Trans Fatty Acids IELTS Reading Passage
Read the given passage and answer Questions 1-13.
Trans Fatty Acids
Paragraph 1: Trans fats should be listed on food labels alongside cholesterol and saturated fat, according to a recent editorial published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that was written by experts from the University of Oxford. The unsaturated fatty acids include harmful trans fats. Foods made from grazing animals, such as milk, beef, and ham, contain trace levels of them organically. Partly hydroxylation, or turning vegetable oils into semi-solid fats, is the main source of trans fatty acids in the diet. Therefore, you can find them in baked goods, fried dishes, and other highly processed that use hard paraffin or partly saturated cooking oils.
Paragraph 2: It has been demonstrated that the presence of specific substances in the blood, known as lipids, which are affected negatively by trans fatty acids, can lead to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In addition, they raise levels of LDL cholesterol, also known as the "bad cholesterol," as well as HDL cholesterol, which is distinguished as the "good cholesterol." They may also have deleterious repercussions on the risk of cardiovascular disease, which are apart from any impact they could have on the blood's levels of lipids.
Paragraph 3: A recent meta-analysis of randomised trials on trans fatty acids discovered that a rise of 2% in energy expenditure from trans lipid enzymes was related to a 23% increase in the prevalence of heart disease. Even at low doses, the investigators found that trans fatty acids had negative consequences (3 per cent of total daily energy intake, or about 2 to 7 grams per day). However, the most current findings only revealed that trans fatty acids, which are created when vegetable oils solidify, are unhealthy. Consumption of trans fatty acids through dairy commodities is thought to have comparatively few negative impacts on public health.
Paragraph 4: Intakes of trans fatty acids by the general population in the UK have decreased over the past decade and are now, on average, significantly below the recommended 2% of total energy established by the Department of Health in 1991, which is 1.2% of energy. This is a significant improvement. This is not to suggest that intakes of trans fatty acids are not still an issue. Dietary guidance advises that persons who are at the high end of the range of intake should still make attempts to minimise their intake. This is not meant to say that intakes of trans fatty acids are not still a problem. The United States labels foods containing trans fatty acids, although the United Kingdom and Europe do not. The European regulation that establishes the structure and content of food labels is being revised to include trans fatty acids, which has been supported by the UK Food Standards Agency. Consumers will thus be able to make better-informed decisions about the foods they eat that will benefit their cardiovascular health.
Paragraph 5: In recent years, several food producers and merchants have methodically phased trans fatty acids out of their goods due to growing evidence of their negative effects on human health. For instance, because they are no longer used in the production of popular brands of margarine and other fat spreads, they have been removed from these products for some time. In addition, many businesses now follow criteria that lead to the reformulation and reduction or deletion of trans fatty acids in items where they were previously present, such as snack foods and baked goods. As a result, most British-made savoury biscuits and crisps don't use partly hydrogenated oils in their preparation. There are also shifts occurring in the production of baked goods. For instance, in 2004, a large European producer of cookies, cakes, and snacks stated that they would no longer use partly hydrogenated vegetable oils in their products.
Paragraph 6: Along with these modifications, the producer also noted a decrease in saturates. In order to prevent the same negative health effects from saturated fatty acids, which would be the easy technological solution, avoiding trans fatty acids altogether is a big technical hurdle. Trans fatty acids can be found in foods that have been processed with or include partly hydrogenated oils or fats. This category of foods includes things like biscuits, pastries, and cakes, as well as various fried foods and manufactured bakery goods. It's indeed essential to note that intake may have changed as a result of the reformulation of foods during the past six years in the United Kingdom, as mentioned above. In addition, the United Kingdom has a lower average consumption of trans fatty acids than the United States. This does not mean, however, that there is space for complacency since it is recognised that some parts of the population consume more than is advised.
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