FDA Targets Trans Fat in Processed Foods

Intro

More than a decade ago, a sea change began in the American diet, with consumers starting to avoid foods withtrans fat and companies responding by reducing the amount of trans fat in their products.

This evolution began when FDA first proposed in 1999 that manufacturers be required to declare the amount of transfat on Nutrition Facts labels because of public health concerns. That requirement became effective in 2006.

However, there are still many processed foods made with partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the major dietary source of trans fat in processed food. Trans fat has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, in which plaque builds up inside the arteries and may cause a heart attack.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that a further reduction of trans fat in the food supply can prevent an additional 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year and up to 20,000 heart attacks each year.

Part of the FDA's responsibility to the public is to ensure that food in the American food supply is safe. Therefore, due to the risks associated with consuming PHOs, FDA has issued a Federal Register notice with its preliminary determination that PHOs are no longer "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS, for short. If this preliminary determination is finalized, then PHOs would become food additives subject to premarket approval by FDA. Foods containing unapproved food additives are considered adulterated under U.S. law, meaning they cannot legally be sold.

If FDA determines that PHOs are not GRAS, it could, in effect, mean the end of artificial, industrially-producedtrans fat in foods, says Dennis M. Keefe, Ph.D., director of FDA's Office of Food Additive Safety. FDA is soliciting comments on how such an action would impact small businesses and how to ensure a smooth transition if a final determination is issued.

Trans fat wouldn't be completely gone, Keefe notes, because it also occurs naturally in small amounts in meat and dairy products. It is also present at very low levels in other edible oils, such as fully hydrogenated oils, where it is unavoidably produced during the manufacturing process.

About Trans Fat and PHOs

PHOs are found in many popular processed foods, like baked goods and frozen foods that time-crunched Americans use to feed their families. They have been widely used as ingredients since the 1950s to increase the shelf-life and flavor stability of foods.

But over time, various studies have linked trans fat—produced when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid—to heart disease. A 2002 report by the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine found a direct correlation between intake of trans fat and increased levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, commonly referred to as "bad" cholesterol, and, therefore, increased risk of heart disease.

Keefe says that even though the FDA requirement that trans fat be listed on the Nutrition Facts label took effect in January 2006, consumers took the health warnings to heart early. They started turning away from foods withtrans fat soon after publication of FDA's final rule in 2003. Taking the lead from consumers, many processed food manufacturers followed suit and voluntarily changed their food formulations to reduce or eliminate trans fat.

However, Mical E. Honigfort, a consumer safety officer at FDA, says that trans fat can still be found in such processed foods as:

• crackers, cookies, cakes, frozen pies and other baked goods

• snack foods (such as microwave popcorn)

• frozen pizza

• vegetable shortenings and stick margarines

• coffee creamers

• refrigerated dough products (such as biscuits and cinnamon rolls)

• ready-to-use frostings

source: FDA

Please refer to the Food Additives Bible application for information about full list of dangerous colors, flavor enhancers, preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, stabilizers, gelling agents and thickeners>

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