Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Environment

Food & Drug Administration Moves To Ban Trans Fat

Regulation: Partially hydrogenated oils are no longer considered safe food ingredients, agency says

by Britt E. Erickson
November 11, 2013

The Food & Drug Administration is taking action to remove partially hydrogenated oils from processed foods, citing risks of coronary heart disease and evidence that alternative ingredients exist.

Partially hydrogenated oils are the biggest dietary source of artificial trans fat. Such fats have been shown to raise levels of “bad” cholesterol and have no known health benefits.

As a first step, the agency has tentatively determined that partially hydrogenated oils will no longer be considered “generally recognized as safe.” If the agency finalizes that decision, the food industry will, for the first time, have to show that such oils are safe in order to use them in processed foods.

FDA has solid evidence associating the consumption of partially hydrogenated oils with an increased risk of heart disease, so “it could, in effect, mean the end of artificial, industrially produced trans fat in foods,” says Dennis M. Keefe, director of FDA’s Office of Food Additive Safety.

Consumers started avoiding trans fat more than a decade ago, and in response, manufacturers dramatically reduced the amount of partially hydrogenated oils used in some processed foods. But the artery-clogging fats can still be found in many products, including cookies, crackers, frozen pizza, microwave popcorn, cake frosting, and coffee creamer.

“Current trans fat intake in the U.S. remains a public health concern,” says FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimates that removing partially hydrogenated oil from processed foods would prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.

Public health groups hailed FDA’s move, saying it will hasten the disappearance of artificial trans fat from the food supply. “Not only is artificial trans fat not safe, it’s not necessary,” says Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group. “Many companies, large and small, have switched to healthier oils over the past decade,” he notes.

FDA is accepting comments on its decision until Jan. 7, 2014. The agency is particularly interested in information about current uses of partially hydrogenated oils in processed foods so that it can begin to set a timeline for phasing out the oils.

Advertisement

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.