FDA gives food makers three years to eliminate trans fat

Making good on a promise to effectively abolish artificial trans fat from the nation's food supply, likely preventing thousands of heart attack deaths a year, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it will allow three years for food makers from conglomerates to corner bakeries to stop adding the substance to products.

The announcement won broad praise from public health advocacy groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which have long pressed the agency to ban trans fat, and from the American Heart Association, which called the new rules a 'historic victory for the nation's health.”

'This is great news, and it's soundly supported by the evidence. There is no one in his right mind who could claim that trans fats are generally regarded as safe,” said Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at Harvard University's school of public health. 'This was really the biggest food processing disaster ever. The human toll has got to be in the millions.”

The FDA estimated the ban would prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths a year.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents a large swath of the food industry and has expressed concern over the cost and feasibility of a far-reaching ban, said the FDA's window gives companies time to continue phasing out the substance and reformulate recipes. Still, the group said it will petition the FDA to continue to allow small levels of trans fat in certain products, which it argues 'is as safe as the naturally occurring trans fat present in the normal diet.”

Many products with artificial trans fats, which are derived from partially hydrogenated oils, have disappeared from grocery stores and restaurant menus in recent years amid widespread agreement about the risks they pose.

But experts say the substance lingers in an array of processed foods, from packaged cookies to ready-made frostings - and in goods made by some local businesses.

Kathy's Pies in Cedar Rapids is one of them. Co-owner Terri Henecke said her shop uses vegetable shorting, which contains trans fat, to make frosting, cookies and pie crusts.

'This is going to hurt,” Henecke said.

Years ago, Henecke said the pie shop tried to transition to palm oil - a trans fat-free alternative - but the oil did not bake well and tasted awful.

Some other bakeries said they don't expect much change.

RJ Johnson, a croissant maker at Deluxe Cakes and Pastries in Iowa City, said the bakery does not use trans fats.

'So that ruling is not going to affect us because we use all-natural ingredients,” Johnson said.

Since 2006, food companies have been required to include trans fat content information on Nutrition Facts labels. Between 2003 and 2012, the FDA estimated, consumption of trans fat fell 80 percent.

Trans fat has been around for more than a century but gained popularity in the United States in the 1940s. Over the years, it became a key ingredient in everything from pizzas to microwave popcorn to pancake mix. Food manufacturers embraced trans fats because they provided desirable taste and texture, extended the shelf life of processed foods and were cheaper than animal-based fats such as lard or butter.

As recently as the 1980s, many scientists and public health advocates said that partially hydrogenated oils, which occur when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to make a more solid substance, were actually healthier than more natural saturated fats.

But by the mid-1990s, as more studies showed that trans fats were a key culprit in the rising rate of heart disease, public opinion began to shift.

In 2002, the Institute of Medicine found that there was 'no safe level of trans fatty acids and people should eat as little of them as possible.”

In 2007, Montgomery County, Maryland, became the first county in the nation ban partially hydrogenated oils in restaurants, supermarket bakeries and delis.

Cognizant of consumer demand and a growing body of research about the harm caused by trans fat, food manufacturers have steadily removed the ingredient from the majority of products in recent years. Some of the country's largest restaurant chains, from McDonald's to Taco Bell, from Chick-fil-A to Dunkin' Donuts, have cut trans fat from their menus. Wal-Mart has told its food suppliers to eliminate trans fat.

In late 2013, the FDA took the first steps toward banning the substance altogether, calling it a threat to public health. In a proposal, the agency said trans fats no longer should be among ingredients in the largely unregulated category known as 'generally recognized as safe.” Tuesday's action finalized that proposal.

Companies that want to use trans fat in the future will have to get explicit approval from the FDA and meet rigorous safety standards showing that such use would cause no harm to public health - a steep bar given the mountain of scientific evidence about the dangers.

In an economic analysis, the FDA estimated that the regulations could cost the food industry $6 billion or more over 20 years, but that the savings from reduced medical care and other benefits during the same time could eclipse $130 billion.

Ryan Tarinelli of The Gazette, the Washington Post and Reuters contributed to this report.