A renowned Ghanaian scientist, Dr Kaku Kyiamah, has described the World Health Organ­isations' (WHO) recommendation on the consumption of saturated fats (processed vegetable oils) as a propaganda aimed at seeing developing economies crumble. Dr Kyiamah, who spoke to the Daily Graphic in Tema, noted that margarine, as well as other processed vegetable oils, contains trans-fatty acids which promoted diseases such as candidae, diabetes, heart diseases, cancers, low sperm counts, etc. He also indicated that edible oil industry alone in America attracted an annual revenue between three and four billion dollars for the country, giving industry players a large market share across the globe at the expense of the tropical oils produced in Ghana and other parts of Africa. He however, maintains that locally produced oil such as palm oil and shea-butter, build the human body whilst coconut oil and palm kernel oil protect the body and prevent it from diseases. These variants, according to him, are referred to as saturated fats by the WHO, and having a causative effect on heart diseases, various cancers, obesity, etc. He said that was why it was impor­tant to disabuse consumers' minds across the continent of their consump­tion level. Dr Kyiamah indicated that WHO, in making sure consumers were lured into accepting processed oils as a measure to boost their revenue base, had adopted the use of propaganda in spreading their message. This, he said, saw the United States Academy of Sciences passing a law which took effect from 2006, aiming at reducing trans-fatty acids in food to zero. He noted that following these occurrences, he conducted an exten­sive research on the role of the source of trans-fatty acid on the current glob­al epidemic of.chronic diseases and obesity. The research findings, according to him, indicated that tropical oil con­sumption and usage reduced the risk of various skin diseases, noting that promotion of unsaturated fats by WHO as well as an absence of nation­al policies on trans -fatty acids, had caused the total collapsed of the local edible oil industry. Continuing, Dr Kyiamah observes that the dynamics of the oil business is changing as a result of modernisation, hence the need to consume local­ly,produced oil as a measure of sus­taining the local economy as well as reducing the risk of death associated with obesity, cardiovascular diseases. He also maintained that process unsaturated oils consumption had increased across the globe following the WHO's declaration. The renowned scientist called on all stakeholders within Ghana's health sector to rise above the storm and explore the potential of the local oil industry and innovate measures that can encourage its usage among the populace in order to prolong the lifes­pan of the citizenry. He also called on the government not to be in bed with external bodies whose interest lay in the exploitation of developing nations as they aimed at profiting from their poverty. Dr Kyiamah also called on food agency bodies in the country to resist WHO's imposition, which is aimed at collapsing the local oil industry whilst they recouped profits from their imports into Ghana in order to build their economies. Source: Daily Graphic