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Context

Industrially produced trans fats - or trans fatty acids - are formed during p artial hydrogenation, a process used by the food industry to impart hardness and stability to liquid vegetable oils such as soybean and canola oils. Among other advantages, this process maintains the taste and smell characteristics of oils, enabling a longer shelf life for the final food products.

 

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The majority of the trans fats in our diet are industrially produced and typically found in foods made with partially hydrogenated oil. These foods are predominantly baked and fried goods such as crackers, cookies, doughnuts, pastries, muffins, croissants, french fries and breaded foods. The trans fat content of certain types of these foods may be as high as 45% of the total fat in the product, although levels of trans fat in other varieties of these foods have been reduced considerably in recent years due to the efforts of a number of companies.

Trans fats are also found at low levels (generally 2-5% of fat content) in ruminant-based foods such as dairy products and beef, and the level in lamb may be as high as 8%. These trans fats are from "natural sources," that is, the trans fat from a ruminant animal (e.g. cow, sheep or goat) is produced by the normal action of bacteria in the animal's intestinal tract.

 

There is a significant and growing body of evidence linking trans fats to coronary heart disease and indicating they may do even more harm than saturated fats. Metabolic studies, for instance, show that trans fats increase blood levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and decrease blood levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol. Both effects are strongly associated with increased coronary heart disease. Saturated fats are thought to be less damaging because they elevate both the "bad" and "good" types of cholesterol. Epidemiological data cited by the Danish Nutrition Council also point to a greater risk of coronary heart disease from increases in dietary trans fats than from increases in dietary saturated fats.

 

In 2002, the Panel on Macronutrients of the U.S. National Academies' Institute of Medicine recommended that trans fat consumption be as low as possible while ensuring a nutritionally adequate diet. The Panel members did not set a safe upper limit because the evidence suggests that any rise in trans fat intake increases coronary heart disease risk. They also acknowledged that trans fats are unavoidable in ordinary diets. Subsequently, in 2003, the World Health Organization advised that trans fat intake be limited to less than 1% of overall energy intake - a limit regarded by that body as a practical level of intake consistent with public health goals.

 

In Canada, scientists raised concerns about the detrimental effects of trans fats and their levels in the Canadian diet as far back as 1990, recommending that these levels not increase. The warnings led to the development of a number of margarine products with low trans fat levels, targeted to health-conscious consumers. However, while some progress was being made in the margarine sector, the use of partially hydrogenated oils continued to increase in other categories of processed foods. By the mid-1990s, using both dietary intake data and analysis of human tissue samples, researchers estimated that Canadians had one of the highest intakes of trans fats in the world.

 

In recognition of this increase and the impacts on the health of Canadians, Canada became the first country to regulate the mandatory labelling of trans fats on prepackaged foods. Canadian labelling regulations were promulgated on December 12, 2002, and became mandatory on December 12, 2005. For small companies (annual food sales of less than $1 million), the requirement to implement the regulations was extended to 2007. As a result of the labelling legislation, as well as mounting consumer concerns about trans fats, many companies have been working to reduce trans fat levels in their products. However, more needs to be done if industrially produced trans fats are to be effectively eliminated from processed foods in Canada.

 

Other countries have also responded to the evidence linking trans fats and coronary heart disease. In January 2006, for example, the United States introduced the mandatory declaration of trans fats in foods containing levels of 0.5 grams or more per serving. Meanwhile, Denmark has adopted a very different approach. Rather than impose labelling requirements, Denmark became the first country to set an upper limit on the percentage of industrially produced trans fat in foods. In March 2003, acting on recommendations from the Danish Nutrition Council, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration introduced an Executive Order limiting trans fats from sources other than meats and dairy products to a maximum of 2% of total fat in each food item, with a phased-in implementation from June 2003 to January 2004.

 

The Danish approach was based on the assumption that ending the use of industrially produced trans fatswould have no negative impact on either health or the quality of food. The Danish Nutrition Council was also the first health authority to consider basing its recommendations on a possible difference between the health effects of naturally occurring and industrially produced trans fats - though it acknowledged that the assumption of any difference in health effects was based on very little data.

 

In Canada, the Danish experience led some groups to argue that a government-imposed ban would hasten the reduction of trans fats in the Canadian diet and affect a broader range of foods than nutrition labelling. This viewpoint, coupled with heightened awareness of the dangers of trans fats among the Canadian public - the proportion of Canadians reporting awareness surged from 45% in 1998 to 79% in 2005 - formed a favourable background for political action and prompted the introduction of the trans fat motion in the House of Commons in November 2004.