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| Watch out for ‘hidden’ fat |
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You try it: explaining the differences between fatty acids and their health effects to Dutch consumers. Or telling them where the hidden calorie bombs are. It’s a difficult message that can’t be put across in one-liners. Nonetheless, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre has risen to the challenge. It is also calling on food manufacturers and sellers to take a critical look at the fatty acids in their products. By developing ‘healthy fats’, they will make it easier for consumers to choose food stuff that fits into a healthy diet.
The Nutrition Centre is not alone in its mission. When setting new food standards last year, the Dutch Health Council confirmed that saturated and trans fatty acids increased the risk of coronary heart disease more than unsaturated fatty acids. The Council recommends that consumption of saturated and trans fatty acids should be reduced to a minimum. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport backs up the Council’s recommendation and wants to encourage the food industry to market more products with ‘good’ fatty acids. It also believes consumers should be better informed about which fatty acids are healthy and which are not.
This is a job not just for the Nutrition Centre, but for the industry as a whole. In its ‘Hidden Fats’ report published at the end of 2002, the Nutrition Centre describes how the problem might be tackled. Working with industry, it will seek ways to adapt products or develop new ones with the right composition of fatty acids. Its final goal is a healthier population.
Floortje Sijpestein
Netherlands Nutrition Centre, The Hague
The ‘Hidden Fats’ report is available in Dutch from the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. Email: sijpestein@vc.agro.nl or telephone the secretariat: +31 70 306 8821.
More information on the various types of fats is available on the Nutrition Centre’s website.
An article on the food industry’s shared responsibility for healthy food is available here.
February 5th 2003 <<< back
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