Cover Story
New York Ban On Trans Fats Could Affect Malaysian Food Exports
By Manik Mehta, Bernama
Dec 7, 2006, 17:51

With New York setting the tone for a radical change in the law governing the use of trans fats in foods served in restaurants, Malaysian food exporters should brace to face stricter food standards while exporting their products to the United States, veritably the world's largest food market.

New York become the first city in the United States - and others are expected to follow suit - to announce a ban on Tuesday on the artery-clogging artificial trans fats in foods cooked or used in restaurants.

The ban applies to all, be it pizza shops, fast food chain franchise stores, the bakery shops or the upper-end restaurants.

To enable restaurants and others to adjust to this requirement, New York's board of health has allowed them a deadline to comply with this order.

New York's restaurants, including those serving Malaysian cuisine, will have to stop using artificial trans fats from all of its foods by July 2008.

Much to the annoyance of the restaurant owners, they will also be required to list the fat content on the menu itself, though fast-food restaurants and other chains have much to fear.

Malaysia exports a variety of food products such as frozen parathas, biryani, cooked meat, etc. which enjoy popularity, particularly, with the burgeoning South Asian community in this country. Roti channai is as much a popular food with South Asians as it is with Malaysians.

However, if any of these products contained trans fats, they are likely to face hurdles while entering the U.S. market in the future, according to a source with the local health board.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an importer of Asian food products, located in New York's Chinatown, told Bernama that the New York office of the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) should enquire with the appropriate authorities to find out how the change in law governing use of trans fats in foods will affect food imports from Malaysia.

"You can understand that importers will be reluctant to import food products from Malaysia if there is a ban on the trans fats which are found in some of these products. It is therefore necessary for Matrade to obtain accurate information from the authorities and then advise both importers in the United States and exporters in Malaysia about the change in law," he said.

As the nation passes through what has become a health crisis of epidemic proportion - two out of five Americans are expected to have heart problems, diabetes and other related ailments caused by a sedentary lifestyle and a diet relying excessively on saturated and trans fats.

This situation is also having a serious impact on the nation's depleting resources as the national budget continues to be stretched to the limit with an increasing number of Americans showing reluctance to give up high-cholesterol causing foods or simply ignorant of the harm such foods can cause.

There are also parallels to the situation in Malaysia where a growing, prosperous middle class is increasingly turning its back on traditional cuisine and resorting more and more to the fast food culture with all its harmful effects on the consumer. The proliferation of both type 1 and 2 diabetes amongst Malaysians is also causing alarm to Malaysian health experts.

Malaysia's palm-oil suppliers and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board should note that there is a growing aversion amongst the U.S. health authorities not only against trans fats but also against saturated trans fats which have spelt disaster for the general public health, leading to spiraling health bill for the government. Researchers and health specialists have established that trans fats, in particular, have contributed to the deteriorating public health.

According to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the country's food and drug regulating authority, the average American consumes about 4.7 lbs of trans fats each year.

This quantity can destroy the health of an average man, considering that trans fats are created on conversion of liquid oils into solid fats with the addition of hydrogen in a process called hydrogenation.

A widely-used form of trans fats is hydrogenated vegetable oil which is used for frying and also in preparing biscuits, pizza dough, crackers and other products. Hydrogenated vegetable oil is also used in Malaysia.

Many U.S. food manufacturers had already voluntarily stopped using trans fats in their products after the FDA made it mandatory for companies to reflect the trans fat content in labels stuck on their products.

Fast food chains such as McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Wendy, etc., which have operations in Malaysia, are on alert in the United States, and know they will have to make drastic changes not only in the preparation of their foods but also in their supply chain.

Experts predict that other cities and states will, sooner or later, also emulate New York's example and ban the harmful trans fats. The Midwestern region of the United States is also under tremendous pressure from health and environmental groups to issue a ban on trans fats.

In fact, Chicago is already considering imposing restrictions on trans fats instead of an outright ban at the outset. It is taking what is described as a "selective approach", suggesting that it would at first target the big restaurants whose annual sales exceed US$20 million.

However, certain medical groups such as the American Heart Association are realistic enough to understand that the gastronomy sector will need time to make a switch from trans fats to non-harmful oils.

The AHA has, consequently, cautioned the New York health authorities that if the gastronomy sector is not given adequate time to comply with the new requirements, restaurants might resort to using other substances such as palm oil which has a high saturated fat content.

© Copyright 2006 by halaljournal.com