The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
has announced that food manufacturers have three years to remove artificial
trans fats from the nation's food supply.
The trans fats in foods come from partially hydrogenated oils that are created
by adding hydrogen atoms to the unsaturated fats found in vegetable oil. Partially hydrogenated oils are used to
improve the texture, shelf life and long-term flavor of processed foods.
Consuming trans fats simultaneously
increases "bad" LDL cholesterol and drives down "good" HDL
cholesterol in a person's bloodstream. Trans fat intake contributes to the
buildup of arterial plaques that lead to heart attacks. The FDA has estimated
that removing partially hydrogenated oils from food could prevent as many as
20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease every year.
Since 2006 when trans fats started being
listed on the Nutrition Facts food labels, manufacturers have been cutting down
on the trans fats in the food supply.
New York City has banned them from use in fast food restaurants. Foods that often still contain trans fats include
baked goods like cakes, cookies and pies, non-dairy creamers, microwave
popcorn, frozen pizza, margarine and other spreads, vegetable shortenings, ready-to-use
frosting and cream cookie filling and refrigerated dough products like biscuits
and cinnamon rolls.
What
to do: Until June of 2018 continue to scan
ingredients lists and completely avoid all foods containing "partially
hydrogenated vegetable oil" and "partially hydrogenated oil". It is important to look at the ingredients
list because under current rules, products that have less than 0.5 grams of
trans fats per serving are labeled as having 0 grams on the label. These relatively small amounts can still add
up, especially as the listed serving sizes on many products are much smaller
than typical portions.
Source:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration; June
16, 2015, news release. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm451237.htm
Adapted from articles available at:
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm372915.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_153098.html
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