Reducing processed food’s fat by 20 percent could slash UK mortality rates, say researchers

02 Mar 2021 --- Reducing the fat content of processed foods in the UK could save almost 100,000 lives and prevent 4.5 million cases of overweight and obesity, according to a study by Wolfson Institute, Queen Mary University of London, UK.

Researchers at the institute investigated the potential impact of a 20 percent fat reduction in processed foods, implemented gradually over five years.

The modeling results forecast a range of public health benefits improvements that would reduce mortality and ease the health system’s economic burden. 

Following the findings, now published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, UK charity Action on Sugar (AoS) is calling on policymakers to set mandatory targets for industry and impose levies on non-compliant food manufacturers. 

“The food industry – both manufacturers and the out-of-home sector –should start reformulating their products to contain less saturated fat and calories,” lead author Roberta Alessandrini tells NutritionInsight. 

“In the UK, the population consumes too much fat, around 35 percent of the daily calories. Of this, 12.5 percent is saturated fat.”

“The food industry – both manufacturers and the out-of-home sector – should start reformulating their products to contain less saturated fat and calories.”

More than 60 percent of the UK population are currently living with overweight or obesity.Fighting fat 
The study authors took data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey rolling program to calculate fat and energy contributions from 46 manufactured and out-of-home food categories. 

Foods included burgers, kebabs, pizzas, sugary confectionery, meat alternatives and ice cream. 

Each food category was calculated for calories and modeled a 4 percent fat reduction each year for five years in each food type. 

It was found that over five years, this 20 percent total reduction would result in a mean drop of 68 kcal of energy per person per day. 

The energy reduction could reduce the average mean body weight by 2.7 kg. 

The obesity prevalence would be reduced by 5.3 percent and the overweight prevalence by 1.5 percent, corresponding to 3.5 million and 1 million cases of obesity and overweight, respectively. 

The bodyweight reduction could prevent 183,000 cases of Type 2 diabetes over two decades, say the researchers, preventing 87,560 ischaemic heart disease (IHD) deaths and 9520 stroke deaths over 20 years. 

“The time has come” for fat reduction policies
AoS is calling on the UK government to act fast and implement regulations to make the model results a reality. 

Ill health caused by poor diet costs the UK over £40 billion (US$55 billion) per year.Previously, the UK soft drinks tax – which added policies on labeling, marketing, and taxation of sugary drinks – positively impacted public health, says AoS. 

The charity now wants to see this success replicated throughout the UK food system, asserting that not enough has been done.

“The UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy has been remarkable in encouraging reformulation and has already resulted in a much bigger reduction of sugar content of drinks in the UK than originally anticipated,” says Kawther Hasham, campaign leader at AoS. 

The levy further ring fenced £340 million (US$471 million) of income directly from manufacturers – not the public – to spend on improving children’s health. The same could be achieved either by mandatory targets or creating a levy to reduce excess calories, she asserts, but a firm commitment from the government is needed. 

The levy could also raise substantial amounts of money that could be invested back in a comprehensive approach to improve children’s health, she notes. 

“For four years, the government and Public Health England have wasted time and cost lives – with only one action, the soft drinks industry levy, being successful,” says Graham McGregor, chair of AoS. 

“The time has come for the government to tackle the obesity pandemic, and this new research clearly shows one simple and practical approach that could easily be achieved by the food industry and would benefit even the worst off in our society.”

High-fat diets under fire 
Popular personalized regimens such as the ketogenic diet, which emphasizes high levels of fat and protein with low levels of carbohydrates, may now be under question given the Queen Mary study’s findings. 

Allesandrini says that despite their popularity, keto diets are complicated to follow in the long term. “They are also not very environmentally sustainable, given their high content of animal-sourced products.”

A study conducted at the University of Reading also recently demonstrated the mechanism by which fat causes damage to muscle cells in the heart. 

The researchers looked at a key protein, Nox2, which is believed to be associated with increased oxidative stress in the heart. 

The study found that mice on a high-fat diet had twice the amount of Nox2 activity, which also led to a similar amount of reactive oxygen species – a free radical associated with pathological damage of the body.

By Louis Gore-Langton