Ikenna Ugochukwu (not real name) works at the Imo State University as a senior Lecturer, his wife, Adaugo is a sought after caterer in Owerri, they are blessed with two beautiful children.
Due to the high demand for Adaugo services, the family eats loads of fried content especially chicken fried with reused oils, their neighbours always salivate over the different aromas that emit from Ugochukwu’s house when the caterer is cooking with her workers.
Only recently, Ikenna was diagnosed with a heart condition coupled with the high blood pressure he was managing and the effect is one their earnings.
He just took a loan from the staff welfare association to undergo a surgery, even as he had received an oral query for not meeting up with giving adequate lectures to his students.
Reputed Cardiologists at the best at the Federal Medical Center Owerri have admonished him to quit or cut down his intake of fried foods, he occasionally eats when his wife is out of the house.
Unfortunately their children have been withdrawn from the high brow school they attend to a cheaper one due to rising costs of treatment and drugs.
Nneka Obi is a wife and mother, she sells Akara (bean cakes) to support her family. Not given to eating outside, she cooks almost everything her family eats. Any time she needs vegetable oil to cook, she simply collects from the oil she uses for commercial purposes to cook.
In her quest for foods devoid of artificial inputs, she loves eating Abacha (palm oil flavoured cassava flakes) which is natural she argues.
Unfortunately she is now a patient at FMC Owerri for heart related issue.
According to her, the doctors told her that years of consuming reused oils has resulted in cardiovascular disease, even as treatment is way beyond what she can afford.
She has taken to attending every church program around her for divine healing, her husband who works as a bus driver has recently started complaining of urine incontinence which the doctors blamed on repeated consumption of locally prepared herbs (agbo) which he always consumed to cleanse his system as a man.
Already, their family members have stopped taking their calls due to incessant demand for money for treatment.
Ikenna and Nneka are some of the people who have developed cardiovascular concerns due to eating habits.
Concerned about the rising number of people developing different health concerns, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), recently brought together eggheads from the health sector and Journalists from the five Southeast states in Enugu, the coal city to brainstorm on trans-fat and its implications on the people.
Executive director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi said daily, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find foods devoid of trans-fat fats and oil, even as he maintained that scientists have repeatedly warned on the dangers of trans-fat and its attendant implications on peoples health, saying it was the cause of rising illnesses across the country.
He appealed to Journalists to draw attention to the dangers of trans-fat consumption even as he admonished consumers to read labels and ensure healthy oils.
Health specialist, Dr Jerome Mafeni spoke on the dangers of rising trans-fat consumption.
According to him, daily, Nigerians were embracing technology and industrial processed foods containing trans fat which unfortunately contributes to many underlying diseases.
He explained that Trans-fat (TFAs) are toxic compounds that are found in foods and many fast foods in Nigeria such as fried foods (puff puff, pizza) deep-fried (Akara, fried meat, chicken, yam etc) plantain chips, cakes, pastries, including pre-packaged foods and vegetable oil.
He defined it thus “Trans fat is a by product of a process called hydrogenation that is used to turn healthy oils into solids and prevent them from becoming rancid. Please note that there are naturally small amounts of trans fat in meats and diary products from cows, sheep, and other ruminants”.
The Medical Doctor, who is the Executive Director of Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), maintained that trans-fat has damning effects on human health.
He said “Trans-fat (TFAs) has severe effect on health such as cardiovascular problems, insulin resistance, infertility in women, compromised fetal development, and cognitive decline. As a matter of fact, TFAs has been linked as a trigger to rising cardiovascular diseases even as Nigeria’s cuisine is high in the use of fats and Oils. Unfortunately, majority of trans-fat in diets are industrially produced, contained in foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils”.
According to Mafeni, the reasons why companies and small medium use trans-fat are “because they are easy to use, inexpensive to use, they have a long shelf life, and give foods desirable taste”.
He told his shocked audience that any fried oil used more than twice is no longer safe and that after the third use (in extreme cases) they should be discarded because it has become poisonous.
Mafeni said “I’m sorry to shock you but any oil used more than twice is harmful. So when we buy fried chicken, akara, buns, and we feel fly that we are eating natural foods, we are doing nothing but accumulating poison into our bodies which turns around and becomes a concern, the very reason a lot of people are coming down with blood pressure, stroke, and other underlying health issues”.
He explained that most Nigerian homes and businesses using fried oils only add to the existing one for effective frying as against discarding it after second use, regretting that almost everyone is guilty of the anomaly.
He emphasised that trans-fat is harmful for humans for several reasons which include
“Trans-fat are poisons just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere with the metabolic process of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function. Consumption of industrial processed trans-fat is associated with many adverse health effects.
These health issues include blood cholesterol which creates imbalance in blood cholesterol levels; risk of heart attack as it generates toxic compounds in the body which leads to insulin resistance and raises the risk of diabetes mellitus.
Consumption of IP-TFA results in the deposition of fat around the belly/waist region and also the organs within the body cavity which causes obesity.
