DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAKARAN NEWS

A move away from bad fats

“In the Indian context, the repeated use of fat/oil at high temperature in the preparation of certain food items would lead to an increased consumption of trans fat.” 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India regulation to reduce trans fat content in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils will help meet the WHO limit

Beginning next month, manufacturers in India of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVOs) will be required to reduce the trans fat level from the current 10 per cent limit to 5 per cent, says the Chairman of the Scientific Panel on Oils and Fats, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Dr. R.B.N. Prasad. This downward revision is in keeping with FSSAI’s revised trans fat regulation of December 2014. In July 2013, FSSAI brought in regulations to limit the trans fat content to 10 per cent in PHVOs like vanaspati.

In India, vanaspati, desi ghee, butter and margarine are the main sources of trans fat. Vanaspati is favoured by the industry as it prolongs a food product’s shelf life and is cheap. However, it has adverse health effects and is more harmful than saturated fat. This is because it increases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) or bad cholesterol and decreases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) or good cholesterol. These changes in the lipoprotein cholesterol content increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Risk of heart disease, diabetes

According to a July 2015 paper (BMC Public Health) a 2 per cent increase in energy intake from trans fat has been associated with a 23 per cent increase in the risk of heart disease. Trans fat intake has also been linked to increased insulin resistance and a risk of diabetes, which is why the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended an upper limit of less than 1 per cent of total energy intake through trans fat.

A report by the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition says that if a person consumes 2,000 kcal of food that has 20-30 per cent vanaspati every day, the energy intake from trans fat will be in the range of 0.9-1.35 per cent. So, limiting the trans fat content to 10 per cent will still lead to more than the WHO-recommended level of less than 1 per cent. FSSAI’s downward revision of the upper bound of trans fat to 5 per cent will help meet the WHO limit and go a long way in reducing adverse health effects of trans fat.

A June 2016 paper in Food Chemistry found that repeated heating/frying led to an increase in trans fat content. This increase was seen even when oil that did not contain any trans fat was heated to 180°C. The formation of trans fat during food frying is closely related to the temperature and duration of heating the oil.

In the Indian context, the repeated use of fat/oil at high temperature in the preparation of certain food items would lead to an increased consumption of trans fat, the authors warn.

Oil reuse findings

“FSSAI clearly states that oil should not be reused more than 2-3 times,” says Dr. Prasad. Polar compounds are formed due to oxidation, hydrolysis and some other chemical reactions of oils during frying.

Some countries have regulations that fried oil should not be used if it contains more than 25 per cent of polar compounds. “If you fry any oil continuously for about two hours then it is better not use this oil for the second time for frying. The oil should instead be used for cooking, like curry preparation, that does not involve frying,” he says.

Yet, there is no way of monitoring reuse of oil or limiting the amount of trans fat in food items prepared in restaurants and by roadside vendors. According to the BMC Public Health paper, oils samples collected from street vendors contained high levels of trans fat — 0.1-30 per cent of total fat. As a result, 4 per cent of people in rural areas and 13 per cent in the urban areas were consuming trans fat that is much higher than the WHO-recommended level, the paper says.

Though packaged food products are required to label trans fat content, most local products do not have it on the label. “Even if trans fat [content is] quoted, these are based on raw ingredients and not the finished product,” writes the first author of the Food Chemistry paper, Swati Bhardwaj from the University of Delhi.

In 2004, Denmark became the first country to limit trans fat to 2 per cent of total fat in all food items. According to a January 2016 paper in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the number of deaths in Denmark caused by cardiovascular disease reduced on average by 14.2 per 1,00,000 population per year due to the regulation. Following Denmark’s example, many other countries too have limited the trans fat content in food items.

prasad.ravindranath@thehindu.co.in

Banning Junk Food Is Not The Fix-All For India's Childhood Obesity Problem

Recently, while strolling in an upscale Delhi mall with a friend, I spotted a young mother with a crying child. Then I overheard the flustered woman saying in Hindi, "Don't cry... I'll fetch you a burger right now." Soon, the kid was quiet, gobbling down a burger and swigging a cold drink. Oh, and I forgot to mention: the mother was obese. Such scenes are not uncommon in urban environments. We think nothing of it when we see toddlers and young children munching on chips or other junk food.

• The WHO estimates that as per the current trend, 70 million young children will be overweight or obese by 2025.

This year, I had the privilege of attending the 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a momentous resolution on ending childhood obesity. The proposal, sponsored by the delegations of Australia, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Thailand and Zambia, received overwhelming endorsement. It was indeed a historic moment for the world to take cognizance of the alarming trend in child obesity.

Childhood obesity is excessive fat accumulation in infants and children up to 19 years of age. The WHO estimates that as per the current trend, 70 million young children will be overweight or obese by 2025. One widely prevalent assumption is that obesity is a manifestation of affluence or than only rich people can be afflicted by it. This is wrong. The situation is actually worse in developing countries. India falls in this category.

