*4.3. Limits, Advantages, and Future Directions*

This study presents some limitations. First, there are many challenges facing the laboratories in Lebanon concerning the testing of IP-TFA, and the lack of standards limits testing other forms of isomers. Second, the food products compared between regions were compared in terms of food groups and not in terms of brands. Moreover, the comparison between traditional dishes or Arabic sweets omits the cooking preparations and ingredients. Third, in the current study, the WHO technique was followed to test the IP-TFA levels in foods tested, however, this was not always reported in many other countries.

Despite these limitations, this study, the first of its kind in Lebanon, should provide the impetus for continuous comprehensive analysis of IP-TFA levels in foods in the regional and national kitchens and markets and the adaptation of the approaches for curbing the health hazards associated with IP-TFA consumption.

#### **5. Conclusions**

For the first time in Lebanon, a database on IP-TFA, mainly EA and LEA content in traditional dishes and market products is available and ready to be used by health care providers. There is more than enough convincing evidence that a high IP-TFAs, mainly EA and LEA intake is detrimental to cardiovascular health. Fortunately, this problem in Lebanon is fairly easy to solve via proper legislation. Despite the poorness of Lebanese dishes in IP-TFAs, however, the persistence of food products with high IP-TFAs levels in Lebanon means that subgroups of the Lebanese population, mainly vulnerable and foodinsecure people, are threatened by high levels of IP-TFAs due to frequent consumption of risky products. The inauguration and implementation of policies to curtail IP-TFAs in Lebanon may therefore be legitimized, and such efforts should underline added fats and packaged foods. The economic crises in Lebanon pushed the Lebanese people to select cheap oils, including butter and margarines instead of vegetable oils. Thus, it appears reasonable that the Lebanese government and ministries should strive to raise public awareness about the issue and lobby for implementing anti-IP-TFAs laws either on the level of national industries or, on the level of food products importation.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.H. and E.Z.; methodology, M.H. and E.Z.; validation, A.A.-J. and I.S.; formal analysis, M.H. and C.I.; investigation, M.H., E.Z., C.I.; resources, E.Z., A.A.-J.; data curation, M.H., E.Z., C.I.; writing—original draft preparation, M.H., E.Z., C.I.; writing—review and editing, All the others; supervision, A.A.-J., A.R. and I.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This project was self-funded.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** All data underlying the results are available as part of the article and no additional source data are required.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to thank the head of the Chemical department Joseph Matta and the laboratory technician Halim El Bayeh at the Industrial Research Institute, the Research assistants. Nadia Hallak and Iman Kheir and the students Jessica Khalifeh and Layla Abadi at the Lebanese University. The authors confirm the approval of the acknowledged persons to be acknowledged.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Disclaimer:** The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions or policies of WHO or the other institutions with which the authors are affiliated.
