50 signatures reached
To: Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health
Ban industrially produced trans fats in the UK
Reconsider his position from voluntary agreements with industry to an outright ban on the use of IPTFAs (industrially produced trans fatty acids) in the UK. These fats cause thousands of unnecessary deaths in the UK each year, disproportionately harming young people and the less well off in society.
Why is this important?
Trans fatty acids (produced industrially as hydrogenated oils) are estimated to KILL 7,000 people in the UK every year.
All responsible bodies in the UK, and many countries in europe and states of the USA have already banned them. Doctors, NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), and main articles in the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail all agree: there is no reason to have these in our food. Many supermarkets have also eliminated them - in their own brand products at least - including Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Tesco and the Co-op. But other food sources use them, with no required information to customers and no control over their use.
The American Medical Association has stated that there is no safe limit. NICE has called for their ban. These fats have no food value, but increase LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce HDL (good) cholesterol, and even a 2% amount in the diet is reported to double the risk of coronary heart disease. There is no need for this junk in our food other than for the convenience of the food industry (it prolongs shelf life and is a cheap way of solidifying oil in fast foods).
Recently Andrew Lansley has stated that the average UK citizen only consumes under 1% in the diet (though this is still a significant increase in risk), and voluntary codes of conduct are sufficient. The food manufacturers make an identical case. But the average is not the point: better off older people - customers of M&S, Waitrose, and other supermarkets - consume very little. But younger people who naturally use fast food outlets often consume considerably more than that average. They are in general unaware of the risks and, being young, sometimes don't think too much about what will happen in 20, 30 years. Older people have a duty to care on their behalf.
One other point. Some supporters think such a ban is against the freedom of people to choose what they eat. But this is a poor argument at best. Trans fat was banned from Denmark 9 years ago, and there is no noticeable change in the taste or quality of food, nor any desire to reverse that change.
This is such an easy policy change, and so absolutely beneficial. Just do it!
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291041/They-kill-7-000-people-year-trans-fats-wont-banned.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/food-drink/why-are-toxic-trans-fats-in-food-still-legal-in-the-uk-28656231.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/07/fda-ban-trans-fats-health
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/jan/18/trans-fats-ban-comment
All responsible bodies in the UK, and many countries in europe and states of the USA have already banned them. Doctors, NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), and main articles in the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail all agree: there is no reason to have these in our food. Many supermarkets have also eliminated them - in their own brand products at least - including Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Tesco and the Co-op. But other food sources use them, with no required information to customers and no control over their use.
The American Medical Association has stated that there is no safe limit. NICE has called for their ban. These fats have no food value, but increase LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce HDL (good) cholesterol, and even a 2% amount in the diet is reported to double the risk of coronary heart disease. There is no need for this junk in our food other than for the convenience of the food industry (it prolongs shelf life and is a cheap way of solidifying oil in fast foods).
Recently Andrew Lansley has stated that the average UK citizen only consumes under 1% in the diet (though this is still a significant increase in risk), and voluntary codes of conduct are sufficient. The food manufacturers make an identical case. But the average is not the point: better off older people - customers of M&S, Waitrose, and other supermarkets - consume very little. But younger people who naturally use fast food outlets often consume considerably more than that average. They are in general unaware of the risks and, being young, sometimes don't think too much about what will happen in 20, 30 years. Older people have a duty to care on their behalf.
One other point. Some supporters think such a ban is against the freedom of people to choose what they eat. But this is a poor argument at best. Trans fat was banned from Denmark 9 years ago, and there is no noticeable change in the taste or quality of food, nor any desire to reverse that change.
This is such an easy policy change, and so absolutely beneficial. Just do it!
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291041/They-kill-7-000-people-year-trans-fats-wont-banned.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/food-drink/why-are-toxic-trans-fats-in-food-still-legal-in-the-uk-28656231.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/07/fda-ban-trans-fats-health
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/jan/18/trans-fats-ban-comment
