Posted June 17, 2015
The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized its determination that partially
hydrogenated oils (PHOs) are not “generally recognized as safe” or GRAS for use
in human food. CNN also published an article available here
and USA Today here.
“The FDA’s
action on this major source of artificial trans fat demonstrates the agency’s
commitment to the heart health of all Americans," said FDA's Acting
Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, M.D. "This action is expected to reduce
coronary heart disease and prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every
year.”
In 2013,
the FDA had made a tentative determination that trans fats were no longer safe.
After years of public comment and scientific review, this is the final step in
the process, according to CNN.
Manufacturers
have been required to list trans fat content on their labels since 2006, and
there has been a significant decrease in the amount of trans fat in American
foods.
The FDA
estimates trans fat consumption declined about 78% between 2003 and 2012 after
the labeling went into effect. That's when many companies reduced trans fat
content from their products, or at least some of it. The law still allowed
companies to list products as "trans fat free" even if they had 0.5
grams of fat, which should change with the current ruling.
The FDA
estimates the cost of the transition to food manufacturers will be $12 billion
to $14 billion. They will have to pay to research and test new ingredients plus
reprint labels and repackage products, which could cost up to $200,000 per
product, said Roger Clemens, a pharmacology professor at University of Southern
California, according to USA
Today.
"It's
not a cheap endeavor," he says. "The flaky texture of a croissant, of
a pie crust are really expectations. [It] takes a lot of food science to
understand the chemistry of those interactions so you can duplicate it without
compromising the product."
The FDA
has set a compliance period of three years. This will allow companies to either
reformulate products without PHOs and/or petition the FDA to permit specific
uses of PHOs. Following the compliance period, no PHOs can be added to human
food unless they are approved by the FDA, according to the FDA.
For more information on food labeling, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
