TY - JOUR

T1 - Industrially produced trans fat in popular foods in 15 countries of the former Soviet Union from 2015 to 2016

T2 - a market basket investigation

AU - Stender, Steen

N1 - CURIS 2019 NEXS 069 © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Objective: To minimise the intake of industrially produced trans fat (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.Methods: Three 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.Results: Some 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.Conclusions: The 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.

AB - Objective: To minimise the intake of industrially produced trans fat (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.Methods: Three 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.Results: Some 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.Conclusions: The 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.

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023184

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023184

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30772846

VL - 9

JO - BMJ Open

JF - BMJ Open

SN - 2044-6055

IS - 2

M1 - e023184

ER -