Approaches to removing trans fats from the food supply in industrialized and developing countries

A number of approaches have been initiated by governmental and public health organizations in different countries to reduce trans-fatty acid (TFA) intakes. These have included nutrition recommendations with regard to TFAs and general nutrition recommendations regarding the selection of healthy fats, programmes to raise awareness about the adverse effects of TFAs through nutrition and health claims, voluntary or mandatory labelling of the trans content of foods, voluntary or legislated programmes to encourage or force industry to reformulate food products to remove TFAs, the promotion of health and agricultural policies that encourage the production of healthy alternatives to trans fat and finally, mandatory regulation of food standards to remove or reduce the TFA content. This paper reviews a number of initiatives to reduce the intake of TFAs underway in selected industrialized and developing countries, which serves to illustrate the merits and limitations of the available options and how the approaches that have been taken reflect local conditions.