Asia lagging in removal of unhealthy trans fat from food: WHO

Asian and African countries are lagging in efforts to eliminate harmful trans fat from food products by the end of this year, despite the substantial progress made worldwide since the World Health Organization set the goal in 2018, a report said Monday.

“Asia is a region where progress (in the elimination of industrially produced trans fats) is relatively slow compared to Europe and the Americas,” Rain Yamamoto, lead author of the report and scientist at the WHO’s department of nutrition and food safety, said.

“It would be great to see Japan, which is a champion in many health-related areas, lead the region by adopting best-practice policies,” she added.

Japan has…