Replace and Return Project
Eliminate Nutrient of Public Health Concern from Your Diet and Enjoy Quality Health
Ave Health Sense REPLACE and RETURN Project align with the World Health Organization action package to eliminate industrially-produced trans fat from the global food supply via promotion of the replacement of industrially-produced trans fat with healthier fats/oils and creation of awareness of the negative health impact of trans fat among policy-makers, producers, suppliers, and the public.
Background: It has become a growing concern that people who live in urban settings are experiencing sickness on account of what they eat and how food is processed. The nutrients of public health concern are trans fatty acids, excess sodium in food and refined sugar in diet of whatever kind.
There are healthy options available for families, friends and communities to enjoy life while experiencing the same taste of quality food and maintaining health of the citizens. Increased intake of trans fat (>1% of total energy intake) is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease mortality and events. Trans fat intake is responsible for approximately 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year around the world.
The world health organization (WHO) recommends a maximum intake of less than 2000 mg/day sodium (less than 5 g/day salt) in adults which is about a leveled tea spoon. A reduction in sodium intake helps to control blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and coronary heart disease in adults. Added sugar in diet is mostly gotten from Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) and a large number of studies have evaluated the relationship between SSB consumption and weight gain or risk of overweight or obesity among adults.
An Overview: Trans fat, or trans- fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids that comes from either natural or industrial sources. Naturally occurring trans-fat comes from ruminant animals (cows and sheep).
Industrially produced trans-fat (IP-TFA) is formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil converting the room temperature state of the oil (liquid) into a solid, resulting in partially hydrogenated oil (PHO).
Food products that are likely to contain industrially produced Trans fatty acids:
- Margarine’s, shortenings, cakes, pies and cookies.
- Candies (especially with creamy fillings) Crackers, snack foods, microwave buttered popcorn
- Frozen pizzas, frozen biscuits, pastries, muffins
- Breaded and fried chicken and fish, fried fast foods
“The amount of trans fat generated during heating and frying is low when compared with the amount of trans fat is partially hydrogenated oils (PHO). On average, trans fat concentrations in PHOs are 25-45% of the oil, whereas heating and frying only increases trans fat concentration by approximately 3%
Why Are TFAs Bad for Humans: TFA (particularly industrially produced TFAs) are poisons, just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function. Consumption of TFA is associated with many adverse health effects.
High Blood Cholesterol: Create an imbalance in blood lipid levels
Risk of Heart Attack: Generates toxic compounds of insulin in the body which creates inflammation and damages the wall of blood vessels.
Type 2 Diabetes: Ip-TFA decreases the function of insulin, which leads to insulin resistance and raise the risk of diabetes mellitus
Obesity: Consumption of ip-TFA results in the deposition of fat around the belly/ waist region and also around the organs within the body cavity.
Inflammation: Ip-TFA increases the levels of certain chemicals that favors the development of inflammation within our body. Inflammation results in widespread aches and pains all over the body. E.g. joint pain, swellings etc.
Cancer: Frequent intake of food high in trans-fat can increase the chances of suffering from certain types of cancers, e.g. Breast cancer, cancer of the large intestine, etc
Trans Fat Myths:
- The reduction of trans fat in Nigerian foods to 2% will change the taste of the food
- The price of food products that use trans – fat as by products will drastically increase in the market
- No viable alternative to trans-fat is available in Nigeria
- A lot of businesses will fold up resulting in redundancy
FAQs
The effect of blood lipids resulting from changes in ruminant or industrially produced trans-fat appears to be similar. International expert groups and public health authorities recommend limiting consumption of trans fat (industrially produced and ruminant) to less than 1% of total energy intake, which translates to less than 2.2g/day for a 2,000- calories diet.
Mandatory national limits on industrially produced Trans fat are the most effective ways to reduce trans-fat in the food supply. There are two primary models for mandatory limits. The first, pioneered in Denmark and the second model recently adopted by the United States and Canada
The Tran-fat content of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) can vary from 10- 60% of the oil depending on how the oil is manufactured, with an average trans-fat content of 25%-45% of the oil.
The removal of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) results in substantial health benefits, with the greatest advantage obtained when PHOs are replaced by oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), followed by oils rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Oils rich in PUFAs include safflower oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, fatty fish, walnuts and seeds; oils rich in MUFAs includes canola oil, peanut oil and oils from nuts and avocados.
There is evidence that heating and frying oil at high temperatures leads to modest increase in trans-fat concentration. On average, the level of trans-fat has been found to increase by 3.67g/100g after frying. There is no evidence that other cooking methods, e.g. Baking, boiling, and grilling, lead to increased trans-fat concentrations.