Health department targets eradication by 2023
20 Jul 2021 — The Philippines’ Department of Health has adopted a new administrative order to eliminate industrially produced trans fat from its food supply by 2023 – becoming the 45th country to do so.
Specifically, the new policy aims to reduce Filipinos’ trans fatty acids intake to less than 1 percent of their recommended total energy intake.
“Trans fatty acids have no health benefits,” Luis Raymund Villafuerte, House Deputy Speaker, remarks. “The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that trans fatty acids elimination is considered as one of the simplest public health interventions to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and improve the nutritional quality of diets.”
Click to EnlargeThe US National Academy of Medicine concluded there is no safe level of consumption of trans fatty acids.According to the WHO, noncommunicable diseases kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71 percent of all deaths globally. In the Philippines, these long-duration illnesses account for 68 percent of all deaths.
“Today, the Philippines adopted a best-practice policy to eliminate industrially produced trans fat from its food supply,” says Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of global health initiative Resolve to Save Lives.
“We applaud the Philippines Department of Health for this bold commitment that will protect more than 108 million people from trans fat, which is deemed a dangerous chemical food additive that increases the risk of heart attack and death,” Dr. Frieden comments.
“With the new administrative order banning partially-hydrogenated oils – the main