Experts want UK to outlaw 'killer fats' to cut down on heart attacks

BANNING trans fats from the UK would save lives and prevent thousands of heart attacks every year, experts believe.

Trans fats – also known as trans fatty acids – are found in many cakes, pastries, pies, chips and fast foods, but concerns have been raised about their risks to health.

Experts say the UK should follow the example of Denmark, New York, California, Switzerland and Austria in banning trans fats.

Earlier this week, an attempt to ban trans fats in Scotland was dropped after failing to attract enough support from MSPs.

Labour health spokesman Dr Richard Simpson said the new report provided hard evidence of the benefits of a ban. "The health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, needs to explain why she is refusing to back legislation to improve Scotland's diet," Dr Simpson said.

"This article from two senior doctors makes it absolutely clear that trans fats are a nutritional disaster and provides evidence that my bill would have saved lives and prevented thousands of heart attacks every year."

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the experts said trans fats raised levels of bad cholesterol and reduced good, and were likely to promote weight gain, diabetes, insulin resistance and irregular heartbeat. Eating them is linked to a "substantial risk of heart disease events", including heart attacks and death from coronary disease.

"This risk is far higher per calorie consumed than for any other dietary macronutrient, including saturated fat," said the experts, from Harvard Medical School in Boston in the United States.

In developed nations, the average population consumption of trans fats is often 2 per cent to 4 per cent of total calorie intake. But some lower-income groups may be eating as much as 8 per cent. The authors predicted that cutting overall consumption of trans fats in England by just 1 per cent would lead to 11,000 fewer heart attacks each year and 7,000 fewer deaths.