The House Committee on Health approved Wednesday (Dec. 9) in principle four measures seeking to regulate the use of trans-fatty acids (TFA) to protect the Filipinos from its harmful effects.

After less than one hour of virtual deliberations, the panel gave in to the motion of Batangas 2nd District Rep. Raneo “Rannie” Abu to consolidate the four bills and approve them subject to style. It was Palawan 3rd District Rep. Gil Acosta Jr. who initially moved for the bills' consolidation and approval, but was cut due to online technical glitch.

Before the approval of the measures, Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Tan, panel chairperson and one of the main proponents of the bill, asked her colleagues to pass their proposed “Trans-Fat Free Philippines Act”.

“These bills seek to protect and promote the Filipinos’ right to health by ensuring safe and nutritious food free from substances like TFA that increase their risk of contracting deadly diseases and protect Filipinos from the threat of death linked to TFA consumption by progressively removing industrially-produced TFA from the food supply,” she said.

She noted that every year, more than half a million deaths are attributed to TFA globally.

“Dubbed as the "tobacco of nutrition,” TFA has no health benefits and is completely replaceable with no difference in taste or cost of food. Thus, the WHO published the REPLACE Technical Action Package as a road map towards a trans-fat free world by 2023,” Tan said.

According to her, their bills seeks to specifically regulate the use of TFA, imposing penalties in the manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) and oils and fats with TFA content.

Tan said under the measures, the Department of Health (DOH) is mandated to convene and lead an Inter-Agency Force on TFA to carry out the effective implementation of the proposed Act. Sitting as members of the proposed TFA Task Force are the National Nutrition Council (NNC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Finance (DOF), and other agencies identified by the DOF.

Other principal authors of the proposed “Trans-Fat Free Philippines Act” are Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Vilafuerte Jr., Ang Probinsyano partylist Reps. Ronnie Ong, and Alfred Delos Santos.

During the committee hearing, officials of DOH, DA, DTI, DOST, NNC, and FDA threw all-out support to the measures.

Covered by the proposed “Trans-Fat Free Philippines Act” are all food business operators as defined under Republic Act No. 10611 or the “Food Safety Act.”

The bills seeks to prohibit and penalize the manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) and oils and fats, as well as the prepackaged food with PHOs and TFA content.

Under the measures, claims on the packaging, labelling, marketing, or advertising, that a food product is TFA free is prohibited.