Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

@uezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE:BILLNO. 330

Introduced by HONORABLE LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This reenacts House Bill No. 615 which has been approved by the
14" Congress of the House of Representatives on 05 March 2009 and
has been transmitted to and received by the Senate on 11 March 2009.

Trans fatty acids are artificial fatty acids, very unlike those
normally found in nature that is produced by the process of
hydrogenation. Trans fats are fats whose molecular structure has
been damaged.

Hydrogenation is a process where unsaturated vegetable oils,
examples of which are polyunsaturated canola oil, soybean oil, corn
oil, sunflower oil, etc. are chemically altered to form a more
“saturated” fat. The process of hydrogenation will artificially increase
the “saturation” of the vegetable oil so it will be less susceptible to
rancidity and will increase the shelf life of foods. Hydrogenation
involves heating the vegetable oil to very high temperatures while
bombarding the oil with hydrogen atoms and mixing it with metal
particles such as nickel oxide (nickel is a metal known to cause
cancer). Then the oil is bleached.

In the process of hydrogenation, a new fatty acid, an artificial
one is created and it is called the trans fatty acid. The process of
partial hydrogenation changes as much as fifty (50%) percent or more
of the oil’s natural fatty acids into the toxic trans fatty acids.

Health experts and numerous studies have shown evidence that
trans fats, which are artificial fats that are chemically engineered
actually decrease levels of good cholesterol while increasing harmful
cholesterol; they increase dangerous inflammation that can contribute
to the onset of diabetes; they harden artery walls, which increases
blood pressure as well as other health hazards. It has been concluded


that trans fats from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils is a toxic
substance that does not belong in food.

A comprehensive review of studies of trans fats was published in
2006 in the New England Journal of Medicine that concludes a strong
and reliable connection between trans fats and coronary heart disease.
Another major evidence for the effect of trans fat on coronary heart
disease comes from the Nurses Health Study in 1976 that involved
120,000 female nurses.

Dariush Mozaffarian, a Harvard cardiologist and epidemiologist
calculated that up to twenty-two (22%) percent of heart attacks in the
United States are the result of trans fat consumption.

Several research studies have shown how toxic trans fats are to
one’s health. Trans fats are associated with accelerated aging and
other degenerative diseases. It affects general metabolism making
people more prone to obesity, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, eczema,
psoriasis, Parkinson's disease and other immunologic problems.

Trans fats causes human cells to freeze up, leaving them
dysfunctional.

The human body does not have the protein enzymes needed to
breakdown the artificial fats because trans fats are synthetic fats that
are structurally different from our natural fats.

Some trans fatty acids occur naturally in the digestive system of
ruminant animals such as cows, sheep and goats. It has been shown
that the naturally occurring trans fats from animal fats do not share
the harmful properties of the synthetic trans fats resulting from the
process of hydrogenation of vegetable oils.

The natural and synthetic trans fatty acids are not alike.
Available data also shows that the content of trans fatty acids in
industrially hydrogenated fats may reach 60 (60%) percent of the fatty
acids while the equivalent number for ruminant fat is two to five (2%
to 5%) percent.

In the year 2003, the Institute of Medicine of the United States
of America reported the results of their three (3) year investigation of
all published studies on trans fat in hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Their conclusion was that no levels or no amount of trans fats are
safe in the diet.

The evidence is so strong against trans fat that in July 2003,
the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) issued what was


considered as the biggest regulatory change for the US Food industry
in a decade, which mandated food manufacturers to disclose and list
the amount of trans fat on the nutrition labels of all processed foods.
Mandatory compliance took effect on Jan. 1, 2006.

Denmark was the first country to introduce laws. strictly
regulating the sale of foods containing trans fats in March 2003
followed by Canada in November 2004 which was passed by an
overwhelming vote of 193-73 in the Canadian House of Commons. The
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends countries to eliminate
Processed trans fats.

This bill proposes to establish trans fat labeling requirement on
food product labels and to ban harmful trans fats in foods in the
Philippines.

This bill will make the Philippines the first country in Asia to limit
trans fats in processed foods and to encourage hotels and restaurants,
bakeries, catering businesses, fast food chains, and other food
manufacturers to voluntarily cook using trans fat-free oils such as our
very own coconut oil which is abundant in the Philippines.

Coconut oil is rich in plant-based healthy type of saturated fats
that is predominantly composed of the immune boosting and heart-
healthy medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) which is very different
from the saturated fats from animals that is composed of the Jong
chain fatty acids (LCFA). Coconut oil has no cholesterol. Coconut oil
is ninety-two (92%) percent highly saturated fat which means it is
more tolerant of the temperatures used in cooking, it does not need to
undergo the process of hydrogenation (unlike polyunsaturated oils
such as soy, corn, canola, sunflower, etc.). Coconut oil is trans fat-
free.

Moreover, the positive effects of the medium chain fatty
acids (MCFA) found in coconut oil includes the following: it protects
against infections of all kinds; it boosts metabolism; it improves the
absorption of nutrients, it does not clog artery walls; it produces
energy and not body fat; it inactivates many viruses such as measles,
influenza, herpes, HIV, hepatitis C, SARS and cytomegalovirus, etc.;
coconut oil tempers or blocks the harmful effects of many toxins such
as ethanol, glutamic acid (MSG), aflatoxin, E.coli endotoxin, etc.
Published medical studies show that MCFA’s in coconut oil also kill
bacterial infections such as throat and sinus infections, urinary tract
infections, ear infections, food poisoning, gastric ulcer, pneumonia,
dental cavities and gum disease, meningitis, conjunctivitis, etc. MCFA’s
also kill the following fungal infections: ringworm, athletes foot, jock
itch, diaper rash, toenail fungus, candidiasis, etc.



