NHS watchdog has trans fats, salt in sights in new health drive

The NHS spending watchdog has called for artificial fats added to confectionary and fast food, known as trans fats, to be banned in a move that could save tens of thousands of lives every year.

According to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), cardiovascular disease is the UK’s biggest killer and is costing the economy 30 billion pounds annually.

It wants Britons’ saturated fat levels to be cut drastically and salt intake halved by 2025.

Mike Kelly, director for public health for NICE, told journalists 40,000 deaths could be saved every year by measures such as banning trans fats, which do nothing but prolong a food’s shelf life.

Mr Kelly said this represents a “big ticket item”, adding that it is well within the power of regulators to make a difference in this area.

He said: “This isn’t some mystery virus which we don’t understand, this is something where we know precisely what the causes are and we know precisely what we can do about it.”