KATHMANDU: The World Health Organization (WHO) has extended its congratulations to Nepal for enacting legislation to limit the levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in food products.

In a recent press statement, Saima Wazed, Regional Director for South East Asia, praised Nepal for its proactive steps to regulate the production of trans-fat through legal measures, aiming to promote health and save lives.

Director Wazed emphasized the cost-effectiveness of eliminating trans-fatty acids, highlighting its significant health benefits in preventing premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases.

She expressed confidence that the new legislation would potentially safeguard nearly 80 percent of the South East Asia Region’s population from the adverse effects of trans-fatty acids, commonly found in industrially produced vegetable ghee and oil.

Nepal’s new laws on trans-fatty acids, published in the Nepal gazette on February 8, mandate that the trans-fat content in food items should not exceed 2 percent of the total fatty acids’ weight.

Globally, WHO reports that 540,000 deaths are attributed to the consumption of industrially produced trans-fatty acids, with high intake significantly increasing the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases.

Director Wazed reiterated that trans-fat offers no known health benefits.

In the WHO South-East Asia Region, non-communicable diseases account for 69 percent of the nearly nine million deaths each year, with cardiovascular diseases being the leading cause of death.

Nepal joins Thailand, India, Bangladesh (in 2022), and Sri Lanka (in 2023) as the fifth nation to implement regulations on trans-fatty acids.

The WHO is confident that eliminating trans-fatty acids from the food supply will improve health and well-being, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one-third by 2030.