A Coalition of civil society organisations has called on the federal government to declare an emergency in the food sector and commence massive awareness on the dangers of industrially-produced trans fats intakes. Trans fat food are also known as trans-fatty acids, which naturally occur in small, safe quantities in some meat and dairy products and the can also be industrially produced by partially hydrogenating vegetable oils.
Cookies, popcorn, frozen pizzas, cake frosting and coffee creamers may contain artificial trans-fat. The coalition which included Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Global Health Advocacy incubator (GHAI), Nigeria Heart Foundation, and the Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), made the call at a press conference on yesterday in Abuja.
Speaking, the Deputy Director of ERA, Mr. Oluwafemi Akinbode, said that the aim of the briefing was to galvanise pressure for approval of the Fats and Oils Regulation 2019 by the National Agency for food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). He stated: “In the last decade we have watched with consternation and loathed how the food industry inundated our shores with industrially-produced trans-fats to the detriment of the health of citizens of this nation.”
