Originally published December 18 2005
Scottish doctor discusses ethics and responsibilities of food manufacturers
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
For the Scotsman, Dr. Mark Porter covers the heated issue of trans fat use by major food companies, which has become a major ethical dilemma in an industry that daily impacts the general public's health.
MARKS & Spencer responded to growing concerns about the safety of trans fatty acids (TFAs) - man-made fats used in everything from biscuits and spreads to chips and ready meals - by banning foods that contain them.
Most TFAs are made by heating vegetable oils to alter their chemical structure to improve their longevity and texture (TFAs are solid at room temperature and mimic that melt-in-the-mouth quality of animal fats such as butter).
This process, known as hydrogenation, converts relatively healthy fats into dangerous ones.
TFAs increase blood cholesterol levels, and shift the balance of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol in favour of the latter.
The Harvard School of Public Health estimates that at least 30,000 Americans die from premature heart disease as a direct result of eating TFAs - a proportion which would equate to around 5,000 people a year here in the UK.
We would all benefit from cutting the amount of fat in our diet, but the use of synthetic fats in everyday foods, including spreads marketed as healthier alternatives to butter, makes it difficult for us to make an informed choice.
The food industry has been trying to clean up its act - both in TFA content and clearer labelling - but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
The stance taken by M&S will increase the pressure on manufacturers, but major retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury's need to follow suit if we are to remove man-made fats from our diet.
These unwanted effects were particularly common in people over 60 - the age group that accounts for around 80 per cent of the ten million prescriptions issued for sleeping tablets every year in England.
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