Inflammation is another concern. IP-TFA increases the level of certain chemicals that favours the development of Inflammation within the body, this results in widespread aches and pains all over the body, and manifests as joint pain, swellings”.
Further, Dr Mafeni said the frequent intake of food high in trans-fat increase the chances of suffering from certain types of cancers eg breast cancer, cancer of large intestine (colon cancer) amongst others.
Daily, many people are coming down with cancer related issues, the treatment of the ailment is no doubt gulping huge resources, while treatment centres is a major concern.
Mafeni argued that most of the health concerns in Nigeria is trans-fat induced and appealed to people to change their diets and live healthier lives.
Some of the measures he advocated include replacing trans-fat with healthier oils/fats in the food supply is a low-cost way for governments to save lives of Nigerian citizens.
The World Health Organisation recommends trans-fat elimination is a cost effective intervention for low and middle income countries.
He argued “there has been too much unnecessary loss of lives in Nigeria recently. We should not add to this list for something so easily preventable. The future of the country is in our hands, enough of the talking, the time for action is now”.
According to Mafeni, treatment of cardiovascular diseases is capital intensive and indirectly fuels poverty, as families status change if they don’t have a steady income source.
On hand was the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs Eva Edwards who highlighted the provisions of the Fats and oils regulations 2022.
She disclosed that Nigeria has keyed into the WHO Replace Action package adding that the 2005 Fsrs and Oils Regulation was reviewed to reflect regulations.
Eva explained that section two of the Regulation stipulates that “a person shall not manufacture, package, import, export, advertise, distribute, display for sale, offer for sale, sell or use edible fats and oils as specified in the first schedule to these regulations in Nigeria unless, it has been registered in accordance with the provisions of the regulations”.
According to her, any vegetable oil for use, distribution, import, export, sell, offer for sale must be fortified with vitamin A not below 20, 000 I.U per kilogram. Specifically, the trans-fat content must not exceed 2 grams per 100 grams of fat or oil.
She said the regulation provide in section 8 “Fats, oils and foods containing fats and oils intended for human consumption of which the content of trans-fat exceeds 2g per 100g of fat or oil are prohibited. No “Trans-fat and cholesterol free” claims shall be made on the label or in an advertisement”.
Eva explained that Nigeria’s food production companies largely comprises micro and small-scale enterprises, which raises concerns around industry’s capacity to reformulate, and called for “read the label campaign” for consumers to know what they are buying.
Anyone who contravenes the provisions is liable to conviction, forfeiture of asset or property, and payment of fine.
On her part, Nigeria Coordinator, Global Health Advisory Incubator (GHAI) Resolve to Save Lives Cardiovascular Health Program (RTSL CVH) Ms Joy Amafah said the aim of the organisation is to support civil society organisations that advocate for public health policies targeted at reducing death and disease.
According to her, the leading cause of death in the world is cardiovascular disease (CVD) which accounts for 16 percent of the world’s total deaths (WHO 2021).
She said “while addressing the covid pandemic remains a priority globally, research has shown that people with CVD are more at risk to covid and other infectious diseases”.
Amafah said “In 2019, almost 854,000 people died in Nigeria and around 137,000 deaths were linked to cardiovascular diseases, with 3,229 deaths associated with trans-fat related cardiovascular mortality according to Global Health Data Exchange 2022.
Further, she advocated that trans-fat be replaced with healthier alternatives, which provide significant health benefits without compromising taste or cost.
She said “since REPLACE campaign was launched in 2018, an estimated 2.4billion people have been shielded from trans-fat. While 3.1billion people lived in nation’s with best practice policies on trans-fat elimination at the end of 2021, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the worldwide population”.
Daily, Nigerians from all walks of life are developing different health concerns even when they are not smokers.
For unexplainable reasons, many people especially from 25 years are showing signs of organ collapse and a high number seeking financial assistance for organ transplant to replace kidneys.
On the other hand, a growing number have developed cardiovascular diseases as they have come down with blood pressure, stroke, and other health problems.
Unfortunately, due to dilapidated health care institutions, lack of adequate facilities, and exorbitant costs of treatment, many people have resorted to prayer and miracle centres for succour, even as the proprietors have turned around to milk them under the guise of sowing seeds.
Research has proven that the high consumption of trans-fat in the Nigerian diet has triggered the onset of many health problems even as people repeatedly consume harmful substance which causes complications.
Families while managing cardiovascular diseases of a member, move from comfort to poverty levels occasioned by job loss, depression, change of status, and other underlying problems in other family members.
CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said the training was to sensitise Journalists on the dangers of trans-fat and call for adoption of the Fats and Oils Regulation 2022 to address the growing concerns caused by trans-fat.
It is anticipated that the federal government will adopt the policy which will drastically check the influx of all manner of fats and oil based products in Nigeria.
Undoubtedly, many people have eaten themselves into health concerns via choice of oils used, now the campaign should become nobody should use any oil especially fried oil more than twice to avoid visits to Cardiologists, and underlying diseases. It is time to advocate healthy fats and oils and healthy eating.
