FDA Seeks Data on ‘Trans Fats’ on Food Labels
Spurred by recent research, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed that all food labels list levels of trans fatty acids, which clog arteries and cause coronary heart disease, the nation’s leading killer.
“Trans fats,” as trans fatty acids are also known, are produced by a process known as hydrogenation and are often used to give foods better texture and taste and longer shelf life. Chief culprits: cookies, pastries, crackers, deep-fried foods and stick margarines.
But the FDA now believes that trans fats are possibly as dangerous as saturated fats. Not only do they add to a body’s LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, researchers say, but they actually decrease the amount of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, that is beneficial to the heart.
“We’ve been looking at this for several years and now believe the evidence is there,” said FDA Commissioner Jane E. Henney. She predicted that the label change could save 2,100 lives annually and prevent at least 6,400 cases of coronary heart disease within three years.
Coronary heart disease kills about 500,000 Americans annually, according to the American Heart Assn.
Under the FDA proposal, an asterisk would be added next to the listing on current food labels for saturated fat--which would indicate that trans fat is present in the food--and a footnote near the bottom of the label would provide the exact number of grams of trans fat contained in each serving.
Industry officials reacted cautiously to the proposal, saying that it would need extensive review.
“It is crucial that nutrition labels serve, not confuse, the consumer,” said Lisa Katic, a registered dietitian who directs scientific and nutrition policy for the Grocery Manufacturers of America. “On the surface, we’re concerned [that] the new labeling proposal offers up a recipe for confusion.”
The latest proposal builds on the nutritional information already on labels, the result of a major overhaul that began in 1990 and has been “a powerful tool for consumers,” Henney said.
The revised labels, which began appearing on products in 1993, were regarded by many public health experts as an important source for health-conscious Americans as medical research continued to show a firm association between diet and the development and prevention of certain medical conditions, such as cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease.
The proposed regulation is only the first step in the process leading to the change. The plan is subject to a 90-day public comment period, followed by a review that could take several months to a year.
Consumers could expect to see the addition to the labels soon after that but likely no later than three years from now, Henney said.
The agency typically allows industry a grace period to use existing stocks and phase in the new labels.
But if experience is any guide, “companies will start to do it on their own earlier” than the required date, as they did with the original labels, Henney predicted. “Once some start to do it, then there is real pressure for others to come on board.”
Margo Wootan, a senior scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which petitioned the FDA in 1994 to make this change, said that it finally “will expose the phantom fat in our foods.”
“There are two kinds of artery-clogging fat in our food, and right now the labels show one kind: saturated fat,” she added. “Foods often contain twice as much heart-damaging fat as labels reveal.”
The typical American diet consists of 5 to 8 grams of trans fat a day and about 30 grams of saturated fat, according to the center.
The federal government’s dietary guidelines recommend that Americans consume a combined total of less than 20 grams a day of trans and saturated fats.
Until now, the only clue that consumers had regarding the presence of trans fats in their foods was the use of the term “hydrogenated” on the list of ingredients. The term indicates that the manufacturer has used partly hydrogenated oils--liquid oils that have been turned solid--in the product.
Not all partly hydrogenated oils become trans fats, however--it depends on the process used--so consumers cannot tell how much trans fat is present.
The proposal also would change the way certain fat nutrient claims can be made on product labels.
For example, manufacturers would be permitted to call a food “trans fat free” if it contained less than 0.5 gram of trans fat and less than 0.5 gram of saturated fat per serving. They could label a product “low saturated fat” if it had less than 0.5 gram of trans far per serving in addition to the currently allowed 1 gram or less of saturated fat.
Also, foods containing more than 4 grams of saturated fat and trans fat combined per serving would not be allowed to carry any health claims at all--for example, related to sodium, hypertension, calcium or osteoporosis.
Some exceptions would be made. For example, products high in trans fat but low in sodium could still claim low sodium content. But they would have to use a disclaimer advising consumers to “see nutrition information for saturated fat content.”
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Labeling Another Bad Fat
The FDA has proposed that food labels list products’ levels of trans fatty acids, or “trans fat,” believed responsible for clogging arteries. Trans fatty acids are formed through hydrogenation , which solidifies liquid fats to increase foods’ shelf life and flavor. A sample of the proposed label is at left.
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Artery-Clogging Fats
Saturated fat: Milk, cheese, ice cream, ground beef, steak and pork. Can be found in coconut and palm oils.
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Trans fat: Stick margarine and shortening, deep-fried foods such as French fries and fried chicken, and pastries, cookies, doughnuts and crackers. Figure isn’t on labels now.
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Non-Artery-Clogging Fats
Monounsaturated fat: Olive, canola and peanut oils.
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Polyunsaturated fat: Soybean, sesame, corn, safflower and sunflower oils.
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Sources: FDA; Associated Press; Center for Science in the Public Interest
