世衛組織呼吁禁用反式脂肪，對我們有何影響?

上周一，世界衛生組織宣布了一項新計劃，呼吁在全世界范圍內禁止在食品中添加反式脂肪。

這項計劃被命名為“REPLACE”，其目的是降低因攝入反式脂肪而導致的死亡人數。據世衛組織估算，全球每年因攝入反式脂肪導致心血管疾病死亡的人數達50萬人以上，主要攝入途徑是加工食品、燒烤食品等。自從飽和脂肪酸對人體健康的影響見諸報端后，反式脂肪的危害也日益受到重視，并逐漸失去了人們的青睞。

世界衛生組織總干事譚德塞博士表示，世衛組織正在“呼吁”各國政府在2023年前全面禁用反式脂肪。雖然REPLACE計劃并不是一個強制項目，世衛組織仍希望它能促進各國迅速禁用反式脂肪。

那么，REPLACE計劃對于我們普通老百姓的日常飲食有什么影響呢？

減少氫化大豆油的攝入

你攝入的大多數反式脂肪很可能是用大豆制成的，它們通常以氫化大豆油的形式出現，往往用于取代包裝食品中的豬油或起酥油。氫化大豆油的出現，也是導致二戰后歐美國家包裝食品火爆的主要因素之一。這種豆油的保質時間更長，從而使包裝食品行業的崛起成為了可能。

多吃棕櫚油、菜籽油、葵花籽油

當然，這并不意味著你以后再也吃不上心愛的奧利奧了?，F在，各大食品和食用油廠商都在尋找氫化大豆油的替代品，棕櫚油、菜籽油、葵花籽油等也已得到了廣泛應用。雖然這些食用油也有一定的健康和環境風險，但它們總體上還是好于氫化大豆油的。

你可能注意不到它對生活的影響

如果你生活在歐美國家，你其實可能已經有好幾年沒吃過含有反式脂肪的食物了。過去15年間，已經有20多個國家嚴格限制了反式脂肪的使用，主流食品制造商也基本都已禁用了反式脂肪。比如雀巢公司使用的食品油有99.8%都不含反式脂肪。國際食品飲料聯合會（成員包括家樂氏、通用磨坊、麥當勞等）的成員企業已在全球98.8%的食品產品中禁用了反式脂肪。奧利奧餅干的生產廠家億滋國際也將于年底前全面禁用氫化油。

與此同時，禁用反式脂肪并不會對食品口味產生影響。因此就算你早已不吃反式脂肪了，你可能也并未注意到任何區別。

對其他國家仍是好事

雖然歐美國家的大多數食品早已禁用了反式脂肪，但世界其他國家仍在使用這種添加劑，并承受著它對健康的負面影響。此外，歐美國家仍有少數食品添加了反式脂肪，受害者基本上是低收入群體，因為含有反式脂肪的食品往往價格更低。世衛組織希望通過這項全球性的計劃，在世界范圍內全面禁用反式脂肪，讓地球每個角落的人都能更健康地生活。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎?

On last Monday the World Health Organization, the public health arm of the United Nations, announced a new plan to eliminate trans fats worldwide.

The plan, called REPLACE, aims to reduce the number of deaths caused by this particularly vicious type of fat. The WHO estimates that more than 500,000 people per year die from cardiovascular disease caused by trans fat intake through processed foods and some baked goods. Originally popularized after the negative impacts of saturated fatty acids were discovered, trans fats have fallen out of favor as their own health effects have gained prominence.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the organization is “calling on” governments around the world to eliminate trans fats by 2023. While REPLACE is not a mandate, the organization hopes it will help governments swiftly eliminate these fats.

Here’s what that means for your diet.

Less soy

Most of the trans fats you’re eating are probably made from soy beans. They take the form of partially hydrogenated oils, which are used to replace lard or shortening in packaged products. In fact, the advent of partially hydrogenated oil was one of the developments that led to the success of packaged foods across the U.S. and Europe after World War II. These types of oils last longer and make possible a food economy where products are manufactured long before they’re sold.

More palm, canola, and sunflower oil

Fear not, the move towards eliminating trans fats doesn’t mean you’ll have to kiss your precious Oreos goodbye. Food and food-oil manufacturers are working on replacements for the partially hydrogenated oils they’ve relied on for so many years, and palm, canola, and sunflower oil are widely used. While some of these other oils carry health and environmental concerns, they are generally seen as better overall than partially hydrogenated oils.

You probably won’t notice much of a change

If you live in the U.S. or Europe, you’ve probably been eating a largely trans fat-free diet for years. More than 20 nations have restricted the use of trans fats in the last 15 years, and major food manufacturers have practically eliminated the use of trans fats in their foods: Nestle has eliminated trans fats from 99.8% of the oils they use; members of the International Food and Beverage Alliance, which include Kellogg, General Mills, and McDonald’s, have eliminated trans fats from 98.8% of their global product portfolios; and Mondelez International, the maker of Oreos, is on track to eliminate all partially hydrogenated oils from its products by the end of the year.

Moreover, it’s possible to eliminate trans fats without changing the flavor of food, so even if you haven’t already been eating this way, you probably won’t know the difference.

But it’ll be a great equalizer

While the majority of products in Europe and the U.S. no longer contain trans fats, the rest of the world continues to use them and suffer the negative health outcomes. Moreover, the foods that still contain trans fats in the U.S. and Europe tend to disproportionately affect the poor, because foods containing trans fats tend to be cheaper. The WHO’s hope is that a global campaign to eliminate trans fats everywhere will lead to better health outcomes for everyone.