Thailand's Food Policy on a Trans Fat-Free Country

Abstract

Trans fat has been banned in foods of many developed countries due to its clear impact on cardiovascular disease. As a leading world food producer and exporter, Thailand needs to seriously evaluate its own situation on trans fat contamination in order to formulate appropriate policies for protecting the health of its own people and for the benefit of exportation. Traditionally, Thais consume products that are natural sources of trans fat in comparatively limited amounts. Cow's milk and meat products, therefore, are not the main contributors of trans fat in the Thai diet. Instead, various types of industrially produced partially hydrogenated oil (PHO) of thermal and oxidative stabilities, which are used to replace costly animal fats, contribute more trans fat in the Thai diet. The use of PHO in Thailand began with imported knowledge from industrialized countries on bakery foods, although its use was quite rare in the local cuisine. Fried donuts, puffs and pastries were the most common products containing trans fat over the limit recommended by FAO/WHO (>0.5g/serving), even the ones sold by multinational franchises from a country that has banned trans fat. Since Thailand is located in a tropical zone where naturally saturated tropical oils are widely available, it is quite feasible to replace PHO with these local oils. By using the Oil Blending technique, Thailand's food industries continuously developed PHO replacements by mixing highly saturated oils with different types of less saturated oils at different ratios to achieve desirable physical properties for various food applications. The trans fat problem, therefore, is not difficult to solve, but it will remain unresolved without law enforcement. In 2017, a draft Ministry of Public Health notification was issued that announced that food and other ingredients that have been produced through the partial hydrogenation process are not safe for human consumption. This announcement resulted in prohibiting PHO within the country. In early 2019, Thailand is expected to be a trans fat-free country wherein no food should contain more than 0.5g trans fat per serving. Claims related to trans fat will be under consideration.