The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources has issued a decision banning production, import and/or marketing of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) and food products in which these oils are used.
According to Food Safety and Quality Centre: “This decision shall come into force after three months from the date of publication in the official Gazette.”
Partially hydrogenated oil contains trans fat that can raise cholesterol and result in health complications. In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that partially hydrogenated oil is not safe and removing it from food could prevent thousands of heart attacks each year.
Partially hydrogenated oil (PHO) is a solid form of vegetable oil that has undergone hydrogenation. This process adds hydrogen molecules to the liquid vegetable oil and transforms it into a solid at room temperature. During this process, trans fat forms.
Trans fat is the worst type of fat to consume because it lowers your body’s good cholesterol and raises the bad cholesterol, according to experts.
“Non-communicable diseases (NCD) represent a major public health issue and have been responsible for untimely deaths in the country”, said the experts.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has launched the National Monitoring Framework for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases in 2021.
According to the ministry, more than half of the population in the Sultanate of Oman suffers from obesity and 33 per cent of individuals suffer from high blood pressure. More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year.
The first step to controlling NCDs and reducing their burden is to integrate prevention methods into development policies through strengthening policies, developing capacities, and supporting efforts to develop effective prevention mechanisms, including strengthening monitoring systems to provide key data to develop appropriate interventions.
This national framework has been prepared to reinforce the accountability and commitment of different sectors in implementing the various recommended interventions to prevent and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The structure of this framework is based on various local, regional and global high priority indicators related to the control of the most common non-communicable diseases (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and mental health), in addition to the indicators related to reducing the exposure to risk factors associated with these diseases.
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