Trans fat reductions should be voluntary
That’s the recommendation likely to come from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board to UK Ministers next week.
The UK Health Secretary asked the FSA to review the situation regarding trans fats after Denmark and New York City changed the laws forcing the food and catering industry to make adjustments.
“The review showed that the voluntary action so far in the UK has delivered at least the same benefits as the mandatory legislation abroad. In the UK, trans fats make up for just 1% of food energy intake.” The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) recommends that trans fats dietary intake should not exceed 2% of total energy consumed.
“The voluntary reduction of trans fats is a great illustration of a regulator and industry working together for the benefit of public health. I’m delighted that industry has responded so positively to this issue and I think this decision provides a springboard for our future work on salt and saturated fat,” Chair of the FSA, Dame Deirdre Hutton, said.
In New York, restrictions were mandated because trans fats accounted for about 2.6% of food energy. Hard to believe that we couldn’t have found a way to lower this by 0.6%. I think it reflects the tendency of liberal representatives in “The City” and Denmark to gravitate towards regulatory rather than collaborative solutions to social issues.
12/15/07 14:45 JR