LAMB flaps appear to be the major cause of heart diseases in Papua New Guinea, an academic from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Papua New Guinea said last Wednesday.
Gideon Philip said two studies carried out by his students had pointed this out.
He said one study showed that lamb flap was the most popular cooked food sold in informal markets in Port Moresby.
The other study showed that sudden deaths were on the rise and most of the victims were from settlements around Port Moresby.
He said this was contrary to studies in other countries where sudden deaths were usually associated with the “upper class”.
Mr Philip, who was supporting the call by Dr Thomas Vinit for a total ban of lamb flap, said there was no doubt that they contained mainly fat.
“It must be banned, so that people can resort to other better sources of protein,” he told The National.
Mr Philip said the rising number of diabetes cases was also a concern, especially among the Austronesian population in the country.
He said a recent study showed these people with a high incidence of diabetes type II.