Is Drinking Coffee Actually Healthy? WHO States Trans Fats Can Be Fatal and Should Not Exist in Food

WHO Report: 5 Billion People Exposed to Harmful Trans Fats in Food

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on the 23rd stating that according to WHO data, more than 5 billion people out of the global 8 billion population have harmful industrially-produced trans fats in their food. Among them, 500,000 people die prematurely from heart diseases caused by trans fats.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that trans fats have no known benefits and pose huge health risks. They are deadly toxic chemicals that should not exist in food! Not only do they offer no health benefits to humans, but they also impose high costs on healthcare systems.

Understanding Trans Fats

Trans fats, also known as trans fatty acids, are unsaturated fatty acids that can hinder fatty acid metabolism, increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, increase the incidence of blood clots, and raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Despite offering no health benefits, trans fats are very common and typically found in packaged foods, baked goods, cooking oils, and food spreads.

There are typically two sources of trans fats. One comes from natural foods, mainly ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, etc., in their meat, fat, milk, and dairy products. However, the content of trans fats in natural foods is not significant.

The other source comes from processing. Small amounts of trans fats can be produced during cooking when oil temperature is too high and cooking time is too long. However, most come from the hydrogenation and refining process of vegetable oils. The advantages are improved taste, high-temperature resistance, resistance to spoilage, and long shelf life.

Common Foods Containing Trans Fats

In daily life, many fried foods (French fries, potato chips, popcorn, instant noodles, etc.), artificial cream foods (ice cream, various desserts and cakes, etc.), products containing non-dairy creamer (instant coffee, instant milk tea powder, etc.), frozen and fast foods (because they need to extend shelf life), etc., all contain trans fats.

Over the past decade, more and more reports and data have indicated that the increasing number of cardiovascular disease cases worldwide is caused by excessive intake of trans fats, as they are difficult to degrade in the body and accumulate in blood vessels.

Global Response to Trans Fats

Therefore, in 2018, WHO first called for the global elimination of industrially-produced trans fats (with the elimination target set for 2023), urging governments to follow specific standards set by WHO and restrict industrially-produced trans fats in all environments.

Alternative solutions include limiting trans fats in all foods to two grams per 100 grams of total fat, and national mandatory bans on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils (the main source of trans fats) as food ingredients.

In these 4 to 5 years, 43 countries have now implemented best practice policies for trans fats in food, protecting 2.8 billion people globally. The population coverage of best practice policies has increased nearly sixfold, mainly concentrated in high-income countries in the Americas and Europe.

At the same time, more and more middle-income countries are implementing or adopting these policies, including Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Paraguay, Philippines, and Ukraine.

Despite substantial progress, 5 billion people worldwide still face the risk of devastating health effects from trans fats, so the global goal of completely eliminating trans fats by 2023 is currently unachievable.

Among them, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Korea are the countries most severely affected by trans fat-related health problems.

To this end, in this report, WHO recommends that countries focus on the following four areas: adopting best practice policies, monitoring and surveillance, healthy oil substitutes, and advocacy. WHO has also developed guidelines to help countries make rapid progress in these areas. However, despite WHO's advocacy and recommendations, ultimate implementation depends on the intentions and actions taken by national governments.

WHO also encourages food manufacturers to eliminate industrially-produced trans fats from their products. Major suppliers of oils and fats are also required to remove industrially-produced trans fats from products sold to global food manufacturers.

Trans Fats in Coffee Products

In the current coffee market, although more and more consumers are beginning to focus on health and choose fresh-ground coffee, many instant coffee brands are also moving towards premium routes, launching freeze-dried coffee without sugar and non-dairy creamer. However, 3-in-1 instant coffee (containing sugar and non-dairy creamer) still has the highest sales among coffee products and shows an upward trend.

Although many 3-in-1 instant coffee products are labeled as "0 trans fat," it does not mean that the products are completely free of trans fats.

China's "General Standard for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods" implemented since 2013 stipulates that when food ingredients contain or use hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oils and fats during production, the content of trans fats (acids) should be indicated in the nutrition label.

In other words, as long as raw materials that may contain trans fatty acids are used, the content of trans fatty acids must be labeled for consumers to see. According to national standards, when the content of trans fatty acids in food is ≤ 0.3g/100g, it can be labeled as 0. Although the trans fat content in the product is low, we cannot take it lightly, as sugar is also one of the culprits of cardiovascular diseases.

In fresh-ground coffee, many products also have added sugar. Some also add ice cream, artificial cream, and cocoa butter substitutes, all of which contain large amounts of trans fats. These ingredients are difficult to make 0 trans fat because they require stronger stability and longer storage time.

Although trans fat intake cannot be entirely blamed on coffee products - after all, a fast food meal or a serving of instant noodles contains more trans fats than a cup of coffee - here we are simply discussing which coffee products contain more trans fats.

Daily appropriate intake of black coffee without sugar, non-dairy creamer, dairy products, and other additives can achieve the effect of protecting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, as well as achieving weight loss and fat reduction.

However, the premise is that everyone has healthy eating habits in their daily life~ Try to have less contact with foods high in trans fat content, and eat as little as possible. After all

Everyone is responsible for their own health.

Image source: Internet

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