世卫组织呼吁禁用反式脂肪，对我们有何影响?

上周一，世界卫生组织宣布了一项新计划，呼吁在全世界范围内禁止在食品中添加反式脂肪。

这项计划被命名为“REPLACE”，其目的是降低因摄入反式脂肪而导致的死亡人数。据世卫组织估算，全球每年因摄入反式脂肪导致心血管疾病死亡的人数达50万人以上，主要摄入途径是加工食品、烧烤食品等。自从饱和脂肪酸对人体健康的影响见诸报端后，反式脂肪的危害也日益受到重视，并逐渐失去了人们的青睐。

世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞博士表示，世卫组织正在“呼吁”各国政府在2023年前全面禁用反式脂肪。虽然REPLACE计划并不是一个强制项目，世卫组织仍希望它能促进各国迅速禁用反式脂肪。

那么，REPLACE计划对于我们普通老百姓的日常饮食有什么影响呢？

减少氢化大豆油的摄入

你摄入的大多数反式脂肪很可能是用大豆制成的，它们通常以氢化大豆油的形式出现，往往用于取代包装食品中的猪油或起酥油。氢化大豆油的出现，也是导致二战后欧美国家包装食品火爆的主要因素之一。这种豆油的保质时间更长，从而使包装食品行业的崛起成为了可能。

多吃棕榈油、菜籽油、葵花籽油

当然，这并不意味着你以后再也吃不上心爱的奥利奥了。现在，各大食品和食用油厂商都在寻找氢化大豆油的替代品，棕榈油、菜籽油、葵花籽油等也已得到了广泛应用。虽然这些食用油也有一定的健康和环境风险，但它们总体上还是好于氢化大豆油的。

你可能注意不到它对生活的影响

如果你生活在欧美国家，你其实可能已经有好几年没吃过含有反式脂肪的食物了。过去15年间，已经有20多个国家严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。国际食品饮料联合会（成员包括家乐氏、通用磨坊、麦当劳等）的成员企业已在全球98.8%的食品产品中禁用了反式脂肪。奥利奥饼干的生产厂家亿滋国际也将于年底前全面禁用氢化油。

与此同时，禁用反式脂肪并不会对食品口味产生影响。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区别。

对其他国家仍是好事

虽然欧美国家的大多数食品早已禁用了反式脂肪，但世界其他国家仍在使用这种添加剂，并承受着它对健康的负面影响。此外，欧美国家仍有少数食品添加了反式脂肪，受害者基本上是低收入群体，因为含有反式脂肪的食品往往价格更低。世卫组织希望通过这项全球性的计划，在世界范围内全面禁用反式脂肪，让地球每个角落的人都能更健康地生活。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎 

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.