Trans Fat, Your Years are Numbered

The FDA has taken a bold step toward banishing a murderer in our food--trans fat.  Here's the opening attack of the Nov. 7 announcement by the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition:  "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made a preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) for use in food. A final decision would mean that the use of these oils in the food supply would be phased out over a number of years.  Removal of PHOs from the food supply could prevent up to 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year." 

So will trans fats vanish overnight?  Not so fast. First, there must be a 60-day comment period (which begins Feb. 8) to determine if this preliminary determination should be finalized.  Since scientific evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates the harmful effects of trans fats, it's not likely that food manufacturers can argue successfully to keep this product in foods.  However, food manufacturers can argue that they need a significant amount of time to find effective substitutes for trans fats, which are important in terms of the quality and shelf life of certain food products. Food scientist Dr. Karin Allen (a member of the Shelf Life Advice Advisory Board) assumes it will take at least a year or two to finalize this preliminary decision.  Still, in terms of public health, this is an important step in the in the right direction.

What is trans fat? 

Here's the FDA's definition: "Trans fat is a specific type of fat that is formed when liquid oils are turned into solid fats, such as shortening or stick margarine. During this process — called hydrogenation — hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to increase the shelf life and flavor stability of foods." 

Dr. Allen explains that there are two types of trans fats, natural and artificial.  The natural form occurs in some foods, such as full-fat dairy products, beef, and lamb; this type does not create as serious health risks as those that result from artificial, lab-produced trans fats.  The latter are made from unsaturated liquid oil which is bombarded with additional hydrogen to change the shape of the molecule and make the oil more solid (like shortening).

Why did manufacturers produce trans fat?  It's cheaper than saturated fat and works better for some uses. For example, pie crusts and frosting for cake are better when made with trans fat.  Frosting is firmer; pie crust is flakier and without the gummy quality created by using butter or oil.  For quite awhile, trans fats were assumed to be healthier than animal fats.  However, since 1990, it's been widely known that they are extremely harmful to the circulatory system.  Dr. Allen points out that the food industry has already removed it from products when it was easy to find a substitute.  Now, food manufacturers will have to find replacements that are more difficult to create.  A lot of products, she says--for example, croissants--will never be quite the same.

What foods are more likely to contain trans fat?

In general, trans fats have been widely used in frying and baking. NBC News referred to trans fat as "the artery-clogging ingredient found in crackers, cookies, pizza, and many other baked goods."

WebMD suggests reading ingredients labels carefully to look for trans fats in the following foods:

• Cookies, crackers, cakes, muffins, pie crusts, pizza dough, and breads such as hamburger buns
• Some stick margarine and vegetable shortening
• Pre-mixed cake mixes, pancake mixes, and chocolate drink mixes
• Fried foods, including donuts, French fries, chicken nuggets, and hard taco shells
• Snack foods, including chips, candy, and packaged or microwave popcorn
• Frozen dinners

The Chicago Tribune adds to the above list the following edibles: coffee creamer, breaded chicken products, and frosting (which contains more trans fats than any other food on the newspaper's list). 

What's wrong with trans fat?

Environmental Nutrition succinctly explains that trans fats have an even worse effect on blood lipids than saturated fats and create a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. According to the New York Times, "Scientific evidence has shown they are dangerous because they raise the levels of so-called bad cholesterol [LDL] and can lower the levels of good cholesterol [HDL]." 

What's some history of the fight against trans fats?

2003: The FDA required that artificial trans fats be listed on food labels if the food contained half a gram per serving.   There was growing public awareness of the danger, and many large food producers have already eliminated them.

2005: Then NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered restaurants to discontinue cooking with trans fat. That (and public concern about trans fat) inspired at least 15 states and localities to ban its use, and more than 10 fast-food chains to completely eliminate it, says NBC News. 

2003-2013: American consumption of trans fats has decreased about 75% in the past decade. 

The results have been amazing but still not good enough.  In 2006, Americans were consuming 4.6 grams of trans fat per day; in 2012, consumption was down to 1 gram.  Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that, among Caucasian American adults, blood levels of trans fatty acids declined 58% from 2000 to 2009.  So why is the FDA continuing to go after trans fats?  The New York Times explains: "The Institute of Medicine has concluded that there is no safe level for consumption of them." 

Are you still consuming trans fat?

If you're like me, this publicity focused on trans fat will inspire you to check out packages in your kitchen.  Unless you do a lot of baking, you may find all or most of the packaging nutrition facts on your processed food packages say, "trans fat: 0." You may, therefore,  happily conclude that you're not consuming trans fat, at least not when you're eating home.  But that conclusion is incorrect.  If a food product has less than .5 grams of trans fat, the nutrition label can (and will) say zero.  But check out the ingredients list, with a magnifying glass if necessary.  If it says that the product contains partially hydrogenated oil, that means it contains trans fat.  If you eat a lot of products that contain a small amount of trans fat or a lot of one product made with trans fat, that can add up to a lot of trans fat.  The FDA is doing you a favor by making an effort to eliminate this possibility. 

The photo accompanying this article shows two products that, according to the Nutrition Facts on the boxes, contain 0 grams of trans fats.  But the Shake 'N Bake ingredients include "partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil." Nabisco crackers contain "partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil."  One serving is 5 crackers. Eat more in a day, and you're above what was been the government's safe level.

But getting trans fats out of our food doesn't solve all of our problems with fat.  Saturated fats continue to be a health risk as well. 

Source(s):

Karin E. Allen, Ph.D., Utah State University, Dept. of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

nytimes.com "F.D.A. Ruling Would All but Eliminate Trans Fats"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/health/fda-trans-fats.html?hpw&rref=health

fda.gov "FDA opens 60-Day Comment Period on Measure to Further Reduce Trans Fat in Processed Food"

http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm373925.htm

Environmental Nutrition "Understanding 'Good' and 'Bad' Foods: Making Better Food Choices" volume 36-12.

Chicago Tribune, "FDA: Get trans fat out of U.S. Diet" November 8, 2013

wedmd.com "Understanding Trans Fats"

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/understanding-trans-fats