Industrially producedtransfat in popular foods in 15 countries of the former Soviet Union from 2015 to 2016: a market basket investigation

Abstract

ObjectiveTo minimise the intake of industrially producedtransfat (I-TF) and decrease the risk of coronary heart disease, several countries have implemented a legislative restriction on I-TF in foods. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of I-TF in biscuits/cakes/wafers in 15 countries of the former Soviet Union that all have a high coronary mortality rate compared with countries in Western Europe.MethodsThree large supermarkets in 15 capitals were visited in 2015 or 2016. Prepackaged biscuits/cakes/wafers were bought if the list of ingredients disclosed that the product contained more than 15 g of fat per 100 g of product and if partially hydrogenated fat or a similar term, including margarine, refined fat or confectionery fat, were mentioned. Samples of the foods were subsequently analysed for total fat and TF.ResultsSome 994 products contained more than 2% total fat as I-TF (illegal in Denmark). In Armenia, 91 different products had a mean value (SD) of 21 (11)% fat as I-TF. In Estonia, there were eight products with 14 (10)% fat as I-TF. The other 13 countries had values between those of Armenia and Estonia. In several countries, a major portion of the products was imported from Russia and Ukraine. The mean shelf life (SD) of 673 packages was 218 (75) days. The % TF in the fat of the products produced in Russia and in Ukraine in relation to the date of production both declined by approximately 10% points during the 2-year collection period.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that I-TF is used in popular foods in all 15 countries of the former Soviet Union. Therefore, these findings indicate a possible way for some reduction of the high coronary mortality rate in these countries.

Assessment of Industrially Produced Trans Fatty Acids in Traditional Dishes, Arabic Sweets, and Market Food Products and Its Risks on Non-communicable Diseases in Lebanon

“…Moreover, while the majority of the investigated samples in our project had low levels of IP-TFAs, up to 14 g of TFAs per 100 g of food was observed in certain oils and fats sold at the Lebanese markets. Our findings, concerning the range of IP-TFAs in market products, were relatively low compared to the market investigations published in Stender et al ( 68 , 69 ).…”

Assessment of trans-fatty acid content in a sample of foods from the Slovenian food supply using a sales-weighting approach

“…Estimates of the sales-weighted proportion of pre-packed foods with more than 2 % of TFA in fats (Table 2) highlight biscuits and ice cream as the most problematic categories of pre-packed foods (11 % and 27 %, respectively), while in other food categories, the proportion of foods with higher TFA levels is below 5 %. These observations confirm that approach of Stender et al (28,29,31,32) to conduct international market basket investigations with focus of biscuits is very relevant. Based on study results, the regulatory limit of TFA content in foods was introduced in Slovenia recently (40) ; the regulation has been fully enforced since April 2019, meaning that the results of the reported study will also be very valuable for monitoring the changes in the food supply after this regulatory intervention.…”

“…Regular monitoring of the food supply is needed in order to evaluate the efficacy of those policies and to enable updated assessments of the TFA-related public health risks. The presence of TFA in food supply is therefore regularly monitored in different countries (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29) .…”

Non-Conjugated-Industrially-Produced-Trans Fatty in Lebanese Foods: The Case of Elaidic and Linolelaidic Acids

“…Moreover, while the majority of the investigated samples in our project had low levels of TFAs, up to 14 g of TFAs per 100 g of food was observed in certain oils and fats sold at the Lebanese markets. Our findings, concerning the range of TFAs in-market products, were relatively low compared with the market investigations published in Stender et al (2019Stender et al ( -2020 [41,42].…”