It’s been brutal today because I spoke out today on Saturated Fatty Acids and how they (Codex Nutrition Committee) were setting the NRVs (essentially RDAs) too low in preference for polyunsaturated fatty acids. I told them how necessary saturated fatty acids were to the human diet and that, among other things, even Mother’s milk is 54% Saturated Fatty Acids.

The Chairwoman Pia Noble did not like what I had to say at length on the subject because she refused to let me speak thereafter! Basically, these dinosaurs are set in an old mentality that equates dietary saturated fat intake with heart disease! Old school and out-dated thinking and they are not even using good science. Only Malaysia, the International Dairy Federation, and the National Health Federation pointed out the fallacy here, and for more than 30 minutes the Chairwoman deliberately ignored my button being pressed down to be allowed to speak.

I am going to speak with her directly tomorrow morning as I didn’t have a chance tonight. And this is not the first time she has done this. The former Chairman of this Committee was a saint compared to her . . . .

So an NRV standard for Saturated Fatty Acids (SFAs) was forced on us today that says that SFAs should not consist of any more than 10% of the energy (20 grams) in the daily diet. Consumers are to be pushed instead to unhealthy Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) because Codex thinks those are healthier. It’s really absolute nonsense and the sad fact is that they will all die younger because of it, taking many other, innocent people along with them. (supporting PUB MED link is at the end of this post)

But get this: Within hours of approving this limit, the Codex delegates were all treated to a Saturated Fatty Acid-rich meal of fatty meats and other foods by the German Dietetic organization! I would bet that they got a great majority of their dinner energy from saturated fat, certainly far more than 10%! But no one evidently saw the irony except us at NHF and a couple of others who dined with us.

- Scott Tips, NHF Head of Delegation, at Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648