The Truth about trans fats

A recent Public Health Ministry regulation banning the production, import and distribution of industrially produced trans fats and food products containing partially hydrogenated oil (PHO) has revealed just how little the Thai public really understands about trans fats. 
An example: some food stalls offering the popular khai kratha - eggs fried in a small pan with Chinese sausage, minced pork and spring onion – saw their customers disappear into thin air just one night after the announcement. Also affected were the vendors of crispy sweetened roti, a popular breakfast snack among workers. 
The consumers believed that the cooking oils, margarine and butter used by these food vendors contained trans fats and so they should avoid all and any related products using PHOs.
“That really reflects a total misconception of the ban on trans fats,” says Dr Wilailuk Chaiyasit, an expert on lipids from Department of Food Science & Technology, Thammasat University.

Dr Wilailuk Chaiyasit

In some ways, Partially Hydrogenated Oil is synonymous with trans fats as the partial hydrogenation in vegetable oil yields trans fats – the artificial fat that has been used in making margarine, margarine, cooking oil, bakery goods and in frying fast food dates back to the 1940s. The benefit of PHO is that it doesn’t create rancidity and so extends the shelf life of the products. PHO can convert liquid fats to a solid at room temperature, which is beneficial for the texture and shape of bakery items, and is considerably cheaper than butter.
 The use of PHO products in baking is especially good for making flaky crusts for pies, puffs and the Thai dessert khanom pia. It also increases the shelf life of baked goods and improves their texture. For decades, food manufacturers added partially hydrogenated oil to cookies, crackers, bread, frozen foods and more, and food companies and restaurants used it for frying. Then in the 1990s, research confirmed that PHO products are related to coronary artery disease, strokes, raising levels of LDL (often referred to as “bad cholesterol”), lowering levels of HDL (“good cholesterol”), increasing triglycerides in the bloodstream and promoting systemic inflammation. 

Professor Visith Chavasit

“It’s true that PHO has been used in food industry for decades, but in Thailand, the situation changed years ago. We find that most manufacturers no longer produce or use PHOs. Most of the products on the market don’t contain trans fats but customers are unaware of that,” says Professor Visith Chavasit, Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University who has conducted research into trans fats in Thailand and was involved in pushing for the ban.
Professor Visith first conducted the research on trans fats about 10 years ago when the Food and Drug Administration proposed adding trans fats content to product labels. The idea was dropped after they discovered that PHO products were actually far lower than they expected. Thus, listing trans fats would cause confusion and lead customers to focus on trans fat while ignoring other ingredients like saturated fats, which are also considered harmful to our health.
“It’s rather like putting a warning sign up on Rajadamnoen Road to beware of snakes. The snake sign will focus attention on looking for snakes to the point where they could well be hit by a car, of which there are many of the road,” he says.
The ban on PHO is actually aimed at a few manufacturers, suppliers and food producers who insist using PHO products as long as there is no law prohibiting it. They reason customers won’t like the taste of the goodies without it and don’t want to lose their market share.
“I admire those who have had the courage to change their recipes even though it meant losing revenue. So in January, when the ban comes into effect, the customers will feel they were informed in plenty of time and will feel less opposed to the new formulas,” says Visith.

Margarin, butter and shortening which are produced from partially hydrogenated oil have been used in bakery items for decades but will be banned from January next year.

Banning PHO will help eliminate trans fats from PHOs from Thailand, but won’t of course put a halt to the trans fats that occur naturally in meat and dairy products from ruminants.
“It is impossible to ban all products containing trans fats. The natural trans fats found in products from ruminants and in refined cooking oil are much lower than the trans fats from PHO. So they are not dangerous to our health,” he adds.
Fortunately, Thai food culture does not rely on PHO ingredients but relies mainly on coconut or rice bran oils. The demand for PHO arrived in Thailand with the western food culture, particularly bakery items. 
The World Health Organisation’s recommendation says that adult and children should consume a maximum of one per cent trans fats of their daily calories. Nutrition labels on food products indicate that trans fats from PHO is on average 3-4 per cent or higher meanwhile the natural trans fats from meat and dairy products is below 0.4 per cent and can therefore be declared as 0 per cent trans fats.
Reading the product label is a must for those who want to avoid the problem, even though cooking oil, margarine or shortening products in Thailand’s supermarket contain 0 per cent trans fats. Use of Partially Hydrogenated Oil can however be found in some products like doughnuts, chocolate, crust pies and non-dairy cream as well as in 3 in 1 coffee.
Assistant Professor Dr Pornpoj Pramyothin from Division of Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital says that the confusion at the ban is a clear indication that we don’t have sufficient basic health basic knowledge, as all these procedures have been in place for years.
He says what most of his patients with trans fats-related diseases share in common is drinking 3 in 1 coffee every day. 
“It is one of the major causes of the metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels — that increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes,” says Dr Pornpoj.
“They drink one of these sachets two or three times a day and with that consumption, it’s only a week or so before they have the entire metabolic syndrome. But after they stop drinking it, then the blood pressure and cholesterol go back to normal,” says Dr Pornpoj.
He adds that even though trans fats are the most dangerous of fatty acids, focusing on them alone is unlikely to correct. 
And just like that snake on Rajadamnoen Road, we focus on one point instead of looking at the overall picture.
“It ‘s good to ban trans fats but they are not the only bad food with which people should be concerned. Too much saturated fat is also dangerous to your health as are too much sugar and salt. Good food consumption doesn’t depend on just avoiding fat, it should focus on balancing the five groups of food we need in our diets,” he says.
Dr Pornpoj says that Thais also over-consume sugar especially from drinks and fruits, as well as salt and oily products. He gives a daily formulation of intake of 6-6-1, which means we should not eat over six spoons of sugar, fat, and one spoon of salt.
“Don’t just focus on fat. Be cautious in everything you eat and that will prevent you from falling sick,” he says.