About 92 percent of dalda or bonospoti ghee used by Bangladeshi bakeries and restaurants for preparing foods contain high trans-fat that pushes up the body's bad cholesterol (LDL) responsible for heart diseases.
Such Partially-Hydrogenated Oils (PHO), dalda, can have maximum 2 percent trans-fat (TFA), a level set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
But researchers from the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute (NHFHRI) found that some of the samples even showed a staggering high concentration of TFA, 20.9g per 100 grams, which is more than 10 times of the WHO-set threshold.
They recommended the government's regulatory intervention to change the practice as around 277,000 people die of heart disease each year in Bangladesh.
The results of the study were released on Saturday at a press briefing at the Jatiya Press Club.
The Heart Foundation, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) and PROGGA - Progress for Knowledge in association of Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) jointly organised the study release event.
Prof Nazma Shaheen from the Institute of Nutrition & Food Science, University of Dhaka and Research Advisor Abu Shamim Ahmed provided support to the research titled ‘Assessment of Trans Fat in PHOs in Bangladesh’.
Industrially adding hydrogen (hydrogenation) to vegetable oils (palm, soybean, etc.) condenses the oil into a semi-solid form and simultaneously produces trans-fat or TFA.
The WHO estimates that excessive intake of industrially produced TFA is responsible for more than 500,000 heart disease deaths globally.
Considering the grave health risks involved, WHO has set eliminating industrially produced TFA from the global food supply by 2023 as one of its priority targets.
GHAI Bangladesh Country Lead Muhammad Ruhul Quddus said India, Thailand, Brazil and many other countries have already enacted policies to regulate TFA in food products following the recommendations of the WHO.
“Bangladesh has already taken a policy decision for the same. The findings of this research will surely accelerate the process of promulgating policies on trans-fat regulation,” he said.
Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury, Professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Research of the NHFHRI, presenting the findings said the research demonstrates that “there are products in Bangladesh that contain dangerous levels of TFA, posing increased risks of heart diseases and deaths from such diseases”.
“In order to protect the public health from TFA, the government must take legal or regulatory measures and limit TFA to maximum 2g per 100g in all fats, oils, and foods,” he said.
Prof Nazma Shaheen said it is “highly important” to reduce the TFA levels of such products to 2 percent immediately in order to curb the existing health risks from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh.
Market retailers throughout Dhaka City were interviewed by the research team and four PHO brands, most commonly used by bakeries and restaurants for preparing food, were identified.
Some 24 samples of those four brands were collected from wholesale markets and PHO production factories.
The chemical compounds of those samples were subsequently analysed and identified in collaboration with Portugal-based National Health Institute Food Chemistry Laboratory.
The TFA levels of these samples were measured using gas chromatography method.
The mean TFA level in the PHO samples was found to be 11g per 100g sample, more than five times the global standard.
Team Leader of Trans-fat project from PROGGA, Md. Hasan Shahriar said they conducted this research as there is little awareness about the TFA content in foods in Bangladesh.