The resolution includes a comprehensive set of recommendations to tackle childhood obesity, including: promoting intake of healthy foods and physical activity, integrating non-communicable disease guidelines with the pre-conception and antenatal programmes, providing support to inculcate healthy eating habits, implementing comprehensive programmes promoting healthy school environments, health and nutrition education and physical activity, and providing family-based counselling services for children and adolescents who are obese.

The most striking recommendation with respect to India involves promoting healthy school environments for which Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development, proposed a ban on sale of junk food in school canteens, as well as within a radius of 200 metres by private vendors and hawkers during school hours (7am-4pm). This move came after Uday Foundation, a non-government organization in India filed a Public Interest Litigation in 2011 seeking a ban on junk food and carbonated drinks in the schools and also for its sell within a radius of 500 yards. Finally, in 2015 the High Court ordered strict implementation of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) guidelines for making available wholesome, nutritious, safe and hygienic food to schoolchildren in India.

• Any right-thinking Indian will concede that the need of the hour is to focus more on nutrition promotion and education.

The guidelines classify certain foods as high in fat and sugar (HFSS) -- such as chips, fried foods, carbonated beverages, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers, potato fries, confectionery items, chocolates, candy, samosas, bread pakoras etc.). A circular was issued to all schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education in India in this regard, this year in January. It directed the schools to also constitute a canteen management committee with 7-10 members to decide the type of food to be prepared, ensure food safety, study infrastructural gaps in implementation, design physical activity programs, avail services of health experts, and develop awareness resource material pertaining to nutrition and health. In addition, it recommended the celebration of Nutrition Week, regular monitoring of body mass index, inspection of lunch boxes and doing community outreach programmes for the promotion of physical activity. The circular also suggested that parents "may be" involved by raising their awareness levels and that children be taught about a healthy lifestyle in the curriculum. Although the intent of the government is noble, it is the implementation of these guidelines that will determine their success.

Certain issues continue to remain fuzzy and need to be addressed:

• Lack of clarity on how to put these guidelines into action. A detailed strategy is required on what to do, how to do it, and who will do what. A time line and measurable indicators to monitor and evaluate implementation is also necessary.

• The terminology may pose problems in the Indian scenario. The guidelines classify chips in the HFSS category but what about aloo bhaji?

• With the country experiencing a rise in the number of international schools where children from different nationalities and ethnicities study, the guidelines fall short. For instance, it has noodles in the HFSS category but for some nationalities such as Japanese/Korean/Chinese, noodles are staple.

• The guidelines seem superficial in terms of not addressing healthy alternatives to the existing food items. They advise banning burgers, but what if a burger is made of a wholegrain bun and has a soy patty?

• Nothing is mentioned regarding the consequences of non-compliance with these guidelines by schools.

If we need to curb childhood obesity, we require concerted efforts from the government, schools, parents as well as children instead of working in silos.

Any right-thinking Indian will concede that the need of the hour is to focus more on nutrition promotion and education, which after all is the bedrock of such social change. Such an orientation included in the "may be" category appears misconceived. Leave alone children, not many parents are aware of the concepts of healthy or unhealthy eating. Even teachers may be lagging in such knowledge. The government needs to take a cue from the food and beverage industry on their marketing skills for these unhealthy foods and beverages directed at children. I don't think I have seen advertisements on choosing healthy foods, barring a couple on eggs and milk. If we need to curb childhood obesity, we require concerted efforts from the government, schools, parents as well as children instead of working in silos. Mere banning of junk food alone may not be the solution that we need.

VMC to provide food safety licences online

Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has informed all food business operators in the city that they can get themselves registered on the VMC's official portal. They need to do so before August 4 as per the latest directives from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

A release here stated that the VMC's website has detailed information regarding the registration procedure. The applicants can fill in the details online and even pay the stipulated fee there.

After doing so, the applicants will have to submit a file with the necessary documents to the nearest Jan Seva Kendra of the civic body started at ward offices. Once the licence is ready the officials will intimate the applicant and he can collect it.

Soon, a policy to keep a tab on food trucks

Gurgaon: The MCG has prepared a policy to govern mobile food trucks in the city and will soon invite public suggestions before finalising it. There are a number of food trucks in the city but they are not governed by any policy at present.

"All food businesses or community groups that sell food must comply with food laws, including the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and are legally responsible to ensure that food sold or prepared for sale is safe to eat and free from contamination," said a senior MCG official. "These are the basic and compulsory requirements for ensuring safety of the food manufactured in any premise and food business operators (FBO) are supposed to continuously try to improve the sanitary and hygienic conditions," the official added.

The authorities say that right now there are practically no checks and balances on these food trucks and a policy is the need of the hour. "