First, I should say Baruch Ha-Shem…..something is happening, being it 40 years late!!

But I am astonished that the minimum knowledge about fats/oils still has not reached the higher medical authorities.

It is not just the hydrogenated fats but all the other oils like CORN oil,cotton seed oil, sunflower oil, soy oil etc which are clearly damaging, not to forget the new “star” canola oil.

The Jerusalem post should know better!

I am astonished to see Ghee being mentioned in a negative light.

Well, hopefully, the authorities will catch up with things that are already known for so many years, as I wrote.

The only oils I have been advising for the past nearly 40 years are extra virgin olive oil and cold pressed, not refined sesame oil! This is all because of clear scientific evidence as well as for traditional “evidence”.

Jerusalem Post HEALTH & SCIENCE

WHO TO BAN TRANS FATS IN 2023, MOST ISRAELI COMPANIES HAVE REPLACED THEM

For many years, trans fats were in baked goods of all kinds, such as burekas, doughnuts, cookies and crackers, ice cream, frostings, processed meat and many other types of foods in Israel.

BY JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH MAY 15, 2018 21:21

Israeli food manufacturers and importers will not have to make major changes to comply with the directive of the World Health Organization (WHO) to eliminate deadly trans-fatty acids in all foods by 2023 [ I really can’t agree withthis!! ]

Prof. Ronit Endevelt, head of the Health Ministry’s nutrition department, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that most food companies here have replaced artificial trans fats with safer alternatives, such as unsaturated fatty acids fats, rather than hydrogenated oils that become solid when exposed to a hydrogen gas. She advised that consumers read food labels.

For many years, trans fats were in baked goods of all kinds, such as burekas, doughnuts, cookies and crackers; ice cream; frostings; processed meat; nondairy coffee whiteners; commercially fried products, including those made from meats and poultry; and many other types of foods in Israel.

The WHO on Tuesday released REPLACE, a step-by-step guide for the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply. The UN body estimates every year, trans fat intake leads to the deaths from cardiovascular disease of more than 500,000 people around the world.

Industrially produced trans fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and have for decades been present in snack foods, baked foods and fried foods. Manufacturers have used them to give their products a longer shelf life than other fats. But healthier alternatives, which are generally more expensive, can be used that would not affect taste or cost of food.

Endevelt said trans fats may still be found here in pastries and other baked goods in small bakeries or in popcorn. “But in the last three or four years, most big food companies have stopped using trans fats,” she said.

WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said implementing “the six strategic actions in the REPLACE package will help achieve the elimination of trans fat and represent a major victory in the global fight against cardiovascular disease.”

The guidelines, he said, will ensure the prompt, complete and sustained elimination of industrially produced trans fats from the food supply and will include recommended legislation; monitoring of trans fats content in the food supply and changes in their consumption by the population; information campaigns to inform the public and policymakers about the negative health impact of trans fats.

Action is needed in low- and middle-income countries, where controls of use of industrially produced trans fats are often weaker, to ensure that the benefits are felt equally around the world, Ghebreyesus said.

Several high-income countries, such as Denmark, and cities, including New York, have virtually eliminated trans fats through legally imposed limits on the amount that can be contained in packaged food.

WHO global ambassador for noncommunicable diseases Michael R. Bloomberg, a former three-term mayor of New York City who acted strongly against trans fats, said what he did “helped reduce the number of heart attacks without changing the taste or cost of food,” just like his strong action against tobacco “allowed us to make more progress globally over the last decade than almost anyone thought possible.”

There are two main sources for trans fats: natural sources (in the dairy products and meat of ruminants, such as cows and sheep); and industrially produced sources (partially hydrogenated oils).

Partially hydrogenated oils were first introduced into the food supply in the early 20th century as a replacement for butter and became more popular in the 1950s through the 1970s with the discovery of the negative health impacts of saturated fatty acids. Partially hydrogenated oils are primarily used for deep frying and as an ingredient in baked goods; they can be replaced in both.

Trans fats increase levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, a well-accepted biomarker for cardiovascular disease risk, and decrease levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, which carry away cholesterol from arteries and transports it to the liver, which secretes it into the bile. Diets high in trans fats increase heart disease risk by 21% and deaths by 28%.