Muscat: Muscat Municipality, represented by the Directorate General of Health Affairs, presented a paper on fats and oils (trans fats) in food processing and their impact on health, as part of the seminar of the Consumer Protection Authority.
The paper included educational and informational aspects of the harms of oils and fats, and their direct relationship to obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other disorders that harm the body.
The paper explained the risks of reheating frying oil several times, which leads to health complications such as stroke, obesity, chest pain, stomach pain, indigestion, and even heart disease, as high consumption of trans fats increases the levels of harmful cholesterol in the body.
The paper suggested several alternative solutions to reduce these damages, which were the use of olive oil in frying, frying without using oil, drying fried foods with paper towels, and not waiting until the food becomes brown.
The Sultanate took action in combatting trans-fatty acids when it issued a ban on the production, import, and/or marketing of partially hydrogenated oils and food products in which these oils are used. The ban was issued by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and Water Resources, and it came into effect on July 24, 2022.
The decision was expected, given that the problem of high trans-fatty acid intake among the Omani population was highlighted in the National Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030, where such a measure was also proposed.
Prior to the ban, several initiatives were proposed (but not yet adopted) and include approaches such as specified maximum levels of trans-fatty acids in fats and other foods, taxation on the use of hydrogenated oils, limiting the availability of high trans-fatty acid items in school settings, and requirements for food importers to have all imported foods certified as industrial trans-fatty acid-free.
Adopted initiatives include two Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organization-led approaches.
A ministerial decision for a mandatory benchmark for the trans-fatty acid level of bread was adopted in 2019. The benchmark is set by Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organization.
Mandatory nutritional labeling of trans-fatty acids, as grams per 100 g and % Daily Value (%DV), requiring the declaration of trans-fatty acids as part of nutrition labels for products containing 0.5 g per 100 g or more and regulating “trans-fat free” claims, adopted in 2016.
Labeling prepackaged foodstuff and declaring the percent daily intake is voluntary.
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