FDA proposes ban on artery-clogging trans fats in foods
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal to ban trans fats, citing health concerns such as heart disease. Many companies have already phased out trans fats from products, which demonstrates that it is 'by and large feasible to do,' the FDA's deputy commissioner Michael Taylor said.
By Tracy Miller / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, November 7, 2013, 10:14 AM
Updated: Thursday, November 7, 2013, 3:03 PM
Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles, and the Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job, saying it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats due to health threats.
Trans fats are going, going — and may soon be gone completely, if a proposed ban by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration takes hold.
The proposal, announced Thursday on the FDA's website, would require the food industry to gradually phase out all trans fats due to mounting health concerns.
A ban could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year according to Centers for Disease Control and prevention estimates, the FDA said. Though many companies have already dropped trans fats from their products, they "remain an area of significant public concern," FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg told the Associated Press.
The FDA has made a preliminary decision that trans fats no longer fall under the "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS, category that includes thousands of food additives that manufacturers can include in their products without FDA review. Once finalized, food manufacturers would have to petition the agency to allow their use, which would likely be unapproved.
Trans fats, also called partially hydrogenated oils, are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it solid. They are used to stabilize products on shelves and to enhance the flavor of processed and restaurant foods.
Trans fats occur naturally in small amounts in meat and dairy products. They are also created during the manufacturing process in other edible oils, which is unavoidable and would still be allowed, the FDA said.
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