The trouble with trans-fats
Post categories: The Food Programme,Ìýhealthy eating
| 15:37 UK time, Monday, 11 July 2011
This week’s edition of The Food Programme investigates the issue of in our food (artificial fats which are formed during a process called hydrogenation, which turns liquid oil into solid fat).Ìý A key part of the government’s public health policies are the - voluntary agreements with the food industry on the ‘healthiness’ of their products. Partners include a wide range of big companies, includingÌý KFC, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Pret A Manger and McDonalds. One of their aims is to get rid of trans fatty acids in their foods by the end of the year. But is that decision sufficient to get rid of a substance that, according to Professor Simon Capewell on this week’s The Food Programme, kills 35 people in the UK every two days?
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Vegetable oils are turned into solids or semi-solids by pumping them with hydrogen. The process creates artificial trans fatty acids. It’s a technique , but these fats didn’t become a big part of the mainstream diet until after World War Two. It then really took off in the 1970s when they were promoted as the answer to : margarines and spreads = good; butter = bad. And the food processing industry loved them - they were cheap, produced foods with a long shelf-life and anything made with them could be sold with the golden glow of healthiness.Ìý
There were always farsighted sceptics, but the heavy duty evidence about the dangers of trans-fats didn’t begin to surface until about 20 years ago. Now they’re directly linked to heart attacks, the calls them toxic and . Evidence is also accumulating on the way they promote general inflammation in the body and on their .Ìý
That’s enough evidence for in the UK. A ban needed, they say, because, as we saw recording on one of the main streets in West Bromwich with public health director ,Ìý voluntary agreements don’t cover thousands of takeaways and food shops in the poorer parts of Britain. There, and in similar streets all over the country, cheapness is what sells - and there are no fats quite as cheap as industrial trans-fats.
As we heard in the programme, in a recording made for us by the Ö÷²¥´óÐã’s Asian Network, you don’t have to be poor to ruin your health with trans-fats. Thirty-something music producer told the story of how he lived happily on takeaways until he found himself in hospital on stroke alert, diagnosed with the arteries of a 70-year-old. You can get up-to-date information about health and nutrition on contributor Dr Alex Richardson’s .
The says a ban would be a sledgehammer to crack a nut. What do you think? Is a voluntary agreement by the food industry enough? Or do you think trans-fats should be banned as they are in Denmark, New York, California, Switzerland and Austria?
Sheila Dillon is the presenter of Radio 4’s The Food Programme.
Comment number 1.
At 11th Jul 2011, Freedomknight wrote:Yes, a very good programme. I tried to create some interest in this some years ago because there has to be some explanation for the obesity explosion and I believe Transfats are linked and make food addictive. Why did Andrew Lansley filibuster the question and run away from giving a clear answer? Perhaps the questions should have been stronger asking why he has not made a clear statement and how many people have died on his watch or since the Coalition came to power? Is there a corrupt relationship between the food industry and the Government? I know there is problem for interviewers where Ministers will not appear if they are firmly questioned but he was not held to account and many electors think the House of Commons is the place where Ministers go to lie. I think there is a massive amount of evidence still to come and that many millions may have died across the world. If the figure of 35 people dying every two days from Transfats in the UK can be substantiated this is a worse problem than terrorism and deserves far more attention than it is getting.
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Comment number 2.
At 11th Jul 2011, davidzimm wrote:My mother grew up in Wisconsin - "the Dairy State" - where, by law, every restaurant had to serve BUTTER and offer MILK on the menu. Nevertheless I grew up only being served MARGARINE because mom thought it was more healthy. I was 20 before I tasted butter for the first time (and I haven't gone back since).
I've always felt that margarine had to be less healthy than more "natural" butter but the conventional wisdom at the time of my growing up was the opposite. Just as this paradigm shifted so it may well shift back later.
Perhaps the best solution would come from my dad, who always say, "Moderation in everything."
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Comment number 3.
At 18th Jul 2011, Yellowperiltechie wrote:This is such old news. Trans fats was an issue at least in the baking industry back in 2004/2005. In terms of working for the major food processors in the UK it is nearly impossible to get hold of or even use fats or oils containing trans fats.
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Comment number 4.
At 19th Jul 2011, Ramona Andrews Ö÷²¥´óÐã Food host wrote:#3 - I have spoken with the programme's Producer Maggie Ayre who says: "The point we were trying to make in the programme is that it's not the major food processors/manufacturers that are the concern here. It is the vast amount of unregulated food manufacturers and suppliers both in the UK and abroad who provide much of the cheap food in low income areas."
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