Is trans fat banned in India?

Industrial trans fatty acids are produced when vegetable oils are partially hydrogenated to make them solid, the process behind vanaspati and older bakery shortenings. They raise the risk of heart disease, and the World Health Organization has called for their elimination from the global food supply.

India chose a cap rather than an outright ban. Amendments to the Food Additives Regulations reduced permitted industrial trans fat in oils and fats from 5% to 3% of total fat with effect from 1 Jan 2021, and to 2% from 1 Jan 2022. A parallel amendment extended the 2% limit to all foods in which oils and fats are used as ingredients, closing the gap through which bakery and fried products had escaped. The limits do not apply to trans fat that occurs naturally in dairy and meat.

The 2% cap is what WHO counts as best-practice policy, and India is listed among countries that have adopted it. Because it is a limit rather than a prohibition, 'trans fat banned in India' is not quite right: vanaspati, margarine and shortening remain legal if reformulated to comply, and enforcement is by testing rather than by product withdrawal. Notification numbers for the amendments are to be added.