FDA moves to ban trans-fat


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http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-78088271/

The FDA announcement Thursday that it was moving to eliminate added trans fat from processed food means that microwave popcorn, frozen pizza, refrigerated dough, cookies and ready-to-use frostings are too much of a health risk. Yes, even that coffee creamer is trying to kill you.

The planned ban will also hit small restaurant chains that use the oil to deep fry food and to improve the texture of foods.

Many scientists and health officials believe there is no safe amount of trans fat. Trans fats are produced when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid. The result, artificially hydrogenated oil, is a culprit in clogged arteries that eventually lead to heart attacks.

Recall earlier this year when the Center for Science in the Public Interest deemed Long John Silver's Big Catch the worse meal in America. The fried fish plate, with hush puppies and onion rings, had 33 grams of trans fat. The American Heart Assn. recommends that people consume no more than about two grams of trans fat per day -- which could be found naturally in milk and meat. (Long John Silver's announced in August that it would switch completely to non-trans fat oils by the end of the year.)

Additionally, trans fat is believed to raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol. FDA officials believe eliminating trans fat from the consummer's reach could prevent thousands of heart attacks and deaths each year.

The ban, if approved, "could, in effect, mean the end of artificial, industrially produced trans fat in foods," said Dennis M. Keefe, director of the FDA's office of food additive safety, on the agency's website.

Through the years, the FDA has found ways to get food manufacturers to stop using partially hydrogenated oils. In 2006, companies were required to list artificial trans fats on all labels, inducing most manufacturers to stop using the ingredient.

Blood levels of trans fatty acids in white adults fell 58% from 2000 to 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

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There are many cases where the case of if an added ingredient is harmful or not is ambiguous and for those I would agree with your libertarian view, but this is NOT one of them. Trans-fat is as close to an edible slow poison as it comes.

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Oh how quickly "My body, my choice" goes out the window.

In a capitalist world, anything a company can do to make a profit, it will do. In this case, trans fats are an easy way to make up for terrible quality foods. They're tricking consumers who don't know just how bad trans fats are. Education without a doubt should be a focus and it's terrible that education is never an option for the government.

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Good on the US. The UK has been very slow to react to trans-fats, instead opting for voluntary schemes with retailers. While that has reduced the impact of trans-fats it falls short of the outright ban that is needed.

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So lets see, outlaw trans fat in the name of better health yet the government continues to allow the sale of cigarettes... I guess the trans fat lobbyists just don't have the cash that tobacco has. 

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Plenty of snacks already removed them a few years ago in the US.

That's a myth.

What the FDA did was say if a food has less than 0.5 g/serving trans-fat it could be labeled as "trans-fat free" and display 0g of fat on the label, but such foods can still have trans-fats to that level.

Foes 0.49999 g/serving sound like trans-fat free to you? Me either.

The only way to he 100% certain is to check the label and see if there are any hydrogenated oils listed in the ingredients, even partially hydrogenated. If not, you're good.

This change would correct the situation by getting rid of them all together.

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That's a myth.

What the FDA did was say if a food has less than 0.5 g/serving trans-fat it could be labeled as "trans-fat free" and display 0g of fat on the label, but such foods can still have trans-fats to that level.

Foes 0.49999 g/serving sound like trans-fat free to you? Me either.

The only way to he 100% certain is to check the label and see if there are any hydrogenated oils listed in the ingredients, even partially hydrogenated. If not, you're good.

This change would correct the situation by getting rid of them all together.

There's none of that listed on my ruffles or cheese-its.

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So lets see, outlaw trans fat in the name of better health yet the government continues to allow the sale of cigarettes... I guess the trans fat lobbyists just don't have the cash that tobacco has. 

Prohibition and our current problem with drugs proves that bans on addictive substances doesn't solve the problem. We can do far more via education and treatment programs than we could with an outright ban (which would allow the addicts and dealers to exist outside of the arm of the law entirely).

 

I don't foresee anyone standing in the back of a McDonalds hustling trans fats. I guess it is possible... Anything is right?

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Lets get rid of HFCS now. Sugar is bad too, but it doesn't make everything taste like crap..My opinion of course..and now the Mexican gov't is taxing Soda's so now they--the soda makers--are going to use HFCS instead of sugar. Time to quit anyway ;-)

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^ Sugar is perfectly natural -- it is not a poison.

The issue is the quantities it is used in and in particular the use of HFCS. Sugar is the primary contributor to obesity.

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The issue is the quantities it is used in and in particular the use of HFCS. Sugar is the primary contributor to obesity.

 

HFCS should be clearly labeled, IMO. It's really in an obscene number of things these days, especially things like chips and every bottled drink.

 

Natural sugar, on the other hand, I think is less troubling, as its sweet enough that it's hard to disguise the flavor. Also it would probably raise the prices on things that use HFCS now, making people buy less of them to begin with.

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