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Open file 03

Trans Fats Out of the Food Supply

Industrially produced trans fatty acids are cheap, invisible on a label, and quietly raise heart disease risk. We are pushing for a national limit that matches WHO best practice.

Goal. Regulation

What success looks like

A national limit of two grams of industrially produced trans fat per hundred grams of total fat, matching WHO best practice.

Running since

2024

Working with

With UNBS and the Ministry of Health

Stage 2 of 5 Standards under review
Baseline Standards Draft reg Validation Gazetted
The timeline

Where it started, and where we are now.

2024

Baseline study completed

Sampling of commonly consumed fats, oils and baked goods to establish what is actually in the Ugandan food supply.

Ongoing

Standards under review

The relevant national standards are being reviewed by the technical committee. This is the step that determines whether a regulation has anything to point at.

We are here
Pending

Draft regulation prepared

Drafting of the instrument, including the enforcement and testing regime.

Pending

Stakeholder validation

Industry, consumer and health stakeholder validation before submission.

Pending

Regulation gazetted

Gazettement and the start of the compliance window.

Industrially produced trans fatty acids do one useful thing: they make cheap fat last longer on a shelf. They also raise the risk of heart disease more reliably than almost anything else in the food supply, and you cannot taste them.

The WHO best practice threshold is two grams per hundred grams of total fat. Fifty three countries now have a rule that meets it. Uganda does not.

We are working with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the Ministry of Health on a national limit, starting with the standards review that has to happen before any regulation can bite.

Also open

Other files on the table.

All open files
File 01 · Since 2023 Goal. Regulation

Front of Pack Warning Labels

Getting a plain warning onto the front of every ultra processed pack sold in Uganda, so a shopper knows what is inside before it reaches the pot.

Stage 4 of 5 Nutrient Profile Model signed
Evidence Coalition Draft regs NPM signed Gazetted
With the Uganda National CSO Coalition and GHAI Follow this file
File 02 · Since 2022 Goal. Law

The EAC Agroecology Bill

The first law of its kind in East Africa. It would protect indigenous seed, curb agrochemicals and make agroecology the region's default rather than its exception.

Stage 3 of 5 Tabled before the EALA ATNR Committee
Consultations Bill drafted EALA committee Plenary Assent
With AFSA and regional civil society Follow this file
The brief

One email a month.
No noise, just the files.

What moved, what stalled, and what you can do about it. Written for people who care about food justice but don't have time to read a bill.

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