Coconut oil’s saturated fatty acids is predominantly composed of
sixty-four (64%) percent medium chain fatty acids (MCFA’s). It has
the most or largest concentration of medium chain fatty acids
(MCFAs) compared with other vegetable oils and fats traded in the
world today. It is the medium chain fatty acids that give coconut oi!
its remarkable nutritional and medicinal properties which earned it
the reputation of being the “healthiest oil on earth". Lauric acid
makes up about fifty (50%) percent of coconut oil’s healthy medium
chain fatty acids. Lauric acid in coconut oil is the same Jauric acid
found in human breast milk. Lauric acid is the most important essential
fatty acid in building and maintaining the body’s immune system.

This bill will promote the following:

- Give consumers alternative foods that are lower in trans
fats and will require manufacturers to reduce or
eliminate the amount of trans fats in their products.

- Will make Philippine food manufacturers less dependent
on imported hydrogenated vegetable cooking oils such as
soy, corn, canola, sunflower oils which contain the toxic
trans fats. This will save the country foreign exchange by
reducing importation of hydrogenated vegetable oils.

- Food manufacturers, hotels and restaurants, catering
businesses, etc should be encouraged to patronize our
trans fat - free coconut oil which is heart- healthy and
abundantly available locally.

- The use of coconut oil (instead of the imported
hydrogenated vegetable oils) in the manufacture of
processed foods and as cooking oil will help prevent
numerous diseases and will help lessen health care costs
in the Philippines . The US FDA estimates that by 2009,
their trans fat labeling requirement will have prevented
at least one hundred thousand (100,000) cases of
coronary heart diseases and 250 to 500 deaths each
year. A similar study should be made in the Philippines.

The recent laws and regulation on trans fat now implemented in
the USA, Denmark, Canada, and this bill in the Philippines will help
place coconut oil in a more competitive and advantageous position
than it has been in the past decades. The Philippines being one of the
largest coconut-producing countries in the world should take a lead
and be an example to other Asian countries as this will be beneficial to
the Philippines and the rest of the world.


Considering the merits of this bill, approval hereof is eayhestly
requested.

wh
LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

@ueson City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 330

Introduced by HONORABLE LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE

AN ACT ESTABLISHING TRANS FAT LABELING REQUIREMENTS
ON FOOD PRODUCT LABELS AND BANNING HARMFUL
TRANS FATS IN FOOD

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives OF THE
Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as “The Trans Fat
Labeling Act”

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the need
to establish labeling requirement for food products on the amount of
trans fat contained therein. This requirement will motivate food
manufacturers, catering businesses, hotels and restaurants, fast food
chains, bakeries and others in the food industry to modify their
formulas to reduce or even eliminate trans fats and direct them to the
growing trend of healthy food choices being offered to consumers.

The State shall endeavor to protect public health versus private
profit from the public sale of processed foods containing trans fats
from artificially hydrogenated oils and fats. Accurate food labels are

critical especially for the millions of consumers who have diabetes, are


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overweight, have heart problems, or those on a restricted diet that
require monitoring of the total amount of fats, carbohydrates and
calories they consume.

Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, Trans
Fatty Acid shall be defined as:

An artificial fatty acid, very unlike those normally found in nature
that is produced by the process of hydrogenation. Trans fats are fats
whose molecular structure has been damaged.

Trans fatty acid is the sum of all isomeric fatty acids with 14, 16,
18, 20, and 22 carbon atoms and one or more trans double bonds, i. e.
Cissy Creis, Cro:t, Cis:2, Crs:3, C20:1, Cz0:2, C22:2, trans isomeric fatty
acids, but only polyunsaturated fatty acids with methylene -
interrupted double bonds.

Hydrogenation shall be defined as:

A process where unsaturated vegetable oils (examples of which
are polyunsaturated canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil) are
chemically altered to form a more “saturated” fat. The process of
hydrogenation will artificially increase the “saturation” of the
unsaturated vegetable oils so it will be less susceptible to spoilage and
will increase the shelf life of foods. Hydrogenation involves heating the
oil to very high temperatures. Oil is mixed with metal particles such as
nickel oxide and then bleached to achieve a white color.

In the process of hydrogenation, a new fatty acid, an artificial

one is created and it is called the trans fatty acid. Partial


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hydrogenation changes as much as fifty percent (50%) or more of the
oil's natural fatty acids into the toxic trans fatty acids.

Sec. 4. Scope. - This Act shall apply to oils and fats, including
emulsions with fat, as the continuous phase, which, either alone or as
part of processed foods, are intended for human consumption or must
be assumed to be intended for human consumption.

This Act shall not cover or apply to naturally occurring content of
trans fatty acids present in meat, milk and other dairy produce.

It shall be prohibited to sell oils and fats covered by this Act if
such oils and fats exceed one-half (2) gram of trans fatty acids per
one hundred (100) grams of oil or fat.

In products claimed to be “free of trans fatty acids", the content
of trans fatty acids shall be less than one-fourth (%) gram per one
hundred (100) grams of the individual oil or the individual fat in the
finished product.

Sec. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The
Secretary of Health, in collaboration with the Bureau of Food and
Drugs (BFAD), shall issue the rules and regulations necessary to carry
out the purpose of this Act.

Sec. 6. Penalty Provisions-

(a) Any person or entity violating the provisions of this Act shall

be liable to a fine of One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00).


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(b) The penalty may include imprisonment for up to two (2)
years if the violation was intentional or grossly negligent or if by the
violation:

(1) Damage to health has been caused, or dangers of such
damage has been caused; or

(2) A financial gain, including by means of savings, has been
achieved or has been intended to be achieved for the violator.

Sec. 7. Effectivity Clause - This Act shall take effect fifteen
(15) days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2)
national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,