Civil Society calls for eliminating deadly industrially produced transfatty acids
Chehra WebDesk
December 23, 2024 – [Islamabad] – Today, in a joint statement from representatives of leading civil society organizations of Pakistan have urged government to taking urgent policy measures to eliminate deadly industrially produced transfatty acids (iTFA) from the all sources of food supply chain. This was said during the media session hosted by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) and Pakistan Youth Change Advocates in a local hotel of Peshawar. The event provided journalists and media professionals with comprehensive insights into the challenges associated to public health and economy with the presence of iTFAs in the diet.
“Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and stroke are the major killers of Pakistanis. Every single day delay in adopting best practice policy in eliminating iTFA from the diet means more people are dying due to this deadly substance lurking in our food supply” said Shahzad Iqbal, project manager, CPDI. “Pakistan is among the top consumer of iTFAs in the region due to absence of a comprehensive policy unlike other countries in the region” he added.
Partially Hydrogenated oils (PHO) are the major source of iTFAs and every single food where these oils are used contain these deadly substances in the diet. “Limiting iTFAs from the all dietary sources to no more than 2 percent of total fats through a single regulation and imposing ban on PHOs shall be good approach for Pakistan to address this concerning situation” said Munawar Hussain, Country Lead Pakistan at Global Health Advocacy Incubator.
Recent studies on our food sources have highlighted the urgent need for measures to mitigate the adverse effects of iTFA and PHO in these substances, which are commonly found in processed food items. “As observed, majority of the brands claiming virtually tranfats & PHO free are also having a high quantity of these substances and there is a strong need for advocacy towards PHO free Pakistan.” said Mahnoor Sajid, a nutrition expert at CPDI.
The event was attended by the large number of leading journalists and representatives from the civil society organizations. During the session, Pakistan’s health statistics, key gaps in food related policies and best practices from the regional and other countries were discussed. Media representatives expressed their concern over the grave situation of rising diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the country. They highlighted that government need to take policy measures by declaring public health emergency to advance policies like limiting iTFAs from all dietary sources, imposing ban on PHOs, enacting front of pack nutrition labelling and warning signs on ultra-processed foods, and removing unhealthy foods from public institutions.
About CPDI
Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) is an independent, non-partisan and a not-for-profit civil society organization working on issues of peace and development in Pakistan that seeks to inform and influence public policies and civil society initiatives through research-based advocacy and capacity building
