Hydrogenated Oils to be Banned from all Foods – Saudi Minister of Health

Plans to reduce the amount of sugar and salt in foods

Central Province, Dec 13, 2018 (Issuewire.com) - The Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Tawfig Alrabiah recently tweeted that starting January 01, 2020, hydrogenated oils will be banned from all foods due to their health concerns. Hydrogenation, complete or partial, is a chemical process in which hydrogen is added to liquid oils to turn them into a solid form. Partially hydrogenated fat molecules have trans fats, and they may be the worst type of fat a person can consume.

Eating trans fat raises the level of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol in the blood. An elevated LDL cholesterol level in the blood increases risk of developing heart disease, the leading cause of death in men and women. Removing PHOs from processed foods could prevent thousands of heart attacks and deaths each year.

The reason given for the time limit to 2020 is because the factories need to change their production lines which takes time. He added that there are plans to reduce the amount of sugar and salt in foods.

These steps come in line with the efforts made by the MOH to achieve one of the objectives of the National Transformation Program 2020, specifically improving healthcare provision. This objective is linked to one of the objectives of Vision 2030, which is improving the quality of both, preventive and therapeutic health services.

About MOH:

Saudi Ministry of Health is responsible for the public health and control of the diseases and epidemics, and the development of a skilled healthcare workforce, focused on building a strong infrastructure for a comprehensive health sector in the Kingdom.

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