Sweets May Drastically Increase in Price Due to Palm Oil Ban in Ukraine.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law introducing strict restrictions on the use of palm oil, particularly its hydrogenated form. The ban applies to baby food and dairy products, as well as limits the use of confectionery products. Violations are subject to fines of hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.

This is stated in an article by the 'Telegraph' publication.

'The most significant amount of such oil began to be imported starting from 2015. These volumes now reach from 200 to 250 thousand tons per year. They are mostly used in sweets, candies, waffles, various cakes, and dairy products,' shared the initiator of the law, Member of Parliament Dmytro Solomchuk from the 'Servant of the People' party.

He notes that it is not just about palm oil, but about hydrogenated oil and trans fats, which negatively affect human health.

According to the World Health Organization, consumption of trans fats increases the risk of death by 34%, as well as increases the risk of cardiovascular and oncological diseases, especially in children.

Despite the possible increase in prices for some products, Solomchuk sees positive consequences for Ukraine's economy in this law.

'This will motivate opening livestock complexes in Ukraine. We are to some extent an agricultural country, and I believe these billions of hryvnias, about 7-10 billion hryvnias per year, should be paid not to Malaysian, Indonesian farmers, but to Ukrainian ones,' he noted.

The Member of Parliament compared the high cost of treating oncological diseases, which are facilitated by trans fats, with the relatively low cost of quality food products. He emphasizes that Ukraine is witnessing a trend of increasing cardiovascular and oncological diseases among children.

According to him, the cost of one course of cancer treatment can significantly exceed the annual expenses on quality nutrition for a family. At the same Time, the effectiveness of such expensive treatment is not always guaranteed.

Yevhenia Bahur, Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Producers of 'Ice Cream and Frozen Products', does not expect significant changes in ice cream production. She explains that in the production of these sweets with a combined raw material composition, hydrogenated vegetable fats and oils are not used. Most ice cream producers in Ukraine already adhere to strict quality standards. Especially those with permission to export products to EU countries monitor the composition.

The law will come into force the day after publication, but will only take effect a year after publication. This allows manufacturers time to adapt their technological processes.

It should be noted that even stricter restrictions apply in EU countries. In Scandinavian countries, there is a complete ban on trans fats, and in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, only 0.2% of these fats are allowed per 100 g of fats in a product.

Recall that earlier 'Khvylya' spoke about 6 products that are most often counterfeited.