Bangladesh
Trans fat Bangladesh to formulate policies to control trans fat in food
Dhaka, November 7: The government has taken initiative to formulate a policy to control harmful trans fats in food. The policy decision was taken at a recent meeting of the Technical Committee on Trans fat formed by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority. As per the decision of the meeting, Bangladesh Safe Food Authority is now working on formulating the draft policy.
Manjur Morshed Ahmed, head of the technical committee on trans fat and a member of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, told the state-run BSS news agency that it was a policy decision to enact provisions to control harmful trans fats in food. He said work was underway to formulate the rules and it could take six months to complete.
He said the World Health Organization has recommended limiting the maximum amount of trans fat in food to 2 grams by 2023.
The committee is also working to implement it in Bangladesh within the stipulated time. These rules will be formulated in a coordinated manner in consultation with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which owns various factories. He said the rules would not be enforced in any way.
According to a report released by the World Health Organization in September this year, about two-thirds of the world's deaths from transfat-related heart disease occur in 15 countries, including Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 2 lakh 77 thousand people die of heart attack every year. Of which, trans fat is responsible for 4.41 percent deaths.
The World Health Organization recommends that the best policy for the elimination of industrialized trans fats be to limit the maximum amount of trans fats per 100 g of fat in all fats, oils and foods to 2 g, or to ban the production and use of partial hydrogenated oil-PHO.
The main source of industrial trans fat is partially hydrogenated oil or PHO, which is known as Dalda or Vegetable Ghee in Bangladesh. A recent study by the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute analyzed a total of 24 samples from Dhaka's top PHO brands and found that 92 per cent of the samples contained more than the 2 per cent trans fat (trans fatty acid) recommended by the WHO.
The presence of trans fat up to a maximum of 20.9 grams per 100 grams of PHO sample has been observed, which is more than 10 times the recommended level of WHO. An average of 11 grams of trans fat was found in every 100 grams of sample. In Bangladesh, PHO or Dalda is commonly used to make fried burnt snacks and bakery products and to prepare food in hotels, restaurants and roadside shops.
