The world could eliminate industrially-produced trans fats by 2023, the World Health Organization said on Monday, unveiling a plan that it said would prevent 500,000 deaths per year from cardiovascular disease. Trans fats are popular with manufacturers of fried, baked and snack foods because they have a long shelf life, but they are bad for consumers, increasing heart disease risk by 21 percent and deaths by 28 percent, a WHO statement said.
"Why should our children have such an unsafe ingredient in their foods?," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the statement. Implementing the WHO's strategy for replacing trans fats, including promoting healthier alternatives and legislating against the harmful ingredients, would remove them from the food chain and score a major victory against heart disease, he said.
Several rich countries have already virtually eliminated trans fats by putting limits on the amounts allowed in packaged foods.