Trans fatty acids
Trans fatty acids – also known as trans fats – are formed when liquid vegetable oils are partially hydrogenated or ‘hardened’ for use as spreads such as margarine, cooking fats for deep-frying and shortening for baking . Some trans fatty acids are formed during high temperature cooking. Trans fatty acids are also found naturally in meat and milk.
Are trans fatty acids present in foods sold in Australia and New Zealand?
Through Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ) dietary modelling work, we have found that Australians obtain on average 0.6 per cent of their daily kilojoules from trans fatty acids and New Zealanders on average 0.7 per cent. This is well below the World Health Organization recommendation to consume no more than 1 per cent of your daily kilojoules from trans fatty acids and well below many other countries.
What are the health implications of consuming trans fatty acids?
There is compelling evidence that trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids increase bad cholesterol in our blood, a key indicator for heart disease. In addition, trans fatty acids may also decrease good cholesterol. While the adverse effects on blood lipid profiles caused by comparable levels of trans fatty acids are greater than those posed by saturated fatty acids, the trans fatty acid intakes of Australians and New Zealanders are much lower than intakes of saturated fatty acids.
Are trans fatty acids identified on food labels?
Trans fatty acid contents must be declared on a food label if a nutrition claim is made about cholesterol or saturated, trans, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fatty acids; or omega-3, omega-6 or omega-9 fatty acids.
What can I do to reduce harmful fat in my diet?
While generally we are consuming levels of trans fatty acids well below the WHO recommendation, we are obtaining 14 per cent of our daily kilojoules from saturated fats which is well above the Australian and New Zealand recommended levels of saturated fats of 8 to 10 per cent.
We do need to reduce our saturated fats intake. Remember that total fats and saturated fats are already listed on food labels in the nutrition information panel.
You can reduce your fat intakes even further by following healthy eating guidelines: that is, to reduce overall consumption of all fats and limit consumption of trans fatty acids and saturated fats. You can do this by choosing packaged foods with lower levels of total fat (check the nutrition panel) and also choosing less fried food, high fat dairy products, fatty meats, pies or pastries.
The following link to the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Ageing and the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s Food and Nutrition Guidelines may be useful: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/content/good-bad-fat and http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/49ba80c00757b8804c256673001d47d0/07bc6dbe764fdabbcc256ddb006d9ab4?OpenDocument
Aren’t trans fatty acidsbanned overseas?
The answer is no. The few places reported as banning trans fatty acids have, in fact, set upper limits. For example, in 2003, the Danish Nutrition Council recommended restrictions on, and phasing out of, the use of manufactured trans fatty acids in foods. However, if the trans fatty acids content in the finished product is less than 1 gram per 100 grams of the individual oil or fat, the food is considered free of trans fatty acids .
In California and New York there is an upper limit of 0.5 grams of trans fatty acids per standard serve of a packaged food or a restaurant meal. So consuming 3 serves a day, for example serves of meat, chips, desserts etc, could put you well over the already low levels of trans fatty acids consumed in Australia.
Is government taking action to reduce trans fatty acids in food?
The Australia New Zealand Collaboration on Trans Fats was established in early 2007. It includes representatives from the National Heart Foundation of Australia, the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand, the Dietitians Association of Australia, the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) and FSANZ.
The primary aim of this group is to work cooperatively in reducing the amount of trans fatty acids in the New Zealand and Australian food supply, without an associated increase in the amount of saturated fat. The group will promote wide implementation of current industry and public health initiatives for reducing the levels of trans fatty acids and increasing consumer awareness and understanding.
FSANZ has also conducted a formal scientific review of trans fatty acids in the food supply and reported back to the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council in May 2007. The Report found that the contributions of trans fatty acids to energy intakes of Australians and New Zealanders was below the goal of 1% proposed by the World Health Organisation, and comparable to or lower than intake estimates from some countries overseas.
Ministers endorsed the findings of the Review that immediate regulatory intervention was not required and that non-regulatory measures to further reducing the levels of trans fatty acids in the Australian and New Zealand food supply would be the most appropriate action. Ministers noted that regular updates on progress on trans fatty acid reduction would be provided on the work being carried out by the Australia New Zealand Collaboration on Trans Fats and agreed to consider regulatory action should sufficient progress not be made. The report can be found on the FSANZ website at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/publications/index.cfm#_indexT
Levels of trans fatty acids in the food supply will continue to be monitored and an analytical survey of foods will commence later in 2008. FSANZ will commence a review in early 2009 of the outcome of non regulatory measures to reduce trans fatty acids in the food supply.