MEPs have long been of the view that trans-fatty acids (TFAs) in industrially produced foods should be regulated in the EU. To curb this veritable scourge for consumer health in Europe, the European Parliament sitting in Strasbourg called on Wednesday 26 October for a legal limit to be set by EU law on these toxic substances (see EUROPE 11636).
MEPs voted by the overwhelming majority of 586 to 19, with 38 abstentions, for such a limit and called on the European Commission to establish an EU legal limit on industrial TFAs “as soon as possible”, requesting that the proposal be made within two years.
The resolution adopted sounds the alarm as these partially hydrogenated industrial oils are are unsaturated fats and are to be found in high quantities in prepared dishes, pastries, quiches and pizzas, margarine, chips, chocolate bars and already wrapped bakery wares with few consumers aware of their dangers. Consumption of TFAs has been associated with cardiovascular disease, infertility, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and obesity. High TFA intake is a risk factor for developing coronary heart disease, which accounts for some 660,000 deaths annually in the EU.
MEPs highlight that the limit set in Danish law (2% TFAs in oils and fats) has delivered successful results, significantly reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Since TFAs tend to be used in cheaper foods, people on lower incomes are most exposed to foodstuffs with a higher TFA content. This, in turn, increases the potential for widening health inequalities, MEPs say.
Fatty acids are found naturally in meat and the milk of ruminants but the parliamentary resolution does not affect these.
The European Commission has just announced a proposal for a regulation for the first quarter of 2017 (see EUROPE 11648). In the United States, the FDA plans to ban industrial TFAs in foods by June 2018. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)