Limiting trans Fats in Foods: Use of Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils in Prepacked Foods in Slovenia. 2018

Nina Zupanič, and Maša Hribar, and Urška Pivk Kupirovič, and Anita Kušar, and Katja Žmitek, and Igor Pravst
Nutrition Institute, Tržaška cesta 40, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. nina.zupanic@nutris.org.

Consumption of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFAs) is a well-established health risk factor that correlates with the increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The recommended TFA intake is as low as possible, within the context of a nutritionally adequate diet. Different countries have introduced different measures to minimize the exposure of their population to TFAs. Previous data have shown that TFA content has significantly decreased in Western European countries, while this was not the case in many Central-Eastern European countries, including Slovenia. In the absence of regulatory requirements, a number of awareness campaigns were launched in Slovenia since 2015, with the common goal of lowering the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO), which are considered a major source of TFAs. To determine if this goal had been reached, we performed an assessment of the exposure of the population to prepacked foods containing PHOs in years 2015 and 2017. Altogether, data on the composition of 22,629 prepacked foods was collected from food labels, using a specifically developed smartphone application. Furthermore, the food categories with the most frequent use of PHOs were identified. The proportion of PHO-containing products was determined for each specific food category, and adjusted with the market share data. The results showed that in 2015, vegetable cream substitutes, soups, and biscuits were the categories with the highest penetration of declared PHO content. In 2017, the proportion of products with PHO decreased considerably. In vegetable cream substitutes the percentage of PHO containing items dropped from 30 down to 4%, in soups it decreased from 21 to 5%, in biscuits from 17 to 8%, and in crisps and snacks from 10 to 4%. However, PHO content remained notable among cakes, muffins, pastries, and biscuits. We can conclude that the voluntary guidelines and regular public communication of the risks related to the TFA consumption has had a considerable effect on the food supply, but did not result in sufficient removal of PHOs from foods.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009753 Nutritive Value An indication of the contribution of a food to the nutrient content of the diet. This value depends on the quantity of a food which is digested and absorbed and the amounts of the essential nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate, minerals, vitamins) which it contains. This value can be affected by soil and growing conditions, handling and storage, and processing. Biological Availability, Nutritional,Nutritional Availability,Availability, Biological Nutritional,Availability, Nutritional Biologic,Biologic Availability, Nutritional,Biologic Nutritional Availability,Nutrition Value,Nutritional Availability, Biologic,Nutritional Availability, Biological,Nutritional Biological Availability,Nutritional Food Quality,Nutritional Quality,Nutritional Value,Nutritive Quality,Availability, Biologic Nutritional,Availability, Nutritional,Availability, Nutritional Biological,Biological Nutritional Availability,Food Quality, Nutritional,Nutrition Values,Nutritional Biologic Availability,Nutritional Values,Nutritive Values,Quality, Nutritional,Quality, Nutritional Food,Quality, Nutritive,Value, Nutrition,Value, Nutritional,Value, Nutritive,Values, Nutrition,Values, Nutritional,Values, Nutritive
D010938 Plant Oils Oils derived from plants or plant products. Oils, Plant,Oils, Vegetable,Plant Oil,Vegetable Oil,Vegetable Oils,Oil, Plant,Oil, Vegetable
D011050 Policy Making The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures. Analysis, Policy,Policy Analysis,Policy Development,Analyses, Policy,Development, Policy,Developments, Policy,Making, Policy,Policy Analyses,Policy Developments
D002318 Cardiovascular Diseases Pathological conditions involving the CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM including the HEART; the BLOOD VESSELS; or the PERICARDIUM. Adverse Cardiac Event,Cardiac Events,Major Adverse Cardiac Events,Adverse Cardiac Events,Cardiac Event,Cardiac Event, Adverse,Cardiac Events, Adverse,Cardiovascular Disease,Disease, Cardiovascular,Event, Cardiac
D003257 Consumer Product Safety The sum total of measures taken and regulatory policies enacted to ensure the safe use of consumer products. Safety, Consumer Product,Product Approval,Product Approvals,Product Safety, Consumer
D005525 Food-Processing Industry The productive enterprises concerned with food processing. Industry, Food-Processing,Food Processing Industry,Food-Processing Industries,Industries, Food-Processing,Industry, Food Processing
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D006865 Hydrogenation Addition of hydrogen to a compound, especially to an unsaturated fat or fatty acid. (From Stedman, 26th ed) Hydrogenations
D017408 Guidelines as Topic Works about a systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available. Guidelines as Topics
D017524 Slovenia Created 7 April 1992 as a result of the division of Yugoslavia.

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