FDA proposes draft bill to ban use of trans fats

By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter





The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday proposed a draft bill to ban artificial trans fats, which is expected to go into effect in three years and help reduce the risk of heart disease.

Under the draft bill, partially hydrogenated oils, which contain trans fats, would be banned in all food products, regardless of whether the foods are packaged or sold in a grocery store, restaurant, bakery, traditional market, night market or elsewhere, the agency said.

The draft act does not apply to naturally occurring trans fats that can be found in some animal products, such as meats and dairy, it said.

Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat derived from vegetable fats that have been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. A rare occurrence in nature, trans fats became commonly produced for use in a variety of products in the food industry.

According to the Health Promotion Administration, a daily intake of 4g to 5g of trans fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 23 percent, while excessive consumption of trans fats has been associated with infertility, dementia, breast cancer and diabetes.

The ban is set to have an impact on the fast food industry, as trans fats are commonly found in fried foods, as well as bakeries, because partially hydrogenated oils such as margarine are commonly used in baking, FDA senior specialist Tseng Su-hsiang (曾素香) said, adding that the proposed three-year compliance period was designed to allow businesses time to reformulate products without partially hydrogenated oils.

The FDA is to draw up a mechanism to inspect unpackaged foods sold by bakers and street vendors to verify whether their products contain trans fats, as well as a corresponding disciplinary mechanism, Tseng said.

The move follows an announcement in June that trans fats are “not generally recognized as safe” by US authorities, who set a three-year time limit for their removal from all processed foods, she said, adding that the WHO aims to see a complete ban on trans fats worldwide by 2025.

Under current regulations, it is compulsory to include the amount of trans fat in food on its packaging, but foods are allowed to be labeled as having “zero” trans fats if they contain less than 0.3 percent per serving, she said.

While the labeling requirement has reduced the public’s consumption of trans fats, the proposed ban is set to further reduce intake of trans fats, she said.