Trans fatty acids
Trans fatty acids – also known as trans fats – are formed when liquid vegetable oils are partially hydrogenated or ‘hardened’ for use as spreads such as margarine, cooking fats for deep-frying and shortening for baking. Some trans fatty acids are formed during high temperature cooking. Trans fatty acids are also found naturally in meat and milk.
Are trans fatty acids present in foods sold in Australia and New Zealand?
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends we consume no more than 1 percent of our daily kilojoules from trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are in our food supply although the amount is decreasing. Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ) 2009 review of trans fatty acids found that Australians obtain on average 0.5 per cent of their daily kilojoules from trans fatty acids and New Zealanders on average 0.6 per cent, well below the WHO recommendation and many other countries.
What are the health implications of consuming trans fatty acids?
There is compelling evidence that trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids increase bad cholesterol in our blood, a key indicator for heart disease. In addition, trans fatty acids may also decrease good cholesterol. While the adverse effects on blood lipid profiles caused by comparable levels of trans fatty acids are greater than those posed by saturated fatty acids, the trans fatty acid intakes of Australians and New Zealanders are much lower than intakes of saturated fatty acids.
Are trans fatty acids identified on food labels?
It is not mandatory to declare the trans fatty acid content of a food on the label, although manufacturers can provide this information voluntarily. However, trans fatty acid content must be declared on a food label if a nutrition claim is made about cholesterol or saturated, trans, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fatty acids; or omega-3, omega-6 or omega-9 fatty acids. Examples of nutrition claims are ‘low in saturated fat’ or ‘source of omega-3’.
What can I do to reduce harmful fat in my diet?
While generally we are consuming levels of trans fatty acids well below the WHO recommendation, most Australians and New Zealanders are obtaining around 14 to 16 per cent of their daily kilojoules from trans fats and saturated fats combined, which is well above the Australian and New Zealand recommendations that these fats contribute no more than 8 to 10 per cent of daily kilojoule intake. This is due to the high intakes of saturated fats.
Therefore, we need to reduce our intake of saturated fats. Manufacturers are required to list total fats and saturated fats in the nutrition information panel on food labels.
You can reduce your fat intakes even further by following healthy eating guidelines: that is, to reduce overall consumption of all fats and limit consumption of trans fatty acids and saturated fats. You can do this by choosing packaged foods with lower levels of total fat (check the food package's nutrition panel) and also choosing less fried food, high fat dairy products, fatty meats, pies or pastries.
The following website links may be useful:
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing Healthy Eating Guidelines http://www.health.gov.au/internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/content/good-bad-fat
New Zealand Ministry of Health Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Adults http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/49ba80c00757b8804c256673001d47d0/07bc6dbe764fdabbcc256ddb006d9ab4?OpenDocument
National Heart Foundation of Australia http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/sites/HealthyEating/understandingfatsandcholesterol/Pages/Reducesaturatedfat.aspx
Aren’t trans fatty acids banned overseas?
No. The few places reported as banning trans fatty acids have, in fact, set upper limits. For example, in 2003, the Danish Nutrition Council recommended restrictions on, and phasing out of, the use of manufactured trans fatty acids in foods. However, if the trans fatty acids content in the finished product is less than 1 gram per 100 grams of the individual oil or fat, the food is considered free of trans fatty acids.
In California and New York there is an upper limit of 0.5 grams of trans fatty acids per standard serve of a packaged food or a restaurant meal. So consuming 3 serves a day, for example serves of meat, chips, desserts etc, could put you well over the already low levels of trans fatty acids consumed in Australia.
Is government taking action to reduce trans fatty acids in food?
In 2009, FSANZ completed a review of trans fatty acids in the Australian and New Zealand food supply, as a follow up to a previous review completed by FSANZ in 2007. The purpose of the 2009 review was to evaluate the outcomes of voluntary measures undertaken by industry to reduce the levels of trans fatty acids in foods.
The 2009 review found that intakes of trans fatty acids from manufactured sources have decreased in Australia and New Zealand by around 25-45% since 2007, reflecting changes in industry practice to reduce TFA levels in manufactured foods. This decline is equivalent to a population average decline of 0.1% of energy. More than 90% of Australians and more than 85% of New Zealanders have TFA intakes below 1% of total energy, the goal proposed by the World Health Organization.
As a result of these findings, in October 2009 the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council agreed to retain the current non-regulatory approaches to reducing the levels of trans fatty acids in the food supply, and that more prescriptive regulation was not required.
Both the 2007 and 2009 trans fatty acid review reports can be found on the FSANZ website: