New Food Labels to Put More Fat in the Fine Print

In the first major change to the nutrition labels on packaged foods since they were established in 1993, the government announced Wednesday that it would require food companies to list the amount of unhealthful “trans fatty acids” in their products by 2006.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said trans fatty acids, like saturated fat, raise levels of so-called bad cholesterol in the blood. In turn, bad cholesterol increases the risk of heart attacks, the leading cause of death in the United States.

Although the government will require the amount of trans fatty acids, also known as trans fat, to be listed, the food labels will not include a recommended maximum intake. That’s because regulators have not decided what that maximum should be. Instead, it will be up to consumers to use the information on the labels to monitor their consumption.

“It is absolutely left up to the individual,” Thompson said at a news conference. “People have to start taking care of themselves.”

Whether consumers will avail themselves of the opportunity, of course, remains to be seen.

“Knowing doesn’t really matter,” Bob Terasawa, a 47-year-old Los Angeles pharmacist, said Wednesday as he picked up a bag of Fritos and a 64-ounce soda at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles. “I would still eat a lot” of foods high in fat.

Another 7-Eleven customer, 28-year-old Alfred Marquez, agreed. “I don’t need a label to tell me it’s bad for me or going to give me a heart attack one day,” he said. “If I decide to eat something, I eat it knowing that.”

No regulations were imposed on the restaurant industry -- including the $116-billion fast-food sector -- requiring further nutritional information. Rather, the Food and Drug Administration will depend on restaurants and their suppliers to be more conscious of consumer health and to provide more data on a voluntary basis.

Trans fat is common in a wide range of fare: meat, dairy products, crackers, cookies, candy, fried foods, baked goods and salad dressings, to name a few. Trans fat is a natural component of animal fat, and it also occurs artificially when food makers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to make it more solid.

After trans fat was omitted from nutrition fact panels in 1993, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, petitioned the FDA in 1994 to require the listing of trans fat.

The agency responded in November 1999 when it proposed the labeling change. It took almost four years, including a nearly two-year public comment period, for the change to be formally adopted with Wednesday’s action.

“Our choices about our diets are choices about our health, and those choices should be based on the best available scientific information,” FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan said. “This label change means that trans fat can no longer lurk, hidden, in our food choices.”

The effect on the California food industry is expected to be minimal. The Snack Food Assn., a national trade group, lists only six of its 700 members in the Golden State. And most -- such as San Bernardino-based Anita’s Mexican Foods Corp. -- are small, privately held firms.

Roberto Rojas, Anita’s general manager, predicted that the labeling requirement would intensify the competition among companies promoting healthful snack foods.

“The market’s going to be changing,” said Rojas, whose company generated sales of about $20 million last year. “There will be higher demand” for products made with more healthful oils.

The labeling regulation also will affect manufacturers of dietary supplements, such as energy and nutrition bars. The supplement facts panel on the package label will have to list trans fat, along with saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, when the product contains more than half a gram of trans fat.

Some of the industry’s largest players, including Frito-Lay Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc., already have announced plans to trim trans fat from more of their products.

“We certainly agree with and support the fact that trans fat should appear” on product labels, Kraft spokeswoman Kris Charles said. Kraft last week announced a sweeping initiative, in response to concern about rising obesity levels, to reduce portion sizes and decrease marketing to children. In May, Kraft said it would look for ways to reduce or eliminate trans fat in some of its offerings, including its popular Oreo cookies.

Two and a half months ago, as part of a growing wave of litigation against food purveyors, San Francisco attorney Stephen Joseph sued to stop Kraft from advertising Oreos to California children. Joseph later dropped the case because he said the issue of trans fat had been publicized to the extent that he could not convince a judge that consumers were unaware of the dangers.

On Wednesday, Joseph expressed disappointment with the government’s action. He cited the grace period until 2006, the lack of a specific warning about the health effects of trans fat and the absence of a “percent of daily intake” figure common to food labels.

“Everybody expects me to be applauding,” Joseph said, “but it’s just not good enough.”

For its part, the FDA said the labeling changes were merely a first step. The agency is considering criteria for evaluating which products can be classified as “lean,” “extra lean” and “low in trans fat.” It also is working with companies to develop products and promotional tactics.

“People all over the industry are recognizing the problems of obesity,” HHS Secretary Thompson said. “We are going to apply as much pressure on the restaurant industry, the food and grocery industry and the manufacturing industry as possible.”

Back at the 7-Eleven in Los Angeles, 48-year-old Matt Casserly said he was pleased that trans fat would be listed on labels.

“This is something you need to check,” said Casserly, a contractor from Norco.

On the other hand, he said, he wouldn’t let such information rule his life: “When you go out to a Mexican restaurant and get a margarita, you need to get the chips too.”

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Gest reported from Washington and Robinson-Jacobs from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Elizabeth Kelly contributed to this report.