FDA Moves to Ban Trans Fats in Foods

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Nov. 7, 2013 -- The FDA announced Thursday that it is taking steps that will all but eliminate artery-clogging trans fats in processed foods.

The agency is proposing to label partially hydrogenated oils, the primary source of trans fats, as “not generally recognized as safe” for use in food.

Although many food makers have removed trans fats from their products in recent years, they are still found in some processed foods, such as margarine, microwave popcorn, and some desserts.

Eating lots of of trans fats has been linked to heart disease. 

“While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern,” FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, says in a statement.

Hamburg says eliminating trans fats could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.

With today's announcement, the FDA opened a 60-day comment period. During that time, the agency will collect additional information on trans fats.

Hamburg says the agency will make a final decision after the comment period ends.

If the FDA approves the change, food makers would have to prove that trans fats are safe in order to use them.

Trans fats have appeared as an ingredient on nutrition labels since 2006. Since that time, the amount Americans eat has gone down from 4.6 grams a day in 2003 to about 1 gram a day in 2012, the FDA says.

The independent Institute of Medicine says trans fats have no health benefits and shouldn’t be eaten in any amount.

The ban only applies to artificial trans fats, not those found naturally in small amounts in butter, some meats, and other foods.

Trans fats in foods ''have been top of mind for snack food makers for the past 5 or 10 years," says Beth Johnson, RD, a food policy consultant for the Snack Food Association. "We certainly want to work with the FDA to be sure the decisions are based on science and done in a thoughtful manner.''

In a statement, the association says 95% of food makers had reduced trans fats and that the majority have plans to get rid of them.

Marisa Moore, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, calls the FDA’s proposal a “major win.”

While the levels of trans fats have declined in recent years, she says they are still found in fried foods, doughnuts, snack cakes, and cookies.

The proposal to further reduce trans fats, she says, ''will make the healthy choice a little bit easier."

The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a statement supporting the move. "Not only is artificial trans fat not safe, it's not remotely necessary,” says CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson. “Many companies, large and small, have switched to healthier oils over the past decade. I hope that those restaurants and food manufacturers that still use this harmful ingredient see the writing on the wall and promptly replace it."

Nutritionists: FDA Trans Fat Ban Good for America's Heart Health

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They urge greater use of healthier oils, like canola oil or other vegetable oils, in food-making process

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Nov. 8 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposal to ban trans fats from the food supply will trigger some scrambling by manufacturers and restaurant chains, but ultimately it will be a boon to the nation's health, dietitians say.

In fact, food manufacturers had been pivoting away from trans fats before the FDA announced its proposal Thursday, searching for useful substitutes.

"The lion's share of the added trans fats have been removed from our food supply. But this is a good step toward eliminating the remaining amount that continues to pose heart disease risk for many people," said Kim Larson, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.

Even so, the FDA estimates that totally eliminating trans fats could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths due to heart disease each year.

Food makers first adopted partially hydrogenated vegetable oils -- the source of trans fats -- as a substitute for butter, due to health concerns over the saturated fats contained in butter, explained Cleveland Clinic dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick.

Using trans fats to make a cracker gives it flakiness and "adds a buttery taste without putting butter in it," Kirkpatrick said. Trans fats also can be used to add a creamy taste, she said, noting that non-dairy creamers are loaded with the artificial fats.

Other foods that contain trans fats include margarine, prepared desserts, canned cake frosting, microwave popcorn, frozen pizzas and boxed cookies, nutritionists noted.

But the food industry has progressed to the point where trans fats can be replaced with healthier options, with no effect on food's taste or texture, Kirkpatrick said.

"I think this is an opportunity to look at some of those healthier oils, like canola oil or other vegetable oils, and how they can be incorporated into foods that traditionally used trans fats," Kirkpatrick said. "I think we can do that without affecting taste."

Trans fats are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils. These partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are solid at room temperature.

Trans fats became popular because of their versatility in food production. They make processed foods "shelf-stable," able to stay on supermarket shelves for months without going bad. Fast food restaurants loved trans fats because they could be used repeatedly in commercial deep fryers without having to be replaced, according to the American Heart Association.

But, trans fats gained a notorious reputation because they literally do everything wrong in the human body when it comes to cholesterol.

Trans fats simultaneously increase LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and lower HDL (good) cholesterol levels, nutritionists explained.

They also cause inflammation, said Penny Kris-Etherton, a registered dietitian and professor of nutrition at Penn State University. "Inflammation is not only a root cause of heart disease, but other chronic diseases as well," she said.