Experts For Phasing Out ITFAs Through Stakeholder Engagement, Regulators Capacity Building

Experts at a symposium demanded a stakeholders’ engagement and capacity building of regulators to enforce harmonized standards intended to control the health hazards of trans fatty acids (ITFAs)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Feb, 2024) Experts at a symposium demanded a stakeholders’ engagement and capacity building of regulators to enforce harmonized standards intended to control the health hazards of trans fatty acids (ITFAs).

The symposium on Reducing Industrial Trans Fatty Acids (IFTAs) in Pakistan was jointly organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Cargill Pakistan here, according to a news release on Wednesday.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that multisectoral dialogues are required for managing dynamic issues like the injurious impact of ITFAs on health.

He said the prime areas of focus in terms of food security are availability, affordability, accessibility, and nourished value of food items. However, the West is grappling with the crisis of malnourishment leading to obesity, whereas in Pakistan, the public lifestyle is different due to the economic situation and culture.

He proposed a four-step strategy starting from the first step of an honest and credible disclosure from the industry about the cooking oil products that will lead to innovation and alternatives to counter ITFAs proliferation. Moreover, awareness among consumers, pragmatic regulations and strict enforcement of laws would chip into the bourgeoning crisis of ITFAs hazards.

Government Relations Lead, Cargill Pakistan, Sarim Bokhari said the company is committed to reducing ITFAs and it was strictly complying with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. He said that developing countries like Pakistan lack legislation that is not compliant with WHO recommendations, therefore Cargill is collaborating with the SDPI in this regard.

Advisor, Cargill Pakistan, Brig. (Retd) Tariq Saeed said Cargill is a 59-year-old company with a vision of safe, responsible and sustainable operations for its consumers. “We need to start with initial steps like warnings about injurious health impacts of loose oils and ITFAs to shift the public towards iTFAs-free diet,” he added.

Deputy Director of Islamabad Food Regulatory Authority, Dr Tahira Siddiqui, in her presentation, said the ITFAs are found in the meat and dairy products, whereas the ITFAs were produced after hydrogenation mainly found in bakery products, frozen and refrigerated items.

“Pakistan is the second highest consumer of ITFAs in the world as after petroleum products, its edible oil imports were the largest worth $ 4.3 billion.” Stressing the need to ensure dialogue between industry and technical experts to shift from ITFAs, she said, “Alternatives to ITFAs need to be given to the industry about their raw material sources and practices. Moreover, incentives can also be used to promote shift and embrace alternatives to ITFAs.”

She added that it is a complex challenge to eradicate iTFAs, however, we can help achieve the task by adopting efficient policies, and multifaceted approaches to engage all the partners.

Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), Ayaz Ahmed Soomroo said after the harmonization of ITFAs’ standards PSQCA is regulating it at the Federal level. The National Committee on Food Standards that convenes food authorities of all the provinces along with PSQCA has harmonized PSQCA standards, he said, adding, “A regulatory scheme for ITFAs was underway and it will help resolve the problem.”

National Coordinator at the Ministry of National Health, Services, Regulations and Coordination, Dr Khawaja Masood Tahir said that since the harmonization of food standards was made after the Council of Common Interests in 2019, the national standards were revised and ITFAs were made permissible to 5 per cent of the total product. He called for constituting a single committee to approve the rules for the left-over food items containing ITFAs.

Dr Tahir mentioned that enforcement and implementation is the major challenge and the capacity of implementing agencies on iTFAs was the biggest hurdle in phasing out iTFAs.