Trans fat

Trans fat is a type of unsaturated fat.^[1] It is often produced in factories when manufacturing certain processed foods such as margarine.

Foods that usually have hydrogenated oils are high in trans fats.

Creation

Trans fat rarely occurs in nature. Meat and milk fat have small amounts of it. Other than that, trans fat is made when vegetable oils are heated or hydrogenated.

Hydrogenation is the process of bubbling hydrogen gas through the oil to change its consistency. The bubbling raises the oil's melting point. As the hydrogen passes through, the oil begins to become solid.

By stopping the hydrogenation part of the way through, manufacturers obtain "partially hydrogenated oil". This is similar to butter, but much cheaper to produce. It is sold as "margarine", "oleo" or "vegetable shortening". The process allows manufacturers to add an inexpensive butter-like consistency to food products.

Effects on health

Trans fat is bad for human health. It has been linked to a number of problems, including coronary heart disease,^[2] cancer, diabetes,^[3][4] obesity,^[5] liver problems,^[6] and infertility.^[7] Healthy oils are always liquid at the temperature of blood. Saturated and trans fats are not.

No study has ever shown that trans fat is good for human health in any way. Since scientists and nutritionists now know the health issues related to eating trans fats, they are being used less, but there are still some in commercial food products.

For some time, the United States Food and Drug Administration allowed makers of food products to label their products as having "0 grams of trans fat per serving" as long as the amount of trans fat in the food product fell below 0.5 grams per serving. Since partially hydrogenated oils are the major source of trans fat, reading the "ingredients" label is the safest way to ensure that a food does not contain any trans fat at all. Fried foods will likely, but not necessarily, contain trans fat since fried foods are produced by using very hot oil.

2015–2018 phaseout in the United States

Gradually, in 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began to stop the use of trans fats in all foods. They said there is no safe amount of trans fats that should be in food eaten by humans.

In June 2015, the FDA issued a final statement. It said that scientists disagree about whether artificial trans fatty acids are safe for human food.^[8] It required trans fat to be taken out of all food production by June 2018.^[9] The FDA said the ban would cost the food industry $6.2 billion over 20 years.

Now, the food industry must use new formulas and recipes with ingredients free of trans fat. The benefits will be about $140 billion over 20 years, mostly from lower health care costs.^[source?] Food companies can issue requests to the FDA for permission to use partially hydrogenated oils. However, the companies must prove the oils' use is safe.^[9]