier Choices by Eliminating Industrially Produced Trans-fats

Make Healthier Choices by Eliminating Industrially Produced Trans-fats

Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, January 8:
Life is a race of survival of the fittest, not only metaphorically but also literally. The burden of a healthy body and food has shifted to holistic living and fat-free food. While on one hand, health economies around the globe are focusing on healthy living, consumerism, on the other hand, is giving choices to the consumer, which leaves little to debate on the health benefits of their contents which often are misleading or beyond comprehension. While picking a packet of banana chips over potato chips we may make our mind believe that we have made a healthier choice, the truth often escapes our eye which fails to read between the labels. Foods that are often marked as healthier have a lot more to say when we give a clear reading to it’s contents and ingredients, which we seldom give. Nowadays, the most common labeling we find on our so-called healthier food option is “Tras fat-free”.
Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids or trans-fatty acids are a type of unsaturated fat. On the basis of their source, they can be classified as naturally occurring Trans fat and industrially produced trans fats. Naturally-occurring trans fat comes from ruminant animal meat and milk of buffalo, cows, and sheep. Industrially-produced trans fat is formed in an industrial process by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil thereby converting the liquid into a solid, in the end producing “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVO). The common PHVOs in India are Vanaspati, margarine and bakery shortenings. These are used for making foods at home, especially for frying but more commonly they used by bakeries, halwais, restaurants and street food business operators. It is often used as an alternative to desi ghee as it looks quite similar. The ladoos we relish, the jalebis we drool over or the aloo Tikki we swear by are all prepared using vanaspati often in the gab of desi ghee. Another common form of PHVOs is Margarine and bakery shortenings which is used in the preparation of bakery products like biscuits, fans, puffs, etc.
Trans fats as scientifically proven over the ages are the worst kind of fat that one can eat. It raises bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lowers good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Eating food rich in trans fats and using oils high in trans fat content increases the risk of developing heart disease and stroke. It’s also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2diabetes, besides causing obesity. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston suggest that replacing trans fats in the diet with polyunsaturated fats can reduce diabetes risk by as much as 40%.
Increased consumer awareness of the health implications of TFAs have resulted in Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to restrict the amount of trans fat to 5% by weight in all interesterified vegetable oil. Also, they have made labeling of edible oils, interesterified vegetable oil, edible fats, margarine, and fat spread compulsory. Going a step further FSSAI has made it mandatory for food packages that use fat, emulsions or margarine as ingredient shall declare the quantity of trans fat and saturated fat content on their label. Further, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has committed to reducing the industrially-produced trans fat in Vanaspati, bakery shortenings and margarine to less than 2% in a phased manner by the year 2022, that would effectively bring the level of trans fats to zero levels in food in India. This would help in achieving freedom from trans fats when India celebrates its 75th Independence Day – ‘Trans Fat: India@75.’ This would be a year ahead of the World Health Organization’s global target to eliminate industrially-produced trans fat from the food supply.
While many companies are coming forward and acting responsibly by reducing the trans fat content in their food, there are many others who have not initiated any action in this direction. Following the rule of caveat emptor (let the buyer be beware), it is best left to the consumer to read not just the front labeling of any packaged food item but spend considerable time in making the right choice by reading through the contents of the whole pack. It is actually the choices we make that make us what we are. So be wise and think twice, the next time you are tempted by a pack of muffins or microwavable popcorn, make a healthier choice.