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FSSAI plans to reduce trans-fat content in edible oils below 5% limit
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Tuesday, 22 May, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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According to the ambitious plan made by FSSAI to reduce the trans-fat content from foods in India, the country’s apex food regulator aims to reduce the permissible limit of trans-fat content in edible oils below the current limit of five per cent, based on scientific and medical evidence.
Inspired by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) call for a trans-fat free world by 2023, the apex food regulator wants to achieve the objective by 2022, the 75th year of Indian Independence.
“On trans-fat reduction, India has also taken up a strategy,” stated Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer, FSSAI, in New Delhi.
“In fact, we have coined a slogan - India at 75, freedom from trans-fat. So we have aimed at achieving the objective a year before WHO. And we are conducting studies into the subject whether the five per cent limit can be reduced further in edible oil,” he said, adding that the study would see if the level of five per cent was risky or not.
“There was a proposal for further reduction in trans-fat beyond five per cent. We are in talks with the edible oil manufacturers, vegetable oil industry and health experts. We are bringing scientific and medical opinion as well, and if the evidence says that there is no need to further reduce the level, we will not push the industry,” Agarwal said.
He said, “FSSAI has already put together standards on total particulate matter, which is at 25 in case of pre-heated oil. Once that comes into force from July 1, coupled with proper enforcement, the problem of reheating of oil will also get addressed.”
It is pertinent to mention here that recently, WHO has taken a call to eliminate the artificial trans-fats, which are made by hydrogenation of vegetable oil, from the global food supply through a measured strategy.
It has launched a programme called REPLACE, which stands for Review dietary sources, Promote the use of healthier fats, Legislate, Assess changes, Create awareness and Enforce. Its objective is to provide guidance to the countries on how to do away with the trans-fats from the food.
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