Think thrice before opening that pack of branded potato chips. In yet another revelation about how packaged food stuffed with trans fatty acids could lead to serious heart health issues, the Indian government has said in Parliament that at least 5.4 lakh people die every year due to ailments triggered by excess trans-fat consumption.
In an official reply to a question on the health hazards of a trans-fat diet, it was pointed out that 4.6% of coronary heart disease deaths in the country could be related to trans-fat consumption.
“High trans-fat intake may increase the risk of death from any cause by 34%, coronary heart disease deaths by 28%,” according to the reply.
What are trans fats?
Doctors point out that trans fats are the unhealthiest form of unsaturated dietary fats which play a major role in clogging the arteries with fat and cholesterol deposits. There are two varieties of trans-fatty acids:
- natural trans-fatty acids, which are found in red meat and dairy products; and
- artificial trans-fatty acids, which enter the body mainly through unhealthy cooking oils used in the processed food industry.
Trans fats are found in processed and packaged food, mainly baked and fried food items, including French fries, doughnuts, potato chips, wafers, cookies and biscuits.
The main single source of trans fatty acids are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that are used by food manufacturers (including some restaurants) for:
- lowering the production cost; and
- extending the shelf life of oil.
Hydrogenation is the process of heating vegetable oils with the addition of hydrogen gas to turn the liquid fat into solid fat at room temperature.
How trans fats affect heart health
In an email interaction with Happiest Health, Prof Dr PS Banerjee, chief interventional cardiologist, Manipal Hospitals, Kolkata, and former president of the Cardiological Society of India, points out that trans-fat-rich diet is the main cause of multiple cardiovascular complications.
“The main risk of consuming a trans-fat-rich diet includes heart attack, stroke and peripheral arterial diseases,” he says.
Dr Vitull K Gupta, teaching faculty member, AIIMS, Bathinda, Punjab, and consultant physician at Kishori Ram Hospital and Diabetes Care Centre, Bathinda, says that a trans-fat-rich diet could lead to early onset of heart attack risk as it hastens the formation of blockages in the coronary arteries.
“Trans-fatty acid leads to an increase in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and at the same time also reduces high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in your blood,” he says. “LDL is known as bad cholesterol as it plays a major role in the formation of fat deposits in your arteries, blocking blood circulation to your heart.” HDL, on the other hand, is often referred to as good cholesterol as it plays a major role in the expulsion of excess cholesterol by carrying it back to the liver.
Role of processed food industry and regulators
Prof Dr Gupta says it is time that the processed food industry and also health regulators like the WHO took a strong stance against the presence of excess trans fat in the food system.
“Total consumption of fat should be less than 30% of anybody’s total calorie intake daily,” Prof Dr Banerjee says.
Out of this 30%, trans fatty acid consumption should not exceed 1% to keep your heart healthy, according to WHO guidelines.
The WHO recently said that billions of people were still exposed to trans-fat-rich food. The organisation had reiterated its 2018 appeal to eliminate trans fat from the global diet by 2023. It had also criticised nine countries (out of 16) — Australia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan,, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and South Korea — with the highest proportion of coronary heart disease for adopting a callous attitude towards the elimination of trans fat from processed food.
In its reply on Friday, the Indian government pointed out that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had already implemented the WHO-specified policy to reduce trans-fat consumption in the country by amending the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) and Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) regulations. It said the main aim was to keep industrial trans fatty acids to not more than 2% by weight in edible oils, fats and food products containing edible oils and fats.
“These amendments came into effect from 1st January 2022,” the document says.
Awareness and warning signs on food packets needed
Prof Dr Gupta says there should be proper warning signs on food packets so that consumers have clarity on the quantity of fatty acids, especially trans fats, in their food.
He adds that though the Indian government has decided to implement a health star rating (HSR) for packaged food items based on nutritional value, manufacturers could still find some loophole to push cheap unhealthy food to consumers. The star rating evaluates each food item on the basis of various ingredients and nutrients per 100gm of food.
“Proper warning labels should be printed on the front side instead of the star ratings,” Prof Dr Gupta says. “For example, a food manufacturer could get a better star rating by increasing the quantity of some ‘healthy’ ingredients while retaining the harmful ones, including trans fat, based on their own business calculations.”
Prof Dr Banerjee says increasing health awareness plays a major role in ensuring that people adopt a healthier lifestyle. He adds that school curriculum should prominently highlight the health risks of a trans-fat diet along with the benefits of a healthier lifestyle (including a balanced diet, exercise and no tobacco use) to keep cardiovascular disease at bay.
“Naturally occurring trans fat are less harmful than hydrogenated oil (artificially made trans fat),” he says. “Trans fats have no known health benefits and there is no safe level of their consumption. To be safe from cardiovascular diseases, it is always better to avoid trans fat added in package food.”
Takeaways
- Trans-fatty acids are responsible for at least 4.6% of heart-health-related deaths in India.
- WHO guidelines say daily intake of fat should not exceed 30 percent of daily calorie intake and trans-fat should be limited to less than one percent of the total consumption.
- All processed food, mainly baked and fried items, could contain trans fat
- Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are the main dietary source of trans fats.
