FDA Moves To Ban Trans-Fat In Foods Permanently
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is in the process of demanding food makers to steadily eliminate trans-fat – the ingredient that’s known to clog arteries from their cookies, crackers, pizza and a multitude of baked goods.
According to FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the move could possibly thwart 20,000 heart attacks annually as well as 7,000 deaths. Hamburg said the amount of trans-fat people have consumed over the last 10 years has dropped significantly. But, despite that, it’s still a big public health concern.
There is no set time for the FDA to impose the move on the market. FDA’s Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor said they don’t want to do anything that interrupts it. Trans-fat is deemed dangerous because of the increase in risks for heart disease by reducing the good cholesterol levels and increasing the bad cholesterol levels.
The FDA demanded, in 2006, that food manufacturer add the “Trans-Fat” label to nutritional labels. In 2007, restaurants in New York City banned it. Many food marketers have steadily made a change themselves away from trans-fat in the last few years. For example, McDonald’s is using a zero trans-fat cooking oil for its French fries.
According to the FDA, partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), which are the core nutritional source for fake trans-fat in processed foods, are not considered safe for human consumption. The FDA opened a 60-day window to attain comments and collect more information about how long food manufacturers would need to change their trans-fat containing products.
Still, Hamburg said consumers can look at a product labels to determine how much trans-fat is in it and avoid those products that have it. There are multiple brands that have little to no trans-fat in their products.
Madelyn Fernstrom, NBC News diet and health editor, said trans-fat was added to products a long time ago because they were viewed as being a healthier alternative than saturated fats and were a cheap way for food to keep its texture and flavor.
The move, Fernstrom said, comes after years of research into how heart health is affected by fake trans-fat. While there has been a nearly 75 percent drop over a decade in the amount of trans-fat people consume, it’s still an issue that trans-fat is in food. According to the American Heart Association, people should get less than two grams of trans-fat in their diet each day.
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