Food manufacturers have three years to comply

Jun 17, 2015 07:04 GMT  ·  By
No more trans fats in frozen pizza or any other processed foods, the US FDA rules
   No more trans fats in frozen pizza or any other processed foods, the US FDA rules

Yesterday, June 16, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that, having reviewed scientific evidence documenting their potential impact on public health, it had decided to ban the use of trans fats in processed foods on the grounds of their not being safe for human consumption. 

“Based on a thorough review of the scientific evidence, the US Food and Drug Administration today finalized its determination that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not ‘generally recognized as safe' or GRAS for use in human food," the agency wrote in a statement.

Following the FDA's ruling that trans fats must disappear from all processed foods made and marketed in the US, food manufacturers have three years to comply. Those who still wish to add PHOs to their products will have to petition the FDA and ask for a special permit allowing them to do so.

What are trans fats anyway?

Trans fats, otherwise known as trans fatty acids or trans-unsaturated fatty acids, are unsaturated fats produced by the food industry from vegetable fats. Basically, they are vegetable oils artificially made solid.

“Artificial trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid,” explain experts with the American Heart Association.

Trans fats are added to processed foods to make them taste better and extend their shelf life. Further, some restaurants prefer deep-frying foods in oils that contain trans fats because they can be reused many times.

These days, trans fats are a common ingredient in margarine, packaged baked goods, frying fast food, snack food, frozen pizza, donuts, cookies, pastries, cracker, and sometimes even cereals and waffles.

Why don't we like trans fats?

Trans fats have been part of our diet for decades now. However, it was only in the 1990s that scientists took an interest in investigating their potential impact on public health.

We now know that a diet that is rich in this type of unsaturated fats correlates with an increased risk of heart disease, weight gain, type 2 diabetes and even stroke, all this because trans fats up bad cholesterol levels.

Once trans fats are at long last removed from people's diet, health officials expect thousands of heart attacks will be prevented on a yearly basis. Besides, the move should reduce the number of cases of coronary heart disease documented in the US annually.

Trans fats didn't always get this much attention

When trans fats first started being used by the food industry, manufacturers were not required to list them on nutrition labels. It wasn't until 2006 that this piece of information was added to food labels.

That year, the FDA ruled that consumers needed to know about this ingredient in their food and ordered that food manufacturers make sure to list the trans fat content of their products.

In the aftermath of this 2006 ruling, consumption of trans fats in the US dropped by an astounding 78%. Still, health officials seem to think there is plenty of room left for improvement.

Hence the FDA's decision to go the extra mile and order that food manufacturers phase out this type of unsaturated fats by the end of 2018 at the latest.