World Health Organization’s (WHO) new milestone report summarizes progress over the past 5 years towards the global elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA). In 2018, WHO set the ambitious target to eliminate TFA from the global food supply by the end of 2023, and released the REPLACE action framework with recommended best-practice policies and implementation modules to support Member States in eliminating TFA from their national food supplies and replacing them with healthier oils and fats. In 2023 alone, new best-practice policies became effective in seven countries: Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Philippines, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. At the end of 2023, WHO-recommended best-practice policies were in effect in 53 countries, covering 3.7 billion people or 46% of the world’s population, as compared to 6% just 5 years ago.
To learn more about best practice policies that countries can implement today to protect their people from the harms of trans fat, read here, and please find the trans fat elimination communications toolkit here.