Press release

Leading Cardiovascular Health Organizations Urge Food Companies and Restaurant Chains to Stop Use of Deadly Chemical by 2023

New York, USA - January 14, 2020

American Heart Association, NCD Alliance, Resolve to Save Lives, and World Heart Federation Issue Letter to 41 Companies Calling on them to Replace Artificial Trans Fat with Healthier Alternatives

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.