Reduction of trans fat in UK diets is a step forward but progress should be monitored

16 April 2010

In response to a new article published by the British Medical Journal on the removal of trans fats from all foods in the UK to help prevent heart attacks and deaths, Victoria Taylor, Senior Heart Health Dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, commented:

“This editorial highlights just how important it is for us to keep industrially produced trans fats out of our diets to help keep our hearts healthy.

“Whilst legislation has been used in other countries to remove trans fats from people’s diets, in the UK voluntary measures by the food industry have already achieved significant reductions in the amount of trans fats in our diets. On average, we now consume less than the recommended maximum of 2% of total food energy from trans fats.

“This is good progress but we still need to do more to make sure that the industrially produced trans fats don’t creep back into our nation’s diets. We can only do this by continuing to track carefully how much we are eating, and setting clear targets for food manufacturers to achieve.

"Combining these measures with clear and consistent traffic light food labelling are essential steps to help shoppers make healthier choices.”

Notes:

The above statement has been issued in response to a new article by the British Medical Journal ‘Removing industrial trans fat from foods’ by Dariush Mozaffarian, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Meir J Stampfer, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology.