Health risks and benefits of trans fatty acids including conjugated fatty acids in food -: Synopsis of the AFSSA report and recommendations

An AFSSA`s working group was created in 2004 to review the current knowledge on health risks and benefits of trans fatty acids (TFA) in food aiming to provide technical and scientific support to food recommendations and regulation. The AFSSA report on TFA was published on April 2005 and is available on AFSSA website. Based on several considerations AFSSA has proposed the chemical, non restricted definition of TFA i.e. including together TFA naturally present in food and those chemically produced (the mixtures of trans conjugated isomers of linoleic acid, designed as CLA) or resulting from a manufacturing process - as the "regulatory" definition of TFA. From consumption data, including those newly collected in France, and studies concerned with cardiovascular diseases, overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrom and metabolism, AFSSA has recommended that the value of 2% of total energy intake be considered as TFA consumption level that should not be exceeded. To do so, it has been proposed several recommendations and measures to consumers (and domestic oil companies, see the AFSSA report). Since the consumption of CLA of natural origin was found to be very low in France (>= 10% of TFA, with rumenic acid accounting for more than 90%), no particular measure has been required regarding naturally occurring CLA in food. In contrast, consuming the chemically-produced CLA mixtures led to high-dose intakes of both rumenic acid and 10t, 12c CLA. Current data did not provide clear evidence for a beneficial effect of rumenic acid, whereas adverse effects of 10t, 12c CLA were suspected. Accordingly, introduction of CLA mixtures in foods - regardless of the proportion of each isomer - has been considered not to be justified in the form of supplements/food ingredients in the state of knowledge. A strong recommendation has been expressed in favor of TFA labeling, whereas a separate labeling of CLA has not been required.