FDA Moves to Further Reduce Trans Fat

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has preliminarily determined that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, aren’t "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. The agency based this determination on available scientific evidence and the findings of expert scientific panels.

As such, the FDA has opened a 60-day comment period to collect additional data and gain feedback on the time potentially needed for food manufacturers to reformulate products containing artificial trans fat if the preliminary determination is finalized. In that case, PHOs would be considered "food additives" and couldn’t be used in food unless authorized by regulation.

If such a final determination were made, the FDA said it would provide enough time for food makers to reformulate products to minimize market disruption. The preliminary determination only applies to PHOs and doesn’t affect the naturally occurring trans fat that appears in small amounts in some meat and dairy products.

"While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern," noted FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg. "The FDA’s action…is an important step toward protecting more Americans from the potential dangers of trans fat. Further reduction in the amount of trans fat in the American diet could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year -- a critical step in the protection of Americans’ health."

Michael Taylor, the agency’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said one of the FDA’s core regulatory functions is ensuring that food, including all substances added, is safe.

"Food manufacturers have voluntarily decreased trans fat levels in many foods in recent years, but a substantial number of products still contain partially hydrogenated oils, which are the major source of trans fat in processed food," he explained.

According to the FDA, since trans fat content information began appearing on food products’ Nutrition Facts label in 2006, intake among American consumers has decreased from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to about 1 gram per day in 2012.

Research by The NPD Group shows that 78 percent of U.S. consumers are very cautious about serving foods with trans fat. In 2004, this figure stood at 72 percent.