•“In Kenya, it is estimated that 25 per cent of hospital admissions are due to cardiovascular diseases and 13 per cent of autopsies revealed CVDs as a cause of death,” Ogutu said.
•IILA is advocating Kenya to align with the WHO goal to eliminate or strictly control the killer fats and oils.
Image: FILE
Advocates have supported the review of a regional law to control killer cooking fats.
No country in East Africa has eliminated the fats known as trans fats or trans-fatty acids (TFAs), despite a 2023 deadline recommended by the United Nations. They clog arteries, increasing risk of heart attack and death.
They are present in most of the solid cooking fats sold in Kenya, margarines and in some liquid cooking oils.
The chemicals are then transferred to many fried and baked food such as cakes, cookies, bread, mandazi and chapati.
Nairobi-based non-profit International Institute for Legislative Affairs (IILA) recommended the East African standards Act be amended to create a common standard for the region.
“We are engaging regional policymakers for inclusion of TFA regulation in the Standardisation, Accreditation and conformity Assessment (SACA) Bill,” said Gideon Ogutu, a programmes officer with IILA.
The SACA Bill is currently in the East African legislative Assembly for enactment to protect consumer health and safety, among others.
According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the world and more than 278,000 deaths per year can be attributed to intake of industrially produced trans fat.
Kenya is current facing a transition from communicable diseases to the rapidly rising NCDs.
“In Kenya, it is estimated that 25 per cent of hospital admissions are due to cardiovascular diseases and 13 per cent of autopsies revealed CVDs as a cause of death,” Ogutu said.
“Unhealthy diets is a major risk factor for NCDs where TFAs lie.”
IILA is advocating Kenya to align with the WHO goal to eliminate or strictly control the killer fats and oils.
In 2018, the WHO set ambitious target of fully eliminating industrially produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply by the end of 2023.
Most countries did not meet this goal and set a new deadline of 2025.
Celine Awuor, CEO of IILA said the two best-practice policies for TFA elimination are mandatory national limit of 2g of industrially produced TFA per 100g of total fat in all foods or a mandatory national ban.
She said Kenya has a national policy commitment to eliminate trans-fatty acids.
“Under the key strategies in pillar two of the NCD strategic plan, Kenya commits to establish national regulatory and fiscal policies to promote healthy diets such as trans-fat regulation, regulation of marketing of unhealthy foods and non-alcoholic drinks to children, fiscal policies on sugar sweetened beverages and front of pack standards,” she said.
IILA is also calling for the revision of the existing Legal Notice 115 of 2015, which aims at regulating TFAs but is currently not enforceable and implementable.
In June, the WHO said globally, 53 countries had best practice policies in place for tackling industrial trans fats in food as of last year, vastly improving the food environment for 3.7 billion people, or 46 per cent of the world’s population.
This was significant progress compared to the 2018 figure of just six per cent, or less than half a billion people, when the ambitious target to eliminate all trans fats from the global food supply by the end of 2023 was initially set by WHO.
“Trans fat elimination is attainable, affordable and life-saving and WHO remains committed to supporting member sStates in their journeys towards this goal,” said Dr Francesco Branca, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO.
Remarkable progress has been made in every region of the world towards the WHO’s goal of total elimination of industrially produced trans fats.
However, progress has been unequal, with the highest remaining burden concentrated in the WHO Africa and Western Pacific Regions.
WHO said in 2023 alone, new best practice policies became effective in seven countries: Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Philippines, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.