The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decreased the amount of trans fatty acids (TFA) in oils and fats from the present permissible limit of 5% to 3%. Now the new permissible limit for trans fat is 3% for the year 2021 and 2% by the year 2022.
The revised regulation is applicable to vanaspati oil, edible refined oils, bakery shortenings, margarine, and other mediums of cooking like mixed fat spreads and vegetable fat spread. Before this, it was in the year 2018 that the industry companies were asked to reduce the trans fat by 3% by the year 2021. Thereby, the industry players were given 3 years to comply with the regulation. Now, it has been reduced to 3%.
Trans fats are linked to the increased risk of heart attacks and deaths. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year around 5.4 lakh deaths globally are due to the intake of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids. WHO has also called for the elimination of trans fats globally by the year 2023.