Your bread, biscuits could contain harmful fats, experts warn

Health experts warn that everyday foods such as bread and biscuits may contain harmful industrial trans fats linked to heart disease. [Courtesy]

Each morning, breakfast for millions of Kenyans begins with a slice of bread.

As the day goes by, many, especially women, reach into their handbags for cookies or biscuits as a quick snack.

Pizza, too, has become a favourite meal, particularly among urban dwellers and the middle class.

Though these foods have become staples in many households, health experts warn that some may contain industrial trans fats, a hidden ingredient linked to coronary heart disease and premature deaths.

Biscuits, chocolates, bread and other processed snacks lining supermarket shelves could be quietly increasing Kenyans' risk of cardiovascular disease.

The growing concern has prompted the Ministry of Health, together with health experts and other stakeholders, to tighten regulations on industrially produced trans fats.

Health officials say the fats, commonly used in processed foods to improve taste, texture and shelf life, are contributing to the country's growing burden of heart disease, which is increasingly affecting younger people.

"We are seeing more Kenyans dying in their 30s, 40s and 50s from coronary heart disease. That was not the case before," said Zakariah Muriuki, who heads the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition and Food Environment Policies Programme at the Ministry of Health's Division of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Muriuki spoke during the national stakeholder engagement forum on the review of Legal Notice No. 115 of 2015 on industrially produced trans fatty acids.

He regretted that many consumers have little idea that some of the foods they eat every day contain industrially produced trans fats.

This is because they are poorly labelled. The fats, he said, are commonly found in respective products like cooking oils, margarines, baked products such as bread, confectionery including chocolates and cookies, pizza, pastries and many processed snacks.

"They were introduced to make products last longer on shelves and improve their taste and texture. But if a product is slowly killing the very customer buying it, then it is doing no good for the consumer or for the country's economy," said Muriuki.

Unlike healthy fats, industrial trans fats are chemically altered through processing, making them difficult for the body to break down.

Over time, they contribute to the build-up of fatty deposits in blood vessels, narrowing arteries, increasing blood pressure and raising the risk of heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.

Muriuki said the Ministry is reviewing the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Regulations to align them with the World Health Organisation's recommendations on eliminating industrially produced trans fats from the food supply.

Since 2019, the WHO has urged countries to eliminate industrial trans fats, describing them as a major contributor to preventable deaths from non-communicable diseases.

One of Kenya's biggest challenges, Muriuki said, is that manufacturers are not required to declare the amount of trans fats in their products, leaving consumers unaware of what they are eating.

"The danger is hidden throughout the food supply chain. People continue consuming these products without knowing the health risks," he said.

Once the revised regulations are approved by the Health Cabinet Secretary, manufacturers will have an 18-month transition period to reformulate products that fail to meet the new standards before enforcement begins.

The proposed regulations set, for the first time, a maximum limit of two grams of industrially produced trans fats per 100 grams of total fat in all foods sold in Kenya.

Products exceeding the threshold will not be allowed in the market. International Institute for Legislative Affairs (IILA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Celine Awuor noted that the current Legal Notice adopted in 2015 has remained largely unenforceable because it refers to limits set under Codex standards without specifying them in law.

“The proposed limit is evidence-based and recommended by WHO. By setting a clear threshold, regulators will be able to test products and determine whether they comply before they reach consumers," said Awuor.

A modelling study conducted by IILA in partnership with Georgetown University found that implementing the two-gram limit could avert up to 113,000 cardiovascular-related deaths over the next decade.

This could also save more than 500,000 lives and reduce Kenya's healthcare costs by about Sh4 billion.

Awour said although food manufacturers are already required to declare ingredients and nutritional composition, regulators currently have no legal obligation to verify whether those declarations are accurate.

"Once these regulations are in force, products will have to be tested, and any found to contain trans fats above the prescribed limit will not be allowed to be sold in the Kenyan market," she said.

The proposed changes seek to address gaps that have rendered the current Legal Notice, adopted in 2015, largely ineffective.

On her part, Brenda Nakhumicha, the Head of the Food Safety Division at the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Public Health Institute (KPHI), said the existing legal notice does not provide an enforceable limit on industrially produced trans fats, making it difficult for regulators to keep non-compliant products off the market.

"It has been in existence for almost 11 years, but implementation has not been possible because of the gaps that have already been identified," said Nakhumicha.

Nakhumicha said the review comes at a time when Kenya is grappling with an alarming rise in non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes.

"Our data shows that cases of non-communicable diseases are increasing. As a country, we have to do something to bring them down," she said.

She said Kenya is among the first countries in the East African region to review its legal framework on industrial trans fats and expressed optimism that the revised legal notice will be finalised before the end of the year.

To measure its impact, the Ministry plans to conduct surveys before and after implementation to assess whether the regulations reduce exposure to trans fats and improve public health outcomes.

Further, Nakhumicha noted that exposure to harmful fats is not limited to processed foods sold in supermarkets, but is also driven by cooking habits in many homes.

"We eat cakes, bread and chips. We fry fish and repeatedly use the same cooking oil. Many households keep used oil and use it. These are practices that increase exposure to harmful fats," she said.

She called for sustained public awareness campaigns to educate Kenyans on safer cooking practices, including the proper disposal of used cooking oil.