Presence of trans-Fatty Acids Containing Ingredients in Pre-Packaged Foods and the Availability of Reported trans-Fat Levels in Kenya and Nigeria

Liping Huang; Adedayo E Ojo; Judith Kimiywe; Alex Kibet; Boni M Ale; Clementina E Okoro; Jimmy Louie; Fraser Taylor; Mark D Huffman; Dike B Ojji; Jason H Y Wu; Matti Marklund

doi:10.3390/nu15030761

Presence of trans-Fatty Acids Containing Ingredients in Pre-Packaged Foods and the Availability of Reported trans-Fat Levels in Kenya and Nigeria

Nutrients. 2023 Feb 2;15(3):761. doi: 10.3390/nu15030761.

Authors

Liping Huang¹, Adedayo E Ojo^{2

3}, Judith Kimiywe⁴, Alex Kibet⁵, Boni M Ale^{2

6}, Clementina E Okoro⁷, Jimmy Louie^{8

9}, Fraser Taylor¹, Mark D Huffman^{1

10

11}, Dike B Ojji^{2

12}, Jason H Y Wu^{1

13}, Matti Marklund^{1

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ The George Institute for Global Health Australia, University of New South Wales, 1 King Street, Newtown, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.
² Cardiovascular Research Unit, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, University of Abuja, Abuja 902101, Nigeria.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, University Medical Centre, Utrecht University, 3508 Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁴ Center For Research Ethics and Safety, Kenyatta University, Nairobi P.O. Box 43844-00100, Kenya.
⁵ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Kenya Medical Training College Karen Campus, Nairobi P.O. Box 24921, Kenya.
⁶ Holo Healthcare, Nairobi P.O. Box 22003-00400, Kenya.
⁷ Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Primary Health Care Board, Abuja 900001, Nigeria.
⁸ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁹ Department of Nursing and Allied Health, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 1 John St., Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine and Global Health Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
¹¹ Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
¹² Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Abuja, Abuja 900211, Nigeria.
¹³ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
¹⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, 75122 Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

In most African countries, the prevalence of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (iTFA) in the food supply is unknown. We estimated the number and proportion of products containing specific (any hydrogenated edible oils) and non-specific (vegetable fat, margarine, and vegetable cream) ingredients potentially indicative of iTFAs among pre-packaged foods collected in Kenya and Nigeria. We also summarized the number and proportion of products that reported trans-fatty acids levels and the range of reported trans-fatty acids levels. In total, 99 out of 5668 (1.7%) products in Kenya and 310 out of 6316 (4.9%) products in Nigeria contained specific ingredients indicative of iTFAs. Bread and bakery products and confectioneries in both countries had the most foods that contained iTFAs-indicative ingredients. A total of 656 products (12%) in Kenya and 624 products (10%) in Nigeria contained non-specific ingredients that may indicate the presence of iTFAs. The reporting of levels of trans-fatty acids was low in both Kenya and Nigeria (11% versus 26%, respectively, p < 0.001). With the increasing burden of ischemic heart disease in Kenya and Nigeria, the rapid adoption of WHO best-practice policies and the mandatory declaration of trans-fatty acids are important for eliminating iTFAs.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; hydrogenation; packaged food; trans-fatty acids.

MeSH terms

Food Supply
Kenya
Margarine
Nigeria
Trans Fatty Acids* / analysis

Substances

Trans Fatty Acids
Margarine

Grants and funding

The research conducted for this study did not receive any specific funding. The data collection in Kenya was supported by The George Institute for Global Health Australia and the data collection in Nigeria was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (UH3 HL152381) and the Havey Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University.