Trans Fat's Departure From Food Supply
Trans Fat has been causing 50,000 deaths a year in the United States according to an epidemiological study led by Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. Those studies suggested that trans fat does more harm than raise "bad" and lower "good" cholesterol. Unlike other academics, Willett used the news media to campaign against trans fat.
In 2003, the F"D"A took a crucial step by requiring Nutrition Facts labels to list trans fat. That told the food industry in no uncertain terms that trans fat was a real problem. The next year an FDA advisory committee informed the agency that, gram for gram, trans fat is even more harmful that saturated fat that’s in meat and dairy foods.
Back in the 1980s it was unclear if trans fat, which is found in partially hydrogenated oil, was harmful. That changed when two Dutch researchers discovered that trans fat raises levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in our blood and lowers levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.
Labeling has led many prominent companies to get rid of most or all of the trans fat from their foods. They don’t want their products criticized for being high in trans fat.
Frito-Lay, Kraft, Con Agra and other are dumping trans and generally using much healthier oils, especially in their fried foods. Unfortunately Pillsbury, General Mills, Marie Callender’s and others haven’t done much to break their trans habit.
Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Arby’s, and many others have largely eliminate—or plan to do so in the near future, at least from their fryers. It’s trickier to fix the problem in baked goods. Most breads have hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup listed in fine print under ingredients. McDonald’s by far the biggest chain, has switched to healthier oils in over 1,000 restaurants so far. It has already eliminate trans from its outlets in much of Europe, Australia, and some other countries.
One barrier to switch oils is the limited supply of the alternatives. Fortunately, the sharp increase in demand for the trans-free oils has spurred farmers and processors to ramp up production of canola, high-oleic canola, sunflower, and low-linolenic soybean oil.
Although the industry is making great progress, the FDA needs to take the two critical steps that would finish the job of protecting the public:
* Require restaurants immediately to put notices on menus and menu boards if their foods contain trans fat.
* Revoke the "generally recognized as safe" status of partially hydrogenated oil. It’s ridiculous for the FDA to call that oil safe when the agency agrees that trans fat causes heart disease. The time has come to get partially hydrogenate oils—and their trans fat—out of our food supply.
Since January 2006, when the government started requiring foods to include the artery-clogging fat on their Nutrition Facts labels, many companies have ditched the partially hydrogenated oils that contain trans fat. Primary studies suggest that trans may promote diabetes which is why experts recommend less that 2 grams of trans fat per day.
Just remember that foods that boast about their "0" grams trans fat could still be high in sugar, salt, refined carbs or saturated fat. A third of a bag of Pop-Secret Homestyle Popcorn delivers 5 grams of trans fat plus 3 trams of saturated fat. The whole bag can deliver more than a day’s heart gunk by the time the credits roll.
Americans will have to step up their efforts to eat healthy and read the Nutrition Facts and especially the ingredients. If you don’t know the facts you are risking your health and heart. Diligence is the best way to change our food supply and enable us to eat healthy.
In 2003, the F"D"A took a crucial step by requiring Nutrition Facts labels to list trans fat. That told the food industry in no uncertain terms that trans fat was a real problem. The next year an FDA advisory committee informed the agency that, gram for gram, trans fat is even more harmful that saturated fat that’s in meat and dairy foods.
Back in the 1980s it was unclear if trans fat, which is found in partially hydrogenated oil, was harmful. That changed when two Dutch researchers discovered that trans fat raises levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in our blood and lowers levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.
Labeling has led many prominent companies to get rid of most or all of the trans fat from their foods. They don’t want their products criticized for being high in trans fat.
Frito-Lay, Kraft, Con Agra and other are dumping trans and generally using much healthier oils, especially in their fried foods. Unfortunately Pillsbury, General Mills, Marie Callender’s and others haven’t done much to break their trans habit.
Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Arby’s, and many others have largely eliminate—or plan to do so in the near future, at least from their fryers. It’s trickier to fix the problem in baked goods. Most breads have hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup listed in fine print under ingredients. McDonald’s by far the biggest chain, has switched to healthier oils in over 1,000 restaurants so far. It has already eliminate trans from its outlets in much of Europe, Australia, and some other countries.
One barrier to switch oils is the limited supply of the alternatives. Fortunately, the sharp increase in demand for the trans-free oils has spurred farmers and processors to ramp up production of canola, high-oleic canola, sunflower, and low-linolenic soybean oil.
Although the industry is making great progress, the FDA needs to take the two critical steps that would finish the job of protecting the public:
* Require restaurants immediately to put notices on menus and menu boards if their foods contain trans fat.
* Revoke the "generally recognized as safe" status of partially hydrogenated oil. It’s ridiculous for the FDA to call that oil safe when the agency agrees that trans fat causes heart disease. The time has come to get partially hydrogenate oils—and their trans fat—out of our food supply.
Since January 2006, when the government started requiring foods to include the artery-clogging fat on their Nutrition Facts labels, many companies have ditched the partially hydrogenated oils that contain trans fat. Primary studies suggest that trans may promote diabetes which is why experts recommend less that 2 grams of trans fat per day.
Just remember that foods that boast about their "0" grams trans fat could still be high in sugar, salt, refined carbs or saturated fat. A third of a bag of Pop-Secret Homestyle Popcorn delivers 5 grams of trans fat plus 3 trams of saturated fat. The whole bag can deliver more than a day’s heart gunk by the time the credits roll.
Americans will have to step up their efforts to eat healthy and read the Nutrition Facts and especially the ingredients. If you don’t know the facts you are risking your health and heart. Diligence is the best way to change our food supply and enable us to eat healthy.
posted by Stan Kent at
9:22 AM
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