Time to remove trans fat from diet

Harmful trans fats - added to products such as biscuits, cakes and fast foods - should be removed from the British diet, a Scottish doctor has said.

Dr Lewis Morrison, chair of the British Medical Association's Scottish consultants committee, said the synthetic fats were bad for health, promoting the development of illnesses such as heart disease.

He told the BMA's meeting in Cardiff they should no longer be allowed to be added to foods in the UK, following bans in other countries.

The BMA's board of science said that it was investigating the issue of trans fats and diet and would report on their findings later.

Some food manufacturers have already removed trans fats - chemically altered vegetable oils - from their products.

Dr Morrison said they were added to foods for "cosmetic" reasons, such as to improve texture and lengthen shelf-life. "They service no useful nutritional purpose," he said.

"Their use is particularly prevalent in convenience and fast foods, and therefore their deleterious effects further prejudice the health of parts of the population already at higher risk of vascular disease."

Dr Morrison said: "(UK Health Secretary] Andrew Lansley encouraged further voluntary action by the food industry and ruled out any direct government action.

"Such complacency in the face of clear evidence of harm is unacceptable.

"The use of synthetic trans fats in food in the UK must stop and must be stopped."