Trans Fatty Acids: Chemistry, Health risk association, Global and Indian regulationsA review

Trans fatty acids in foods have been a subject of concern from the day they have been identified as a potent health risk factor linked with cardiac diseases. Industrially produced trans fats are an important ingredient in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods. Manufacturers often use them as they don’t turn rancid as easily as non-hydrogenated fats. They can withstand repeated heating without breaking down, and the process can turn a liquid oil into a solid, which can be easily transported. It was also much less expensive than many solid animal fats. These characteristics were attractive to food makers, and partially hydrogenated oils became a mainstay in commercial baked goods like packaged pastries and cookies, other snack foods, and in fast-food restaurant deep fryers. Moreover, it’s consumption increased since the 1960s when the food industry began replacing animal fats with partially hydrogenated oils following public health recommendations to reduce the intake of saturated fats, such as those contained in butter. Recent research has shown that it promotes inflammation, an overactivity of the immune system that has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Elimination of industrially produced trans fats from the global food supply has been identified as one of the priority targets of WHO’s strategic plan.