Intake of trans fat-laden unsafe food raises risks of heart diseases

Staff Reporter: The National Food Safety Day has been observed on Tuesday with various programme across the country but it is yet far cry to ensure food safety due to huge use of transfat in diffrent types of foods.
The ccasion observed in an aim to inform the public about the initiatives and efforts taken by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority as well as to create mass awareness among everyone regarding the activities and procedures for producing and distributing safe food.
Trans fat free food is one of the major determinants of safe food and the authority has currently undertaken an initiative to fix the maximum level for trans fat to 2% of the total fat in all fats, oils and food products, which is a very timely move in terms of public health safety.
Trans fatty acid (TFA) or trans fat is an element in food that lacks any nutritional benefits. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Bangladesh ranks among the 15 countries with the highest burden of deaths from trans fat induced heart diseases. The WHO report of 2020 has stated that owing to trans fat consumption, 5,776 people die from heart diseases each year in Bangladesh. Trans fat in food primarily comes from Partially Hydrogenated Oil or PHO, which is better known as dalda or bonospoti ghee. PHO or dalda is commonly used in preparing fried snacks, baked goods, as well as food preparation by restaurants and street food vendors in Bangladesh.
A recent study has found 92% of sampled PHOs of Dhaka to contain more than the WHO threshold of 2% TFA. A staggering high concentration of TFA of maximum 20.9g per 100 grams has been detected in the sampled PHOs, which is more than 10 times the WHO-set threshold.
On occasion of the National Food Safety Day, ABM Zubair, the Executive Director of research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), opined that “Safe food is a right for everyone. We have learned that the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority is about to promulgate regulatory policies on trans fat. This policy needs to be finalized and implemented the soonest possible.”