AHA Recommendations and USFDA Legislated Health Claims Achieved By Partnering Palm and Soybean Oils
by Kalyana Sundram & Yusof Basiron

Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), 2nd Floor Wisma Sawit, Lot 6, SS6 Jalan Perbandaran, 47301 Kelana Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
E-mail: kalyana@mpoc.org.my, yusof@mpoc.org.my

American Heart Association's (AHA) Dietary Recommendations

The American Heart Association (AHA) in its Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations (Revised 2006), recommends intake of <7% of energy as saturates and allows only <1% as TFA. In the current US diet, the major sources of saturated fatty acids are animal fats (mostly meat and dairy) and the primary sources of TFA are partially hydrogenated fats. (The USDA says that soybean oil, is also a major contributor of saturates in the US diet, based simply on the quantities consumed). Although the AHA say that there are currently no numerical goals for TFA, the FDA recommends that TFA intake be less than 1%, and for this reason effectively forcing the AHA to recommend a similar dietary goal of <1% TFA. In the most simplistic interpretation of these facts and numbers, the AHA is finally acknowledging that 1% TFA in the diet is equated to 7% saturates in the diet for CHD risk! The FDA on the other hand only legislates the level of TFA in foods but not saturates, which by the way (saturates) still have physiological functions required for human related metabolic processes.

The AHA has been a front-runner in the battle to educate the American consumer and reduce the significantly high rates of CHD related mortality within the American population. While the Europeans could boast of the Mediterranean diet and the French paradox as tools in their fight against CHD, the Americans had hardly anything to offer except their high fat intake, high TFA consumption and a over dependence on the fast food syndrome. To combat these anomalies, the AHA came up with an almost brilliant and strategized recommendation: reduce fat intake to no more than 30% daily energy and ensure that this recommended fat intake was balanced equally between the saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the ratio 1:1:1 (or 10% energy for each component fatty acid). Notice that this recommendation known as the AHA Step1 diet, made in the early 1990s, made no reference to hydrogenated fats or TFA. The Step-1 diet was a brilliant strategy but it soon became obvious that none of the 17 commercially available edible oils (including the much touted olive oil) on its own could fit this requirement. When palm oil was mentioned as part of this prescribed healthy alternative, it was simply snubbed at.