January 14, 2020: American Heart Association, NCD Alliance,
Resolve to Save Lives (an initiative of Vital Strategies),
and World Heart Federation have called on 40 of the largest
multinational food manufacturers and a major global fats and
oils supplier to protect the cardiovascular health of
consumers worldwide by eliminating artificial trans fat from
all products by 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s
target date for global trans fat elimination.
The four cardiovascular health organizations sent company
leaders a letter inviting them to commit to reformulating
products containing artificial trans fat,
which has been estimated to cause more than 500,000 deaths
from heart disease each year.
“For decades, industry has sold this toxic product to
consumers, and these companies have a critical role to play
in its elimination,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO
of Resolve to Save Lives. “The evidence is clear: trans fat
kills, and companies have an obligation to act. No one asks
for trans fat in their food, and no one will miss it when
it’s gone.”
American Heart Association, NCD Alliance, Resolve to Save
Lives, and World Heart Federation previously contacted 13 of
the 41 companies in May of 2019 to urge them to commit to
trans fat elimination, but none of these companies responded.
In their most recent letter, the health organizations
indicated that they plan public action against those that
fail to respond a second time: “Because we believe that
consumers have the right to know when foods, fats and oils
companies disregard their obligation to protect consumer
health, we will make the names of companies that fail to
respond to this second call public. We will also test food
products in markets around the world to measure the trans fat
contents and share the results with policy-makers and the
public.”
Artificial trans fat is fully replaceable by healthier oils
and fats without changing the taste of food, and many major
food companies have committed to eliminating trans fat for
their global product lines. In 2018, WHO released the REPLACE
Action Package (
www.who.int/replace-transfat/
) to guide the global elimination of industrially-produced
trans fat, including policy action and support for healthier
oils and fats.
Eliminating artificial trans fat is possible. Member
companies of the International Food and Beverage Alliance
(IFBA) are 12 of the leading food and non-alcoholic beverage
companies globally and committed in May 2019 to eliminate
industrially produced trans fat from global product lines by
2023, in line with the WHO call on industry. IFBA members are
The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, Ferrero, General Mills, Grupo
Bimbo, The Kellogg Company, Mars, McDonald’s, Mondelez
International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever.
Companies challenged to eliminate trans fat
by 2023:
Ajinomoto
Archer Daniels Midland
Barilla Group
Barry Callebaut
Boparan Holdings
BRF Global
Campbell Soup Company
Conagra Brands
Doctor’s Associates
Domino’s Pizza
Dr August Oetker KG
Dunkin Donuts
Flowers Foods
Groupe Lactalis S.A.
Hormel Foods Corporation
International Dairy Queen, Inc.
Itoham Yonekyu
Jacobs Douwe Egberts
JBS S.A.
JR Simplot
Kraft Heinz
Lindt & Sprungli
Marfring Group
McCain Foods Ltd
McCormick Corporation
Meiji Holdings
Morinaga Milk Industry
NH Foods Ltd
Nisin Foods Group
Nisshin Seifun Group
OSI Group
Papa John’s
Restaurant Brands International
Starbucks Corporation
Tate & Lyle
The Hershey Company
The JM Smucker Company
TreeHouse Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Yamazaki Baking
YUM! Brands
Media Contact:
Erin Sykes, Resolve to Save Lives:
esykes@resolvetosavelives.org; +1.646.612.0001
Christina Honeysett, Vital Strategies:
choneysett@vitalstrategies.org; +1.914.424.3356
Tracey Johnston, Vital Strategies:
tjohnston@vitalstrategies.org; +44-7889-081-170
About Resolve to Save Lives
Resolve to Save Lives is a five-year, $225 million initiative
funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg
Initiative, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It
is led by Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and housed at Vital
Strategies, which works in 73 countries with the vision of a
world in which every person is protected by a strong public
health system. To find out more, visit
www.resolvetosavelives.org or Twitter @ResolveTSL.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that seeks
to accelerate progress on the world’s most pressing health
problems. The Vital Strategies team combines evidence-based
strategies with innovation to help develop and implement
sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently,
strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design
strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior
change. To find out more, visit www.vitalstrategies.org or
Twitter @VitalStrat.