BMJ  2006;333:214 (29 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7561.214

Editorial

Trans fatty acids and coronary heart disease

Food labels should list these as well as cholesterol and saturated fat

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Arecent systematic review by Mozaffarian and colleagues in the New England Journal of Medicine advocated that people should reduce or stop their dietary intake of trans fatty acids to minimise the related risk of coronary heart disease.1 Trans fatty acids—unsaturated fatty acids with at least one double bond in the trans molecular configuration—are produced by partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils. This is a process that converts vegetable oils into semisolid fats which have no known nutritional value but are widely used in margarines, in commercial cooking, and in manufactured foods.2

Reliable evidence for the effects of trans fatty acids and other types of fat on blood lipids comes from the "metabolic ward" studies (in which participants are admitted to wards specialising in metabolic studies). Typically, participants in these studies consumed isocaloric diets under controlled conditions that exchanged the amount and type of fat for complex carbohydrate and the effects . . . [Full text of this article]

Robert Clarke, honorary consultant in public health medicine

Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, Richard Doll Building, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LF
(robert.clarke@ctsu.ox.ac.uk)

Sarah Lewington, senior research fellow

Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, Richard Doll Building, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LF


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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

tfX: Labelling of trans fats is not enough
Oliver T Tickell
bmj.com, 28 Jul 2006 [Full text]
Health warnings need statistical warnings
GH Hall
bmj.com, 30 Jul 2006 [Full text]
Re: Health warnings need statistical warnings
June M Malkin, et al.
bmj.com, 14 Aug 2006 [Full text]
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