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Transfats

The Greens are campaigning for a rapid phase out and ban on the addition of trans fats to food. As part of the campaign we are calling for the immediate introduction of mandatory labelling of food products that have industrially produced trans fats added to them, so that consumers can make an informed choice to buy of reject these foods.

What are trans fats?

Trans fats are manufactured from oils by a process called partial hydrogenation, which involves super heating the oil in the presence of metal catalysts and hydrogen. Trans fats are not a necessary ingredient but used for convenience and to improve sales.

Trans fats are used in:

fast foods, largely as a result of the use of trans fats for frying
some supermarket baked goods and pastries, such as pies, cakes and croissants (usually the packet variety, with longer shelf lives, rather than fresh baked goods)
some confectionary lines
some margarines (but trans fat contents in most margarines appear to be reducing).

The main motivations for using for trans fats are:

longer shelf life
stronger tastes
texture: appealing (“mouth feel”) and convenience (e.g. solidification in margarines)

What are the health effects?

Trans fats have no known nutritional value and pose severe health risks. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that trans fats are nutritionally worthless and there is no safe levels of consumption.

In a study published in late July 2007, two University of Oxford researchers, Robert Clarke and Sarah Lewington, found:

2% increase in energy intake from trans fatty acids likely to lead to a 23% increase in coronary heart disease
harmful effects observed at very low intake levels (e.g. as low as 3% of daily calorie intake). people consuming less than 7 g of tans fats a day are at risk.

Clarke and Lewinton called for the labelling of trans fat contents on all foods as an important step towards cutting heart disease.

Metabolic studies dating back to 1990 have shown that trans fats act on the blood lipid levels in two ways:

increase the concentration of “bad cholesterols” (LDL), and
decrease the concentrations of “good cholesterols” (HDL)

Thus trans fats are much more harmful than saturated fats such as animal fats that increase LDL.

Epidemiological and metabolic studies have shown that trans fats are a key player in the “epidemic of coronary heart disease” in the USA, contributing to between 30,000 and 100,000 premature deaths each year in the USA. This corresponds to between 2,000 and 6,800 Australians dying each year.

What is the situation in Australia?

In Australia, the Ministerial Council which has responsibility for regulation of food standards has failed to take any significant action on the issue of trans fats. The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code does not require the labelling of trans fats unless certain nutritional claims are made on the packaging. A review of the code rejected any restrictions or labelling requirements on the grounds that there are relatively low levels of trans fat consumption in Australia, and it is better to concentrate on saturated fatty acids.

The code allows for voluntary labelling.

Kogarah Council in NSW has effectively banned new food outlets frying food in oils that contain industrially produced trans fats.

The Greens support a mandatory code which would give a higher level of protection for consumers.

Australia's Choice magazine listed 18 foods that are sold in Australia but would not pass the higher standards used in other countries, for example Denmark (see below), because they contain more than 2% trans fats.

What is the situation overseas?

(a) USA Starting in January 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration codes mandates the labelling of trans fat contents on all foods sold in the USA.

A number of food manufacturers have responded to the new labelling laws by phasing out or reducing the trans fats contents in their products.

The city of Philadelphia has banned eateries frying food in oils containing artificial trans fats, and New York City has placed strict limits on use of trans fats in restaurants.

(b) Denmark In Denmark, trans fats are now effectively banned since a law introduced in 2004 restricted industrially produced (i.e. by industrial partial hydrogenation) trans fat content to less than 2% of all fats and oils imported into or sold in that country.

The Danish rules do not appear to have had a noticeable impact on price, taste or quality.

(c) Canada In 2004 the Canadian parliament established a task force to develop legislated restrictions on trans-fat content in all food products. It reported back with a strong recommendation of a phase out of trans fats, similar to Denmark’s.

In 2008 the city of Calgary effectively banned restaurants and fast food chains from using cooking oils containing artificial trans fats.

(d) European Union The EU is currently reviewing the regulation of trans fats. In the UK food labelling is left to the manufacturer. Some major retailers have announced that they will cease adding trans fats to their products.

Comments from John Kaye

The Greens dispute the claims made by the Australian food regulators. The international evidence is clear. There is no safe levels of trans fat consumption, yet there are many food stuffs commonly consumed by Australians that have dangerous levels of trans fats.

It has been well known for at least sixteen years that trans fats are a double whammy for heart disease. They deplete good cholesterols and increase bad cholesterols. It is outrageous that the Ministerial Council has largely ignored the issue of trans fats and concentrated on reducing saturated fats in the Australian diet. We should do both.

Australian consumers are being left to the mercy of the food corporations. Community health is being sacrificed to prop up the dogma of self regulation, while heart disease claims thousands of unsuspecting victims each year.

The Ministerial Council should ban trans fats. Australian consumers deserve the same protections as the Danes. Thousands of Australians die each year of coronary heart disease because the food regulators refuse to act.

The Greens will soon be introducing a Trans fats eradication bill into the NSW Parliament. The bill, if passed, will make labelling compulsory and within a short time ban the addition of industrially produced trans fats to food.