Heart disease and stroke prevention charity, Heart of Mersey, supports the call today by senior doctors published in the BMJ to ban trans fats from all foods in the UK. This would prevent thousands of heart attacks and deaths every year, and would be a simple way to protect the public and save lives.

The authors, from Harvard School City of Public Health in the US, report that bans in Denmark and New York City effectively eliminated trans fats. Their views follow calls by public health specialists to eliminate the consumption of industrially-produced trans fats in the UK by next year.
 
Trans fats (also known as trans fatty acids) are solid fats found in margarines, biscuits, cakes, and fast food. Many studies demonstrate harmful effects of trans fats on cardiovascular risk factors. This recent analysis of all the evidence recommends that people should reduce or stop their dietary intake of trans fatty acids to minimise the related risk of coronary heart disease.
 
Heart of Mersey chief executive, Robin Ireland said, 'This report is further evidence of the health benefits of a ban on trans fats. Their consumption disproportionately affects poorer sections of our communities, so a ban would not only improve health but reduce inequalities. In our report, Good Fats: Bad Fats, published last October, we called for action to ban the use of trans fats in UK food production.'

Removing industrial trans fats is one of the most straightforward public health strategies for rapid improvements in health, they write. Based on current disease rates, a strategy to reduce consumption of trans fats by even 1% of total energy intake would be expected to prevent 11,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths annually in England alone.

Action by the UK might also produce larger benefits by inspiring other developed and developing countries to take similar measures to protect their citizens? health, they conclude.
 
ENDS                                                                                                             16.04.2010

1. The Heart of Mersey publication Good Fats Bad Fats II is available on the Charity's website under Publications and Downloads in the Documents file.